Vultee A - 31 Vengeance The Vultee A - 31 Vengeance was an American dive bomber of World War II , built by Vultee Aircraft . A modified version was designated A - 35 . The Vengeance was not used in combat by the United States ; it did see combat , however , with the British Royal Air Force , the Royal Australian Air Force , and the Indian Air Force in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific . The A - 31 remained in service with U . S . units until 1945 , primarily in a target - tug role . Design and development . In 1940 , Vultee Aircraft started the design of a single engined dive - bomber , the Vultee Model 72 ( V - 72 ) to meet the requirements of the French " Armée de l ' Air " . The V - 72 was built with private funds and was intended for sale to foreign markets . The V - 72 was a low - wing , single - engine monoplane with a closed cockpit and a crew of two . An air - cooled radial Wright Twin Cyclone GR - 2600 - A5B - 5 engine rated at powered the V - 72 . It was armed with both fixed forward firing and flexible mounted machine guns in the rear cockpit . The aircraft also carried up to of bombs in an interior bomb bay and on external wing racks . The Vengeance was uniquely designed to dive vertically without lift from the wing pulling the aircraft off - target . To this end , it had a 0° angle of incidence on the wing to better align the nose of the aircraft with the target during the dive . This resulted in the aircraft cruising in a nose - up attitude giving a poor forward view for the pilot , particularly during landing . It had an unusual , " W " - shaped wing planform . This resulted from an error in calculating its centre of gravity . Moving the wing back by " sweeping " the centre section was a simpler fix than re - designing the wing root . This gives impression of an inverted gull wing when seen from an angle , when in fact the wing has a more conventional dihedral on the outer wing panels . France placed an order for 300 V - 72s , with deliveries intended to start in October 1940 . The fall of France in June 1940 stopped these plans , but at the same time the British Purchasing Commission , impressed by the performance of the German Junkers Ju 87 , was shopping for a dive bomber for the Royal Air Force , and as it was the only aircraft available , placed an order for 200 V - 72s ( named Vengeance by Vultee ) on 3 July 1940 , with orders for a further 100 being placed in December . As Vultee ' s factory at Downey was already busy building BT - 13 Valiant trainers , the aircraft were to be built at the Stinson factory at Nashville , and under license by Northrop at Hawthorne , California . The first prototype V - 72 flew from Vultee ' s factory at Downey , California on 30 March 1941 . Additional aircraft were ordered for Britain in June 1941 under the Lend - Lease scheme , with these being given the US Army Air Corps designation A - 31 . After the U . S . entered the war following the attack on Pearl Harbor , a number of V - 72 and A - 31 aircraft were re - possessed for use by the Army Air Corps . As the Army Air Corps became interested in dive bombing , it decided to order production of an improved version of the Vengeance , designated the A - 35 , for both its own use and for supply to its allies under Lend - Lease . It was fitted with a more powerful Wright Twin Cyclone R - 2600 - 19 engine and improved armament . As US Army test pilots disliked the poor pilot view resulting from the zero - incidence wing , this was " corrected " in the A - 35 , giving a better attitude in cruise but losing its accuracy as a dive bomber . When production of the Vengeance was completed in 1944 , a total of 1 , 931 aircraft had been produced . The majority were produced at the Vultee plant in Nashville , Tennessee . Indecision about which aircraft type should replace it in production at the Vultee plant led to several " make - work " contracts for Vengeance aircraft to prevent dispersion of the skilled workforce . This resulted in overproduction of what was considered an obsolete aircraft . Evaluation . Operational experience with other dive bomber aircraft of the period , such as the Blackburn Skua , Junkers Ju 87 , Aichi D3A , Douglas Dauntless , Breda Ba . 65 and Curtiss SB2C Helldiver , indicated that the Vengeance would be vulnerable to enemy fighters . To be effective , all these aircraft required an environment of local air superiority and fighter escort . Fighter escort , lack of fighter opposition in the theatres in which it served , combined with its vertical dive capability meant that the Vengeance suffered light combat losses . Early experience with the aircraft showed there were problems with engine cooling . In service , the British managed to solve these problems , but Free French aircraft that did not have these problems remedied were declared uneconomical and unreliable to operate and were grounded . The aircraft was described as being stable in flight and in a dive , with heavy elevator and rudder control , but with light aileron control . Forward visibility was considered poor due to the large radial engine . There were a number of fatal accidents with the Vengeance due to improper dive procedures and a center of gravity problem when the aircraft was flown with the rear cockpit canopy open , but without a rear gunner . In combat , the type was considered rugged , reliable , stable , and generally well - behaved . Commonwealth forces operated the type from May 1942 to July 1944 . Burma tended to be a low priority for Allied air planners , and forces in that theater got what was left over . Aircraft such as the Vickers Wellington and Hawker Hurricane spent their last days in Burma . The Vengeance saw considerable action attacking Japanese supply , communications and troop concentrations in Burma . Its service in that theater has been described as sterling . At best the Vengeance was a qualified success in Burma , doing much to hold the line against Japanese advances . Peter Smith , author of " Jungle Dive Bombers at War " ( ISBN 0 - 7195 - 4425 - 4 ) , recorded that : Their pilots had difficulty in getting them off the ground with a full load . At Newton Field they were using the full length of the 6 , 000 feet runway before becoming airborne . Kittyhawk aircraft could carry the same bomb load and in addition carry out ground - strafing . In contrast , many crew spoke well of the Vengeance . I certainly didn ' t have that experience of the Vultee . I can recall no incidents of pilots having difficulty in taking off with full bomb loads , and the Kittyhawk could not carry the same bomb load even after their undercarriage had been strengthened . I remember the Vultee as a lovely aircraft to fly , an aircraft that was hard to stall and was fully aerobatic . You could do anything in them , rolls , loops , stall turns , and there was enough room in the cockpit to hold a ball . I used to like flying them , although a lot of blokes thought that they were too cumbersome . Operational history . By the time Britain had received large numbers of Vengeances , its opinion on the usefulness of specialised dive bombers had changed ; as the Battle of Britain and operations over North Africa had shown the dive bomber to be vulnerable to fighter attack , it rejected the Vengeance for use over Western Europe or the Mediterranean . It was decided to use the Vengeance in the Burma Theatre to carry out dive - bombing operations in close support of British and Indian troops in the jungles of Burma . The first RAF squadrons ( No . 