- Yes
- No
- Strike Aircraft
- Bomber
- Other
- I said no!
The contract for 36 Douglas Model 8A-5 (sometimes called 8A-5N) was signed 27. march 1940 by Norway and the Douglas Aircraft Company. This was part of a bigger Norwegian air force build up. The planes never got to Norway as it got invaded and occupied in 1940. The planes however would get handed over to the Norweigan goverment in exile. The bombers became part of Little Norway in Canada, a Norwegian training ground for pilots. The aircraft were together with the Curtiss Hawk 75A-8 used as advanced trainers.
Specifications
- Crew: 2
- Wingspan: 14,55 m
- Length: 9,92 m
- Wing area: 33,74 m2
- Empty weight: 2436 kg
- Top speed: 424 km/h at 2745 m
- Cruise speed: 322 km/h at 3050 m
- Landing speed: 105 km/h
- Climb rate: 474 meters per minute
- Operational height: 9760 m
- Range: 1465 km
- Engine: Wright Cyclone GR-1820-G205A
- Power: 1200 hp at take off, 860 hp at 3050 m
Weapons
One of the aircraft with its guns mounted
Offesive guns:
4 x 0.30 Colt MG40, 500 rpg, forward-firing
2 x 0.50 Colt MG53A, 200 rpg, forward-firing gun pods
Defensive guns:
1 x 0.30 Colt MG40, 1000 rpg (split in 10 magazines), flexible rear-firing
Graph over the external rack
Bombs:
900 kg (2000 lbs) max bomb load
Internal rack: 20 x 9 kg (20 lbs) bombs
External rack: 4 x 225 kg (500 lb) bombs or 8 x 50 kg (100 lbs) bombs
Smaller bombs mounted on the external rack
History
In 1939/1940 Norway was looking to get themselves a plane that would do the roles of scouting and bombing for both the Norwegian Army Air Service and the Norwegian Navy Air Service. This plane was supposed to be able to mount pontoons for use by the Naval Air Service. Because of the war in Europe, there wasn’t many other options than to look to America. The Vultee V-11 seemed at first to be the prefered option, but when the Norwegian representatives got to study it closer, it fell out of favour.
After looking at the different options, the Navy wanted the Northrop N-3PB and the Army wanted the Douglas 8A-5. It ended with them each getting their own type of plane. The planes however were to use the same engine, the Pratt & Whitney SC3G. Which was already on the first batch of Curtiss Hawks Norway had ordered. By the time the Douglas and the Northrop were to be oredered though, the prefered engine were not an option anymore. There were simply no SC3G to be found and bought, therefore both planes went over to be used with the Wright Cyclone GR-1820-G205A, which Norway ordered separately from the aircrafts themselves.
The aircraft were to be delivered to Norway starting september 1940, to january 1941. Norway was invaded and occupied between the ordering and delivering. This meant that the planes would go to the exiled Norwegian goverment. The Norwegians wanted the planes to be used by Norwegian pilots in the UK, but RAF did not support this. The planes then ended up as trainer planes at Little Norway in Canada. Here they were used for advanced training for pilots.
Only half (18) of the planes were used at the training grounds, the rest would stay still in boxes at Little Norway. Since the planes only were to be used for training, half of the planes could be sold on before they rusted in storage. Norway found a buyer in Peru, which paid them for the planes. The planes however would be stopped by the USA under transit. These planes would end up in US Air Force as A-33. Later Norway would sell its remaining planes to the US. Peru would end up buying and getting all of the still working 8A-5/A-33 from the US.
In-game
Now that Norway, with its Mosquitos, are a sub-tree of Sweden, I think it is needed some more norwegian planes to fill out the tech tree. Not only could the 8A-5 be added in the Swedish tech tree, but as it later saw service as A-33 in the US, it is also able to be added there too.
I am aware that Sweden made their own version of the predecessor, the Northrop A-17, but since the 8A-5 is quite different, being bigger, more guns and having retractable landing gear, I don’t see them being too close to each other to not have both in the game.
In terms of type of plane, it is a question if it should be a strike aircraft or a bomber. This I am not sure myself. I hope people can answer the poll about this to hear people’s opinion on this matter.
Interior pictures
A thing I have noticed in the interior is that quite a lot of the writing in the cockpit is done in Norwegian. I haven’t been able to spot everything that is written in Norwegian or not. I will just bring a couple of examples. Hopefully someone better at this than me can go trough the pictures in the handbooks and try find some more.
Over the airspeed indicator it is written in Norwegian about allowed airspeed for flaps and highest allowed dive speed:
Begynd ikke å senke
vingeklaffer over 177 km/t
Største tillatte stupfart 433 km/t
On the charging handles for the .50 cal that can be found it the cockpit it is written:
Venstre/Høyre 50 cal MTR
It is two of them, so a left (Venstre) and a right (Høyre, or the older version “Høire”). MTR is a shortening for the Norwegian word “mitraljøse”, one of multiple words for machine gun in Norwegian.
Sources
Two manuals to the aircraft has been uploaded to the internet archive
Maintenance manual:
Douglas 8A-5 Erection and Maintenance Manual : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Pilot’s handbook:
Douglas 8A-5 Pilot's Handbook : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
This books contains history and well researched colouring of the planes:
Flaggets Heder, Vol. 2: Little Norway, 1940-1945 (2023)
(**Flaggets Heder, Vol. 2: Little Norway, 1940-1945 – European Airlines)
An article from the magazine NFF-kontakt (1976 Vol. 4 Nr. 2) from Norsk Flyhistorisk Forening:
