Northrop Gamma 2ED-C
Single-engine two-seat low-wing bomber monoplane


Archive Photos

Northrop Gamma 2ED-C (K-5053, msn 13) Photo from the John Shupek Collection

Overview — Northrop Gamma Series


The Northrop Gamma was a single-engine all-metal monoplane cargo aircraft used in the 1930s. Towards the end of its service life, it was developed into a light bomber.

Design and Development — The Northrop 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 Northrop Alphas, the fixed landing gear was covered in distinctive aerodynamic spats, and the aircraft introduced a fully enclosed cockpit.

Operational History — The Northrop Gamma saw fairly limited civilian service as mail planes with Trans World Airlines, but had an illustrious career as flying laboratory and record-breaking aircraft. The US military found the design sufficiently interesting to encourage Northrop to develop it into what eventually became the Northrop A-17 Nomad light attack aircraft. Military versions of the Northrop Gamma saw combat with Chinese and Spanish Republican air forces. Twenty Five Northrop Gamma 2Es were assembled in China from components provided by Northrop.

On June 2, 1933 Frank Hawks flew his Northrop Gamma 2A Texaco 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 his modified Northrop Gamma 2G making the west-east transcontinental run in 9 hours, 26 minutes, and 10 seconds.

The most famous Northrop Gamma was the Northrop Gamma 2B Polar Star. The aircraft was carried via ship and off-loaded onto the pack ice in the Ross Sea during Lincoln Ellsworth’s 1934 expedition to Antarctica. The Northrop Gamma 2B was almost lost when the ice underneath it broke and it had to be returned to United States for repairs. The Northrop Gamma 2B Polar Star’s second return 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. The Northrop Gamma 2B Polar Star was later recovered and donated to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum where it resides to this day.

Overview — Northrop Gamma 2ED-C


The Northrop Gamma 2ED-C (s/n 47) was first flown with the U.S. civil experimental registration X13760. The Northrop Gamma 2ED-C was powered by a 735-hp, Wright Cyclone, SR-1820-F53 radial and was completed in July 1934 as a demonstration aircraft. In early 1935, piloted by Frank Hawks and G.W. Irving the Northrop Gamma 2ED-C was used for a 20,000 mile (32,200 km) tour through Central and South America to locate suitable landing fields and control stations for use in the proposed ‘Round America Air Race’. Countries visited included Cuba, Panama, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, El Salvador and Mexico. Total flying time for the tour was 101.23 hours at an average speed of slightly over 200 mph (320 km/hr). The aircraft was purchased in 1935 by the British Air Ministry for evaluation by the A&AEE at Martlesham Heath. The aircraft received the serial K5053 upon delivery to the United Kingdom. Its subsequent fate is unknown.

Northrop Gamma Variants


Civil Variants

Military Variants

Northrop Gamma Operators


Military Operators

Civil Operators

Northrop Gamma 2ED-C Specifications and Performance Data


Type

Wings

Fuselage

Tail Unit

Undercarriage

Power Plant

Accommodation

Dimensions

Weights and Loadings

Performance (Maximum loading with 1,000 lbs = 450 kg bombs)

Performance (a loaded weight of 6,400 lbs = 2,000 kg without bombs and racks)

References



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