Northrop Gamma

The Gamma was a further development of the successful Northrop Alpha and shared its predecessor's aerodynamic innovations with wing fillets and multicellular stressed-skin wing construction. Like late Alphas, the fixed landing gear was covered in distinctive aerodynamic spats, and the aircraft introduced a fully enclosed cockpit.

File:PolarStarPlane.JPG

The Gamma saw fairly limited civilian service as mail planes with Trans World Airlines but had an illustrious career as a flying laboratory and record-breaking aircraft. The U.S. military found the design sufficiently interesting to encourage Northrop to develop it into what eventually became the Northrop A-17 light attack aircraft. Military versions of the Gamma saw combat with Chinese and Spanish Republican air forces.Smith 1986 The wartime Nationalist Air Force of China saw its squadrons of Gamma 2Es at Guangde Airbase under surprise attack from IJNAS Mitsubishi G3M bombers on the first-day of airwar in the between China and Japan on August 14, 1937,{{Cite web |author=Lianggang Sun |author2=Evgenia Vlasova |author3=Peter Harmsen |date=|title=Shanghai 1937 – Where World War II Began|url=http://www.shanghai1937.tv/|access-date=2020-12-31|website=SHANGHAI 1937: WHERE WORLD WAR II BEGAN|language=en-US|quote=When did World War II begin? Shanghai 1937: Where World War II Began answers that question in a way most audiences will find surprising. Americans might say December 7, 1941… The day the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. For Europeans, it was September 1, 1939… When Nazi Germany invaded Poland. But in China, people will tell you a different date. August 13, 1937.}} however causing only minor damage as a single Curtiss Hawk III fighter-attack plane piloted by Lt. Zhou Tingfang, flying from action at the air battle of Jianqiao, without any ammunition, feigned attacks against the incoming G3M bomber raid over Guangde, causing the bombs to fall well off-target.{{cite web |last1=Ming |first1=Yi |title=空手入白刃"保住机场：战斗机没装弹药，他开着冲向了日军飞机 ~ Guarding the airbase empty-handed in an unarmed fighter plane |url=https://www.sohu.com/a/339295261_120047840 |website=Sohu Historic Articles |publisher=Sohu |access-date=24 April 2025 |quote=当时的情况是这样的。这是8月14日的下午4点钟，杭州笕桥空军基地的工作人员修好了一架霍克III战斗机，周庭芳当时就在机场，他驾驶这架霍克III战斗机进行试飞，也正是因为试飞，所以这架霍克III战斗机根本没有装填弹药... 周庭芳一路向西飞行，不久后进入了云雨区域，也是吃了不少苦头，不过最终还是成功飞出了云团。此时的周庭芳位于太湖上空，他本准备是调整方向继续飞去南京，但就在此时，周庭芳意外发现了一支日军的轰炸机队——6架贴着日本旗的96式轰炸机。 事实上，这支轰炸机队是9架96式轰炸机，按照日方的记载，是由指挥官浅野少佐带领，打算去广德，轰炸当时中国的诺斯罗普轰炸机基地。As Japanese bombers approached near Jianqiao for the attack, Colonel Gao Zhihang's flight of Hawk IIIs had barely any time to refuel or rearm, however there was no time left for Lieutenant Zhou Tingfang's Hawk to be loaded with ammunition, and the base commander had Zhou evacuate Jianqiao for Nanjing, where he came across a flight of G3M (Type 96) bombers enroute to Guangde airbase; according to Japanese records, were led by Commander Asano Shosa, with the intention of going to Guangde and bomb the Northrop bombers based there.}} Of these Gamma 2Es, twenty-five had been assembled in China from components provided by Northrop; these were deployed in various attack missions during the early stages of the war, particular against Imperial Japanese naval assets.Eden and Moeng 2002, pp. 74–77.{{Cite web|title=Martyr Chen Xi-chun|url=https://air.mnd.gov.tw/EN/PastCurrent/PastCurrent_Detail.aspx?FID=28&CID=176&ID=1324|access-date=2020-11-20|website=air.mnd.gov.tw|language=en|quote=On 19 August 1937, the 11th Bomber Squadron Cmdr. Gong Yin-cheng and 9th BS Cmdr. Xie Yu-ching from the 2nd BG, each led 14 Northrop Gamma 2Es (7 each) to depart from Guangde at 0900 hours and 0940 hours respectively en route to Yushan at the mouth of the Yantze River to bomb hostile carriers and vessels at Bai’long Harbor...}} In the morning of 11 November 1937, three Chinese Air Force Northrop 2ECs of the 2nd BG, 14th Squadron led by Capt. Yu attacked the IJN fleet aircraft carrier Kaga off the Ma'anshan Islands; the bombs fell wide into Kaga{{'}}s wake, and the Chinese Gammas were pursued and intercepted by three A5Ms of Kaga{{'}}s combat air patrol led by flight leader Jirō Chōno, shooting down two (Gammas no. 1405 of Sung I-Ching and Li Xi-Yong, and no. 1402 of Peng Te-Ming and Li Huan-Chieh) while Yu managed to escape into the clouds and return his damaged Gamma to base.{{Cite web|last=Gustavsson|first=Hakans|title=Japanese biplane fighter aces - Hatsu-o Hidaka|url=http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/japan_hidaka.htm|access-date=2020-11-20|website=Biplane Fighter Aces - Japan|quote=On 11 November 1937, three Northrop 2ECs (Gammas) of the 2nd BG led by Yu C. Y. attacked the carrier Kaga off the Ma'anshan Islands, missing the carrier, they were intercepted by three A5Ms from Kaga. Two of them were shot down; one was claimed by PO3c Hidaka while the second was claimed by the shotai leader Jiro Chono (his first combat and first victory).}}File:The Welding Gang.jpg plant at the Jianqiao Aerodrome standing before the assembly of a Gamma 2E; circa 1936]]

