A-29
Contents
Description
The A-29 first started out as the "Model 14 Super Electra", a successful commercial airliner. A few years later, Lockheed experimented with a reconnaissance/light bomber version of the Super Electra. As luck would have it, Britain was also looking for a combat aircraft for their own air force. Over 200 Hudsons were delivered to the Royal Air Force where they would undergo further redesigns and improvements. The A-29 was one of Lockheed's redesigns which featured two Wright R-1820-27 but was largely the same aircraft as the A-28. China received 26 A-29 Hudsons, but not much is known about the A-29 in Chinese service as many were lost in accidents. Only a handful actually were put to use in combat.
Introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision", the A-29 is a light bomber that also served in various other roles. The A-29 was essentially the regular Hudson bomber but received updates to make it a more viable troop transport. It featured more economical engines as well as armament changes. The A-29 has less than stellar defensive armament: with only a single 12.7 mm machine gun turret and a single 7.62 mm machine gun turret. A player's best defensive tactic in this case is to dive away from opponents with its relatively impressive 564 km/h (350 mph) structural speed limit. It also has two offensive 7.62 mm machine guns with over 500 rounds per gun. Unfortunately, this isn't suited for attacking anything but light ground targets like anti-air or howitzer positions. Overall, the A-29 does its role as a light bomber effectively, but players should take note of its lacklustre armament.
General info
Flight performance
| Characteristics | Max Speed (km/h at 1,981 m) |
Max altitude (metres) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (metres/second) |
Take-off run (metres) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
| Stock | 391 | 376 | 5029 | 27.1 | 27.9 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 600 |
| Upgraded | 432 | 410 | 25.0 | 26.0 | 13.2 | 9.5 | ||
Details
| Features | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat flaps | Take-off flaps | Landing flaps | Air brakes | Arrestor gear |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | X | X |
| Limits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wings (km/h) | Gear (km/h) | Flaps (km/h) | Max Static G | |||
| Combat | Take-off | Landing | + | - | ||
| 564 | 235 | 328 | 313 | 235 | ~10 | ~5 |
| Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
| < 260 | < 290 | < 320 | > 324 |
Survivability and armour
- No armour protection
- Self-sealing fuel tanks in the wingroots
Modifications and economy
| Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
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Armaments
Offensive armament
The A-29 is armed with:
- 2 x 7.62 mm Browning machine guns, nose-mounted (500 rpg = 1,000 total)
The A-29 is equipped with a pair of .30 (7.62 mm) Browning machine guns at the nose as the offensive armament. Due to the low gun count, this weapon is ill-suited for head-on engagements due to lacking in firepower to quickly finish the enemy off, further exactabated by the absence of any armour on the plane. Because of this, the gun's primary usage is to strafe at soft ground targets (trucks, gun positions, etc.) or an AI-controlled plane whose flew in a more predictable pattern.
Suspended armament
The A-29 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
- 4 x 250 lb AN-M57 bombs + 6 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs (1,600 lb total)
The bombs are arranged in the bomb bay so that the 250 lb AN-M57 bombs drop first, and when all four of those are clear, the 100 lb AN-M30A1 can drop.
Defensive armament
The A-29 is defended by:
- 1 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun, dorsal turret (400 rpg)
- 1 x 7.62 mm Browning machine gun, ventral turret (500 rpg)
Usage in battles
Being a light bomber, the A-29's most preferred tactics is to dive into enemy base and quickly release its payload. Due to the plane's weak structural integrity, however, care must be taken to prevent overspeeding and ripping your wings in the process. While the frontal .30 cal machine guns is not so useful in a dogfight, you can still use it to strafe AI-controlled planes and soft ground targets for extra credits.
Like the British Hudson, the A-29's most notable characteristic is her surprisingly good manoeuvrability. While the plane's low speed and weak offensive firepower will keep you out from joining any dogfights, it is more than enough to get your .50 cal on your six and hit right back at any pursuing fighters.
Manual Engine Control
| MEC elements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixer | Pitch | Radiator | Supercharger | Turbocharger | ||
| Oil | Water | Type | ||||
| Controllable | Controllable Not auto controlled |
Controllable Auto control available |
Controllable Auto control available |
Separate | Controllable 2 gears |
Not controllable |
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Nice bombload of 4 x 250 lb + 6 x 100 lb bombs
- Has 2 x forward-facing 7.62 mm MGs, each with decent amount of ammo (500 RPG), allows to strafe soft ground units
- Big, chubby fuselage may soak up bullets
- Adequate defensive guns: a powerful .50 cal protects the upper rear, and a 7.62 mm protects the downward rear which are common directions of attack
- Generally manoeuvrable at most speed
- H-tail does not get in the way of the gunners
Cons:
- The plane is virtually unarmored, rendering the crews and critical parts exposed
- Low structural limit sppeed, highly vulnerable against fighters/interceptors with altitude advantage
- Has no turrets facing the front, making it vulnerable to frontal attacks
- Lacks turret covering the sides
- Like a typical bomber, has low climb rate and top speed
History
Lockheed A-29 Hudson was one of the first major successful products of Lockheed Corporation (now part of the well-known Lockheed Martin), many countries in the late 1930s purchased it for their own purposes, including the National Revolutionary Air Force (later ROCAF).
The earliest record of the A-29 in NRAF service was in 1943 where they received 19 A-29s in Sichuan in October. The A-29 joined multiple bombing runs against Japanese-occupied areas throughout 1943; it was one of the cornerstone bombers of the NRAF before they eventually upgraded to American B-25s in late 1944, while the remaining A-29s were abandoned in Chongqing and no further records of these aircraft were left.
Media
- Skins
See also
- Related development
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| Lockheed Corporation | |
|---|---|
| Fighters | XP-38G · P-38E · P-38G-1 · P-38J-15 · Bong's P-38J-15 · P-38K · P-38L-5-LO · YP-38 |
| Bombers | B-34 · PV-2D |
| Jet Fighters | F-80A-5 · F-80C-10 |
| F-104A · F-104C | |
| Strike Aircraft | F-117 |
| Export / License | A-29 · ▄Hudson Mk V |
| ␗P-38L-1 | |
| ␗F-104A · ▀F-104G · ␗F-104G · ▄F-104G · ▅F-104J · ▄F-104S | |
| The Lockheed Corporation merged with Martin Marietta Corporation in 1995 to form Lockheed Martin Corporation. | |
| See Also | SABCA · Mitsubishi Heavy Industries · Fiat Aviation |
| China bombers | |
|---|---|
| American | Martin 139WC*(␗B-10B) · ␗A-29 · ␗B-25J-30 · ␗PB4Y-2 |
| German | ␗Hs 123 A-1 |
| Soviet | ␗SB 2M-103U · ␗DB-3A · ␗Tu-2S-44 · ␗Tu-4 |
| Japanese | ␗P1Y1 mod. 11 |
| *Export Name | |
