The Douglas XA-2 was an American prototype attack aircraft converted from a

Douglas O-2 The Douglas O-2 was a 1920s American observation aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Development The important family of Douglas observation aircraft sprang from two XO-2 prototypes, the first of which was powered by the 420 hp ...

observation aircraft in the spring of 1926 by

Douglas Aircraft The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated as ...

. Only one prototype aircraft was built and the type was not ordered into production.

Design and development

One

, serial number ''25-380'', was modified for the new role as an attack aircraft. While the basic structure of the aircraft remained, there were several modifications made. The

water-cooled Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and no ...

Liberty engine The Liberty L-12 is an American water-cooled 45° V-12 aircraft engine displacing and making designed for a high power-to-weight ratio and ease of mass production. It saw wide use in aero applications, and, once marinized, in marine use both ...

(V-1650) of the O-2 was replaced by an inverted air-cooled

Allison VG-1410 The Liberty L-12 is an American water-cooled 45° V-12 aircraft engine displacing and making designed for a high power-to-weight ratio and ease of mass production. It saw wide use in aero applications, and, once marinized, in marine use both ...

engine. The reason for this was that a water cooling system was seen as too vulnerable to enemy attack. The lower engine cowlings were omitted to allow for more cooling air flow over the engine. Second, the A-2 was more heavily armed than the O-2. The A-2 had six forward-firing .30- caliber Browning machine guns - two in the nose forward of the cockpit, and two each in the mid-upper and lower wings. Two .30-caliber Lewis guns were put on a flexible mount for use by the observer-gunner in rear defense of the aircraft. The aircraft also had the capacity for a small bomb load of 100 lb (45 kg). The Douglas XA-2 was evaluated against the Curtiss XA-3 (a conversion of the Curtiss O-1B observation plane). The Douglas Aircraft won the initial competition, but the Army realized that the Liberty engine was both underpowered and in dwindling supply. It ordered a second competition with both models upgraded with Packard 1A-1500 engines. The Curtiss aircraft won this time and became the

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

' frontline attack aircraft ( Curtiss A-3 Attack Falcon) from 1928 to 1935.

Operators

; *

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

Specifications (XA-2)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas Xa-2 Douglas A-02

A-002 A-002 was the third abort test of the Apollo spacecraft. Objectives Mission A-002 was the third in the series of abort tests to demonstrate that the launch system would perform satisfactorily under selected critical abort conditions. The main o ...

Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1926

Design and development

Operators

Specifications (XA-2)

See also

References