the Brazilian hinterland in 11 hours and 45 min on 8 November 1939 using a V-11. On 26 August 1942, a U-boat was attacked 50 miles off the town of Ararangua off the southern coast of Brazil. Despite the unsuitability for anti submarine operations, the aircraft flew low and dropped its load of three bombs, some of which exploded around the submarine, however the blast damaged the low flying aircraft. Soviet Union In 1936, the Soviet Union purchased four three-seat V-11-GB aircraft, together with a production license. The aircraft entered Soviet production in 1937 as the BSh-1 (Bronirovanny Shturmovik), but the armour fitted for the ground attack role unacceptably reduced performance and production was stopped after 31 aircraft. They were transferred to Aeroflot and redesignated PS-43 for use as high speed transports until the German invasion in 1941, when they were returned to the Air Force for liaison purposes. United States In the late 1930s, the United States Army Air Corps favored twin-engine light attack aircraft but seven YA-19 aircraft were ordered in the summer of 1938 for comparison purposes. The YA-19s were armed with six machine guns and bombs in an internal bomb bay, powered by a Twin Wasp radial engine and was manned by a crew of three including a pilot, observer/gunner, and bombardier/photographer. An unusual feature of the YA-19 design was its horizontal stabiliser which was located forward of the vertical tail. The small size of the vertical stabilizer caused yaw instability so the last YA-19 (S/N 38-555) was equipped with enlarged vertical stabilizer. Service tests showed that twin-engine attack aircraft were faster, could be better armed and carried a larger bomb load so no further YA-19s were ordered. After comparison tests five YA-19s were redesignated A-19 and assigned to the 17th Attack Group at March Field in California for a brief period before being transferred to the Panama Canal Zone for utility transport and liaison duties. The A-19 never saw combat and was quickly withdrawn in the early 1940s. Variants Vultee Designations V-11 First prototype fitted with Wright SR-1820-F53 Cyclone driving a two-bladed Hamilton Standard controllable-pitch propeller, which crashed killing both pilot and the project engineer. V-11-A Second prototype, similar to first V-11, but with a three-bladed constant speed propeller. V-11-G Initial production two-seat light bomber. Powered by an Wright R-1820-G2 Cyclone engine. 30 built for China. V-11-GB Three-seat version of V-11. 4 aircraft purchased by