Boeing GA-1

Boeing · United States · first flew 1920 · bomber

The Boeing GA-1 was a heavily armoured triplane ground-attack aircraft, built to strafe enemy troops while resisting fire from the ground.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Mid-mounted, straight
E — Engines	2 × piston, wing-mounted
F — Fuselage	Heavily framed, thickly armoured fuselage with a 37mm cannon and multiple gun positions
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Armoured triplane with three closely stacked wings
Twin Liberty engines mounted as pushers between the wings
Heavily framed, thickly armoured fuselage with a 37mm cannon and multiple gun positions

Its three closely spaced wings and pusher-mounted twin engines set well back from the nose make the GA-1 unmistakable among early 1920s US Army aircraft.

Specifications

The Boeing GA-1 has a length of 10.25 m (34 ft).
It has a wingspan of 19.97 m (66 ft).
Its maximum speed is 169 km/h (105 mph).
Typical crew: 3.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Designed soon after the First World War as part of the US Army Engineering Division's GAX (Ground Attack, Experimental) programme championed by General Billy Mitchell, the GA-1 carried a 37mm cannon and eight machine guns behind 4.75mm armour plate. Boeing received a production contract in June 1920, but pilots disliked its poor visibility, heavy vibration and long takeoff runs.

Variants

Ten production GA-1s were built from an order originally for twenty; no further variants followed.

Where you'll see it

All ten GA-1s were scrapped by 1926 after a brief, unpopular service life; none survives today.

Related aircraft

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