The A-17 series was a direct descendent of the pace setting Northrop Gamma, made famous by the aerial explorer Lincoln Ellsworth. It replaced the Curtiss A-8 and A-12 Shrike and was the last of the pre-WWII single-engine attack aircraft ordered into production by the Army Air Corps. The 'A' model seen here introduced a more powerful engine and fully retractable undercarriage. Arriving at the museum in 1971, it is displayed in the 1938 marks of the 90th Attack Squadron, 3rd Attack Group

36-185 was assigned to NACA at Langley. Returned to Douglas, which had taken over Northrop, and sold to France. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

1937: TOS with USAAC. 25 Jun 1937: 3rd Attack Group, Barksdale, LA. Ca. 1939: Kelly Field, TX. Apr 1940: Bolling Field, DC; Served as support aircraft for Military Attaches in Honduras, Guatemala, and Haiti. 20 Jun 1941: TOS USAAF. No dates as to when NMUSAF acquired it, but it is the only A-17 type to exist.

The serial of this aircraft, applied only in the data block on the left side of the forward fuselage, could be read off a large scan of this sharp photo. It was more difficult to trace the unit. The 88th Reconnaissance Squadron seems to have operated a mixed bag of planes around 1937, including this early Northrop A-17 (no suffix) - note fixed landing gear. They were based at Hamilton Field, California. The picture was taken at Redding Municipal Airport which must then have been Benton Field. Photo from: California State Library

Northrop developed the A-17 in the early 1930s to fill a USAAC requirement for an attack bomber. This example, on display at the National Museum of the USAF, is one of 129 built of the 'A' version that included an retractable undercarriage and improved engine.