82 and No . 110 ) received Vengeances in October 1942 . The first dive bombing missions against Japanese forces were flown on 19 March 1943 . A further two RAF squadrons in Burma received Vengeances , ( No . 84 and No . 45 ) , together with two squadrons of the Indian Air Force ( IAF ) ( No . 7 and No . 8 ) . Vengeances were heavily deployed in support of the second Arakan campaign of 1943 / 44 , and defending against the Japanese attacks on Imphal and Kohima of April – July 1944 . Following the successful defeat of the Japanese attack , the RAF and IAF started to phase out the Vengeance in favour of more versatile fighter bombers and twin engined light bombers , with the last Vengeance operations over Burma being carried out on 16 July 1944 . After Burma service , a detachment from 110 Squadron RAF was sent to Takoradi in West Africa via the Middle East , a number of aircraft breaking down en route . Between September and December 1944 , 11 Vultees took part in air - spraying trials against malarial mosquitoes , using underwing spray dispensers . Although phased out of front line service with the RAF , it continued to receive large numbers of Vengeances , with bulk deliveries of Lend Lease aircraft ( as opposed to those purchased directly by Britain ) having only just started . Many of these surplus aircraft , including most Vengeance Mk IVs , were delivered to the UK and modified as Target tug s , being used in this role both by the RAF and the Royal Navy ' s Fleet Air Arm ( FAA ) . In these roles , all armament was removed from the aircraft . Australia placed an order for 400 Vengeances as an emergency measure following the outbreak of war in the Pacific , which was met by a mixture of Lend Lease and diversions from the original British orders . While the first Vengeance was delivered to the Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) in May 1942 , the aircraft did not arrive in substantial numbers until April 1943 . The RAAF ' s first Vengeance squadron , No . 12 Squadron flew its first operational mission against Selaru Island in the Dutch East Indies . Squadrons equipped with the Vengeance included Nos . 12 , 21 , 23 , 24 and 25 Squadrons . Of these , all but 25 Squadron served briefly in the New Guinea campaign . Australian Vengeances flew their last operational sorties on 8 March 1944 , as they were considered less efficient than fighter bombers , having a short range and requiring a long runway , and were withdrawn to allow more effective fighter bombers to move into the forward area . The view of the Vengeance ' s limitations is disputed by Peter Smith in " Jungle Dive Bombers at War " : The precision and skill of the dive - bombing method . . . and its clear superiority over most other means of air attack when it came to destroying small and well - hidden targets in difficult country , was proven over and over again in the Asian jungle campaigns . Yet the men who achieved these excellent results , for such economy of effort and comparatively small loss , were but a handful of pilots who have been forgotten in the overwhelming mass of the heavy - and medium bomber fleets that were pounding both Europe and Asia by 1945 . This capacity was exemplified in the raid by RAAF 21 and 23 Squadrons on Hansay Bay . Smith wrote in " Jungle Dive Bombers at War " , " . . . the jungle - clad hills and islands of forgotten or unknown lands would become the major stage for the ultimate expression of the dive - bombers ' skill . " The Vengeance squadrons were re - equipped with Consolidated B - 24 Liberator heavy bombers . While the RAAF still had 58 Vengeances on order in March 1944 , this order was cancelled and the aircraft were never delivered . Small numbers of Vengeances remained in service with support and trials units until 1946 . Thirty - three V - 72s and A - 35s were supplied to Brazil from 1943 , carrying out a few anti - submarine patrols . They were withdrawn by April 1948 . The Free French Air Force received 67 A - 35As and - Bs in 1943 , being used to equip three bomb groups in North Africa . The French , however , keen to get the aircraft operational as soon as possible did not incorporate improvements found necessary by Britain and Australia , so their aircraft proved to be unreliable and had extremely high oil consumption . As such , they were restricted to training operations , being finally withdrawn in September 1944 . While the U . S . received 243 V - 72s and A31s diverted from the RAF orders together with large numbers of A - 35s specifically built for it , these saw no combat , being used as initial equipment for light bomber squadrons that re - equipped with twin - engined aircraft before deploying overseas , and as trainers or target tugs . From April 1944 , a number of Vengeance Mk IV series Is were made available to the 8th Air Force and assigned to target - towing flights and Combat Crew Replacement Centers ( CCRC ) stations . All armament was removed and a light cable winch fitted in the rear fuselage for sleeve towing . Some of these aircraft continued to be flown with British national markings and serial numbers . By late June 1944 , there were seven A - 35Bs at RAF Cluntoe , seven at Greencastle , 10 at RAF Sutton Bridge and six at RAF East Wretham . When the CCRCs were dissolved in the autumn , the A - 35Bs were transferred to combat groups , most fighter and several bomber groups having one on charge at some time during 1945 . A - 35Bs did not show a high state of serviceability and were generally considered troublesome to maintain . They were also designated RA - 35B ( R for Restricted ) by this time . Survivors . One complete Vengeance IV that did not see squadron service is displayed at the Camden Air Museum , New South Wales , Australia .