Nigel G Wilcox
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Douglas P-70 Havoc
Maximum speed: 619.60 km/h (385 mph), Range: 1,100 mi, Maiden flight: 23 Jan 1939, Length: 47.93 ft, Wingspan: 61.32 ft, Engine type: Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone
Small Aircraft of  - WWII
Military Operators
Australia
Brazil
Canada
France
Netherlands
Nicaragua
South Africa
Soviet Union (NATO reporting name "Box"
United Kingdom
United States
The Douglas A-20 Havoc is a United States attack, light bomber, intruder, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. It served with several Allied air forces, principally the United States Army Air Forces, the Soviet Air Forces, Soviet Naval Aviation, and the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom. Soviet units received more than one in three of the DB-7s ultimately built.
Role: Light bomber
Manufacturer: Douglas Aircraft Company
Designer: Ed Heinemann
First flight: 23 January 1939
Introduction: 10 January 1941
Retired: (USAF) 1949
Status: Retired
Primary users: United States Army Air Forces
                      Soviet Air Force
                      Royal Air Force
                      French Air Force
Produced: 1939-1944
Number built: 7,478
Developed into: Douglas DC-5
General characteristics
Crew: 3
Length: 47 ft 11​1⁄7/8 in (14.63 m)
Wingspan: 61 ft 4 in (18.69 m)
Height: 17 ft 7 in (5.36 m)
Wing area: 464 ft² (43.1 m²)
Empty weight: 16693 lb (7708 kg)
Loaded weight: 24127 lb (10964 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Wright R-2600-23 "Twin Cyclone" radial engines, 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 317 mph (276 kn, 510 km/h) at 10,700 ft (3,260 m)
Cruise speed: 256 mph (223 kn, 412 km/h)
Range: 945 mi (822 nmi, 1,521 km) (Combat range)
Service ceiling: 23,700 ft (7,225 m)
Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 8.8 min

Armament

Guns:
6× fixed forward firing 0.5 in (12.7 mm) Browning machine guns in the nose
2× 0.5 in (12.7 mm) Browning machine guns in dorsal turret
1x flexible 0.5 in (12.7 mm) Browning machine gun, mounted behind bomb bay
Bombs: 4,000 lb (1,800 kg)
To shore up its need for a dedicated night fighter in 1940, the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) went ahead with modified Douglas A-20 "Havoc" / "Boston" light bombers to suit the role. Development began in 1942 in anticipation that the series would not have to fight for long as the Northrop P-61 "Black Widow" - purposely designed for night fighting - would soon arrive in 1943. As such, 163 conversions were made and these across a few notable marks - some never to see combat exposure at all. An XP-70 served as the series prototype to prove the validity of the conversion and the aircraft then operated under the formal designation of P-70 "Nighthawk". All P-70s were delivered before September of 1942.

It was the British Royal Air Force (RAF) that first realized the A-20 as a night fighter when they converted their A-20 Havocs for the role by installing appropriate air intercept radar and a ventral gun pod. The naturally-glazed nose section was painted over/hard-covered to shroud the radar suite and an additional internal fuel tank was fitted for extended operational ranges. The USAAC followed suit, arming their A-20s and outfitting them with local copies of the British AI Mk IV radar (as the SCR-540). These aircraft too lost their glazed nose sections. Some fitted a ventral cannon tray with 4 x 20mm cannons while others utilized a "gun nose" mounting 6 or 8 x 0.50 M2 Browning heavy machine guns - continuing the American reliance on all-machine-gun armament for their aircraft. 2 x 0.50 machine guns were fitted under the nose to fire tracer rounds, useful in gun-laying. In these forms, the radar suite was moved to the bomb bay. The armor protection encountered in the original A-20 was reduced to help lighten the operation loads of the P-70s. It was deemed that such an aircraft, in its given role, need not burden itself down with unnecessary protection.

The Douglas A-20 airframe proved a solid choice for the mission ahead. Its dual-engine configuration, particularly over expansive oceans, meant that the aircraft could fly on a single engine if forced. The multiple crew spread the workload around helping to reduce pilot fatigue. Cannon armament - or similar forward-firing firepower - was a prerequisite considering that the crew would have, at best, a single drive against an enemy target and best make the first shots count.

P-70 marked original base Nighthawks numbering 59 examples. The P-70A-1 mark emerged from the A-20C production model and totaled 39 examples while the 65 P-70A-2s came from the A-20G. The P-70B-1 was the A-20G-10-DO night fighter conversion (single example) and P-70B-2s were A-20G and A-20J models reserved for training future P-61 crews - these aircraft outfitted with SCR-720 and SCR-729 radar kits.

In practice, the P-70 proved a serviceable machine but was only ever fielded in the Pacific Theater. There was already a converted A-20 with radar on station over California after the Japanese attack at Pearl to prove the aircraft-radar combination sound. First deliveries of P-70s was in April of 1942 with machine gun noses while retaining support for 2,000lbs of internal stores if needed. The A-1s then followed in 1943 during a period when night fighters were in constant need against marauding Japanese raiders. While P-70s lacked much in the way of flat out speed and high-altitude work (they lacked superchargers), they provided a solution where they initial proved none to be found. its usefulness was limited with the arrival of the dedicated P-61 in 1944 and other converted types which promised better results and performance. By the start of 1945, all P-70s were removed from frontline service, thusly ending their operational tenures in World War 2, and served as trainers until their final days. Indeed, the P-70 trainers graduated some 485 persons to serve in American night fighter squadrons.
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