Bellanca 77-320

[Jschmus]

Since I've been out of work the last couple of weeks, I've been filling a lot of my off hours helping out at the Museum.  Yesterday I picked up a recent issue of Air Classics, which had a story about the "Beastly Bellanca Bomber".  Bellanca are primarily known as the builders of various small private and sport airplanes, but they made a short foray into military designs.  The story goes that they started out to design a light bomber for Republican Spain, but Roosevelt prevented the sale.  They shopped the design to the Fuerza Aerea Mexicana, but they didn't have the money.  Bellanca went back to the drawing board, and came up with the bigger, float-equipped 77-320.



Which was eventually sold to Colombia.  The bomber was powered by a pair of Wright radials, and carried a small bombload internally, with provision for smaller bombloads under the wings.  Defensive armament was five .30 machine guns.  Thirty 77-320s served until midwar, when they were replaced by assorted Lend-Lease aircraft.

It's a design worthy of Amiot or Farman, yet it was built in the USA!

[Archibald]

It is actually not ugly enough to be mistaken for an interwar Amiot or Farman bomber, so don't worry about that...    

[gooberliberation]

Mount two more engines in tandem with the ones already there, and glaze up the whole rear fuselage and it'd be perfect!

[Mossie]

Looks like an Otter on growth hormones!  Was there a land based version, cos if you take away the struts & "look-out post" nose it's actually quite an attractive aircraft.

[Scooterman]

Not quite the same but it's related.  Bellanca 66-75 Aircruiser.  This one is somewhat local.  From the Tillamook Air Museum -



I've seen this beast firsthand and it's big but oh so sexy!