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Typenumber XA-7
Type of aircraft
All metal attack bomber
Crew Two - Pilot & observer-rear gunner
Country U.S.
Date first flight 1930
Wingspan 43'11 feet
Lenght 31'11 feet
Enginetype Curtiss V-1570-27 Conqueror
Engine
power
600 hp
Armament Designed for 4 forward firing .30-cal. machine guns and 1 flexible .30-cal. machine gun for the rear gunner plus provisions for 488 lbs of bombs mounted on wing racks.
Performance Maximum speed: 184 mph.
Cruising speed: approximately 150 mph
Range: approximately 500 miles
Service Ceiling: approximately 19,000 ft.
Fokker XA-7

Fokker XA-7

Fokker XA-7

Fokker XA-7

All metal attack bomber


All-metal attack bomber, a very modern and good looking creation, with streamlined panted gear and four wing guns.

This was the first monoplane designed for attack purposes.

The Atlantic-Fokker XA-7 was built in response to a US Army request for a new aircraft designed from scratch for the the attack role rather than as a conversion of an existing type (like the Curtiss Falcon series of attack planes). The Atlantic-Fokker company was formed by Anthony Fokker (the first company president) in 1924.

The aircraft built by the company were known as Atlantic or Atlantic-Fokker types until General Motors bought the firm in 1930 and changed the name to General Aviation. By the time the XA-7 was completed, the company had changed so the XA-7 is often referred to as the General Aviation XA-7.

The XA-7 was an all-metal, low-wing monoplane design with dual open cockpits arranged in tandem. It was powered by the liquid-cooled Curtiss V-1570 "Conqueror" V-12 engine. The XA-7 had thick internally braced wings and non-retractable landing gear covered by large wheel pants.

 

Fokker XA-7

Fokker XA-7

Armament, as designed, consisted of four forward firing .30-cal. machine guns and one flexible .30-cal. machine gun for the gunner-observer in the aft cockpit. A small bomb load of about 500 lbs. could also be carried. The XA-7 was tested, at least initially, without armament installed.

 

The XA-7 was in competition was the Curtiss XA-8 and both aircraft begin flight testing in mid-1931. When the Air Corps evaluation was complete, the Curtiss XA-8 was declared the winner and a small production contract was awarded.

Only one XA-7 was built and it was eventually scrapped after testing was complete.

Rebuilt in 1931 with a new nose, but chronic cooling problems brought abandonment of the project.