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De 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 the A-17 light bomber. The 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 Alphas, the fixed landing gear was covered in distinctive aerodynamic spats, and the aircraft introduced a fully enclosed cockpit.

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De Northrop Gamma was a remarkable aircraft that made significant contributions to aviation history in the 1930s. It was designed by Jack Northrop, who applied his innovative concepts of wing fillets and multicellular stressed-skin wing construction to create a sleek and sturdy monoplane. The Gamma had a fully enclosed cockpit and a fixed landing gear with aerodynamic spats. It was powered by a single radial engine that gave it a top speed of about 220 mph.
The Gamma was used by Trans World Airlines as a mail plane, but it also served as a flying laboratory and a record-breaking machine. Several famous pilots flew the Gamma, such as Frank Hawks, who crossed the United States from Los Angeles to New York in 13 hours and 26 minutes in 1933, and Howard Hughes, who improved on this time by flying west-east in 9 hours and 26 minutes in 1935. The most famous Gamma was the Polar Star, which was flown by Lincoln Ellsworth and Bernt Balchen over Antarctica in 1935.
De Gamma had ook een militaire carrière, want hij werd ontwikkeld tot de Northrop A-17 lichte bommenwerper. De A-17 had verschillende verbeteringen ten opzichte van de Gamma, zoals intrekbaar landingsgestel, duikremmen, bommenrekken en machinegeweren. De A-17 werd gebruikt door verschillende luchtmachten over de hele wereld, waaronder China en Spanje. De Chinese luchtmacht zette 25 Gamma 2E's in tegen Japan tijdens de Tweede Chinees-Japanse Oorlog.
De Northrop Gamma was een belangrijke mijlpaal in de ontwikkeling van volledig metalen eendekkers en maakte de weg vrij voor meer geavanceerde ontwerpen van Northrop Corporation.