On June 2, 1933 Frank Hawks flew his Gamma 2A "Sky Chief" from Los Angeles to New York in a record 13 hours, 26 minutes, and 15 seconds. In 1935, Howard Hughes improved on this time in a modified Gamma 2G leased from Jacqueline Cochran, making the west-east transcontinental run in 9 hours, 26 minutes, and 10 seconds.

The most famous Gamma was the Polar Star. The aircraft was carried via ship and offloaded onto the pack ice in the Ross Sea during Lincoln Ellsworth's 1934 expedition to Antarctica. The Gamma was almost lost when the ice underneath it broke, and had to be returned to the United States for repairs. Polar Star{{'}}s second assignment to Antarctica in September 1934 was also futile — a connecting rod broke and the aircraft had to be returned yet again for repairs. On January 3, 1935, Ellsworth and pilot Bernt Balchen finally flew over Antarctica.

On November 23, 1935, Ellsworth and Canadian pilot Herbert Hollick-Kenyon attempted the world's first trans-Antarctic flight from Dundee Island in the Weddell Sea to Little America. The crew made four stops during their journey, in the process becoming the first people ever to visit Western Antarctica. During one stop, a blizzard completely packed the fuselage with snow which took a day to clear out. On December 5, after traveling over 2,400 miles (3,865 km) the aircraft ran out of fuel just 25 miles (40 km) short of the goal. The intrepid crew took six days to travel the remainder of the journey and stayed in the abandoned Richard E. Byrd camp until being found by the Discovery II research vessel on January 15, 1936. Polar Star was later recovered and donated to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.[http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19360042000 "The story of the Polar Star."] National Air and Space Museum. Retrieved: June 27, 2013.

;Gamma 2A: First production aircraft, sold to Texaco and flown by Frank Hawks as "Sky Chief", 785 hp (585 kW) Wright radial engine.[https://books.google.com/books?id=pigDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1931+plane&pg=PA19 "Fourteen Cylinder Motor In Hawke's New Plane", February 1933, Popular Science]

;Gamma 2B: Two-seat version with tandem controls, flown across Antarctica as the Polar Star, 500 hp (373 kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp radial engine.

;Gamma 2C (YA-13): Northrop-proposed attack version to compete with Curtiss A-12 Shrike armed with 4x 0.30 cal machine guns in the wings, 1x 0.30 cal machine gun on a flexible mount for rear defence, and up to 1,100 lb (500 kg) of bombs under the wings, evaluated by USAAC in 1933

;XA-16: YA-13 prototype redesignated after being fitted with a Pratt & Whitney R-1830-9 engine

;Gamma 2D: Cargo version used by TWA, three built, 710 hp (529 kW) Wright Cyclone engine. One aircraft was converted into an "Experimental Overweather Laboratory" studying icing, superchargers, radios, and turbulence at 20,000–35,000 ft (6,100–10,670 m), then used by USAAC under the designation UC-100. Another retired TWA aircraft was used by Spanish Republican air force for coastal patrol.

