Brewster's F2A had the USN Buffaloed

Flight Journal, Dec 2004 by Bodie, Warren M

IN 1810, LONG BEFORE THE AUTOMOBILE HAD BEEN invented, James Brewster started a company that built carts, wagons and coaches. The company eventually became Brewster Aeronautical, and in 1932, production was switched to aircraft floats and substructures. In April 1936, the company hired two designers and turned out a Navy monoplane scout bomber (XSBA-1) that was designed to USN specifications. The Naval Aircraft Factory stepped in to help develop and produce 30 aircraft (redesignated as "SBN-1"). In competition with Grumman Aircraft's new XF4F-1 biplane, Brewster won the contract for the first monoplane Navy carrier fighter-the Model B-139; Grumman soon followed with its own monoplane design-the XF4F-2, and Seversky's entry was the NF-1 spinoff of its Air Corps production P-35.

Brewster's prototype, known as the Navy XF2A-1, first flew in December 1937, and on June 11, 1938, the company won a production contract for 54 F2A-1s. The F2A-1's Wright XR-1820-22 radial engine produced 950hp for takeoff but only a pitiful 750hp at altitude. Its top speed was given as 301 mph, although the lighter XF2A-1 recorded a top speed of only 277mph. Concurrently, the Air Corps' Seversky P-35 could honestly claim only 285mph when powered by Pratt & Whitney's 950hp smaller-diameter R-1830-9 radial engine-go figure! Meanwhile, Grumman had serious problems with its XF4F-2; it needed more wing area, power, directional control, etc; major redesign efforts took considerable time and resulted in an August 1939 contract for 78 production F4F-3 fighters. By that time, it was very maneuverable and about 50mph faster than the excessively bulky Brewster F2A-1s.

Switching to a more powerful, but heavier, F2A-2 version, BuAer eventually procured the F2A-2s (one is pictured here) for USN fleet service in early 1940. They were assigned to serve by Navy squadrons VF-2 and VF-3 aboard USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Saratoga (CV-3). The Battle of Midway Island quickly resulted in the fighters' being withdrawn from duty with the fleet and from Marine Corps operational use.

Warren M. Bodie

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