The Northrop A-37 was a side development of the N-9M, a scale
prototype for the proposed XB-35 flying wing bomber. The A-37 was a
'bulked up' N-9MB intended for use as a one-man light bomber and
ground-attack plane. It also could perform as a fighter, but was rather
sluggish in such a role. The initial design had a rear gunner, but this
was considered unnecessary and was dropped. The A-37 used two engines
in pusher configuration.
It mounts a rather heavy gun armament to the front, with two 37mm
M-4 cannons and four M-2 .50-cal MGs. It has two 1,00- lb internal
weapon bays and four 500-lb wing hardpoints (which could be used for
bombs or drop tanks). With a full bomb load. it has a range of 1,000
miles at 230 mph or 670 miles at 305 mph.
The A-37 burns 79.5 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at routine usage.
Subassemblies: Heavy Fighter chassis with Good streamlining
+3, Medium Fighter-Bomber Wings +3, 2¥Large Weapon
engine pods +2, three retractable wheels +0.
P&P: 2¥895-kW aerial supercharged HP gas engine with
2¥895-kW props and 384-gallon self-sealing tanks [Wings and Body]
Occ: 1 CS Cargo: 2.9 Body, 1.9
each Engine Pod
| Armor | F | R/L | B | T | U |
| All | 2/3 | 2/3 | 2/3 | 2/3 | 2/3 |
| Pilot | +/30 | +/15 | 0/+30 | 0/0 | 0/+30 |
Weaponry
2¥37mm Medium Aircraft AC/M-4 [Body:F] (30 each).
*
4¥Long Aircraft HMG/M-2 [Body:F] (300 each).
*
4¥500-lb bombs [Wings:U].
* Links can fire both 37mm cannons at once, the four MGs at once, or
all six guns at once.
Equipment
Body: Medium range radio transmitter and receiver, navigation
instruments, autopilot, bombsight, two 1,000-lb bomb bays. Wings:
Two 500-lb hardpoints each.
Statistics
| Size: 20'x60'x12' | Payload: 3.64 tons | Lwt: 9.48 tons |
| Volume: 224 |
Maint.: 24 hours | Price: $72,200 |
HT: 8
HP: 260 [body], 220 [each wing], 25 [each wheel], 75 [each
pod]
| aSpeed: 383 |
aAccel: 6 |
aDecel: 16 |
aMR: 4 | aSR: 1 | Stall: 75 mph |
-3.5 mph per loaded hardpoint.
Design Notes
To reflect the stability problems of early flying wings, aMR was
reduced
from 2 to 1
Stats assume a maximum fuel and bomb load. Without an external bomb
load, speed increases to 397 mph an aMR to 4.5. Stall drops to 71
mph.
The wing hardpoints can also be used for 66 gallon drop tanks.
Variants
The A-37B replaces the two 37mm guns with four 20mm M-4's (20mm Medium
Aircraft AC) with 100 rounds each. This version was often used to
intercept Germany's new heavy bombers.
The A-37C upgraded the wing hardpoints to 1,000-lbs each.