;Gamma 2E: Similar to Gamma 2C in armament except for a 1,600 lb (727 kg) bomb load, used by the Republic of China Air Force as a light bomber until 1938 with a number of aircraft built under license in China, one, as K5053, used by the British Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment, and two supplied to the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service, as the Northrop BXN, for evaluation in 1933.

{{anchor|Gamma2G}}File:Cochran's Northrop Gamma 2G with Curtiss Conqueror V-12 engine.jpg's Northrop Gamma 2G with Curtiss Conqueror V-12 engine]]

;Gamma 2F: Another attack version developed in parallel with Gamma 2C, entered service as Northrop A-17 .

;Gamma 2G: Two-seat race version, originally with a Curtiss Conqueror engine, later changed to Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp Jr., then to Wright Cyclone SGR-1820-G-5. Flown by Jacqueline Cochran and Howard Hughes.

;Gamma 2H: Testbed for Sperry automatic pilot, also flown by Russell Thaw to a third-place finish in the 1935 Bendix Trophy race.{{Cite web|editor-last=Shupek|editor-first=John|url=https://www.skytamer.com/Northrop_1933(Gamma2H).html|title=Northrop Gamma 2H|website=www.skytamer.com|location=Whittier, California|year=2012}}

;Gamma 2J: Two-seat trainer powered by 600 hp (448 kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp with retractable undercarriage intended for USAAC. North American BC-1 preferred. Only one built.Francillon 1979, p.153.

;Gamma 2L: Used by Bristol for Bristol Hercules engine testing.

;Gamma 5A: One aircraft exported to Imperial Japanese Navy (designation BXN1) as a study in modern engineering.

;Gamma 5B: Two-seat version with the cockpits moved forward, used by the Spanish Republican air force for coastal patrol.

;Gamma 5D: One aircraft exported to Japan with "Army-type" equipment (designation BXN2), studied by Nakajima, then passed to Manchukuo National Airways which used it for aerial reconnaissance over China and USSR.

;{{Flagcountry|Nationalist government}}

• Chinese Nationalist Air Force

;{{flag|Empire of Japan}}

• Imperial Japanese Army Air Service

;{{flagcountry|Spanish Republic}}

• Spanish Republican Air Force – Northrop 2D and 5B Gamma

;{{USA}}

• United States Army Air Corps

;{{flag|Manchukuo}}

• Manchukuo National Airways

;{{USA}}

• Trans World Airlines

{{Aircraft specs

|ref=McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920 Francillon 1979, pp. 148, 154.

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|eng1 name=Wright R-1820 Cyclone

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File:NorthropGammaLeft.JPG|Left side of Gamma with landing gears

File:NorthropGammaRightFront.JPG|Right front of Gamma

File:NorthropGammaCockpit.JPG|Cockpit of Gamma

File:NorthropGammaFront.JPG|Front end

File:NorthropGammaSki.JPG|Wooden landing ski

File:NorthropGammaPropeller.JPG|Propeller

File:NorthropGammaleftfront.JPG|Front left of Gamma

{{aircontent|

|sequence=

|related=

• Northrop A-17
• Northrop Alpha
• Northrop Beta
• Northrop Delta
• Northrop YA-13

|similar aircraft=

• Curtiss A-12 Shrike
• Lockheed Model 9 Orion

|lists=

|see also=

}}

;Notes

{{reflist}}

;Bibliography

{{refbegin}}

• Eden, Paul and Soph Moeng. The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. London: Amber Books Ltd., 2002. {{ISBN|0-7607-3432-1}}.
• Francillon, René J. McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920. London:Putnam, 1979. {{ISBN|0-370-00050-1}}.
• Smith, M.J. Jr. Passenger Airliners of the United States, 1926–1991. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1986. {{ISBN|0-933126-72-7}}.

{{refend}}

{{commons category}}

• [http://www.airminded.net/alpha/gamma.html Northrop Gamma photographs/history]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071217161842/http://www.kcbx.net/~mhd/Passions/Northrop/gamma.htm Northrop Gamma 2A, Sky Chief]

{{Northrop aircraft}}

{{USAF transports}}

{{Japanese Navy short aircraft designations}}

Category:1930s United States civil utility aircraft

Gamma

Category:Low-wing aircraft

Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft

Category:Aircraft first flown in 1932

Category:1930s United States mailplanes