The origins of the Seversky P-35 single-seat fighter trace back to the Seversky SEV-3 amphibian, which was developed into the Seversky BT-8 basic trainer. Seversky's chief designer, Alexander Kartveli, also proposed a two-seat fighter derivative, the SEV-2XP. This was powered by a 735 hp (548 kW) Wright R-1670 radial engine. It had fixed landing gear in aerodynamic spats and was armed with one 0.50 in (12.70 mm) and one 0.30 in (7.62 mm) forward-firing machine guns plus an additional 0.30 in (7.62 mm) machine gun for rear defence.

When the USAAC announced a competition for a new single-seat fighter in 1935, Seversky sent the SEV-2XP, confident it would win despite being a two-seater. However, the aircraft was damaged on 18 June 1935 during its transit to the fly-offs at Wright Field. The Air Corps delayed the fly-off until March 1936, which allowed Seversky time to rework the fighter into the single-seat SEV-1XP with retractable landing gear and re-engined with the Wright R-1820 radial.^[1]

In what proved to be an unpopular move for Seversky, twenty 2PA-B3s were sold to the Japanese Navy, which briefly employed them in the Second Sino-Japanese War as Navy Type S Two-Seat Fighter or A8V1 (Allied codename "Dick").

Two demonstrators ended up in the USSR; although a manufacturing licence was also bought, the Soviets undertook no production.

Sweden ordered 52 2PAs (known as the B 6), but only two were delivered before the remaining 50 were impounded in 1940 and put into service with the USAAC as the AT-12 Guardsman advanced trainer. On 18 June 1940, United States declared an embargo against exporting weapons to any nation other than the United Kingdom.

2PA

Two-seat version of Seversky P-35 with rear gunner.

2PA-202 - European demonstrator (1)

2PA-A - for USSR (1)

2PA-B - European demonstrator (1)

2PA-BX - European demonstrator (1)

2PA-B3 - 20 production aircraft for Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service as Seversky A8V1.

2PA-L - for USSR (1)

A8V1 "Dick"

Japanese designation for 2PA-B3 (and U.S. codename).

B 6

Swedish designation of the 2PA (only 2 delivered, see below).

AT-12 Guardsman

Two-seat advanced trainer for the USAAF (50 2PA ordered by Sweden, but impounded).

  Japan

• Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service

  Sweden

• Swedish Air Force

  United States

• United States Army Air Corps

Data from ^[2]

General characteristics

• Crew: two
• Length: 26 ft 11 in (8.2 m)
• Wingspan: 36 ft 0 in (10.97 m)
• Height: 9 ft 10 in (2.99 m)
• Wing area: 220.0 sq ft (20.44 m²)
• Empty weight: 4,581 lb (2,078 kg)
• Gross weight: 7,659 lb (3,474 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Wright R-1820 Cyclone radial piston engine, 1,000 hp (750 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 316 mph (508 km/h, 274 kn)
• Range: 1,950 mi (3,138 km, 1,694 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 30,000 ft (9,100 m)

Related development

• Seversky P-35

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Blackburn Skua
• Boulton Paul Defiant

Notes

Bibliography

• Seversky P-35 – National Museum of the United States Air Force
• Information about all models and survivors of this series. Also information about new replicas to be built by VCS.