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The prototype of this single-seat all-metal fighter flew for the first time in December 1937. The first production version was the F2A-1 powered by a 700.4kW Wright R-1820-34 radial engine. Eleven were operated by the US Navy on board USS Saratoga and 44 were exported to Finland. The F2A-1 was the US Navy's first monoplane fighter. These were followed by 43 894kW R-1820-40-engined F2A-2 and 108 F2A-3 for the US Navy. Meanwhile a few fighters had reached Belgium and others were in service in the Netherlands East Indies and with the RAF (called Buffalos). Apart from the Finnish fighters which fought well against the Russians, F2A were used almost exclusively against the Japanese and in all cases met superior aircraft. Heavy British losses in the Far East led to their withdrawal and US Navy action during the Battle of Midway was equally unsuccessful. A total of more than 500 F2A were built.
| MODEL | F2A-3 |
| CREW | 1 |
| ENGINE | 1 x Wright R-1820-40 Cyclone, 895kW |
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 3247 kg | 7158 lb |
| Empty weight | 2146 kg | 4731 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 10.67 m | 35 ft 0 in |
| Length | 8.03 m | 26 ft 4 in |
| Height | 3.68 m | 12 ft 1 in |
| Wing area | 19.41 m2 | 208.93 sq ft |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 517 km/h | 321 mph |
| Cruise speed | 415 km/h | 258 mph |
| Ceiling | 10120 m | 33200 ft |
| Range | 1550 km | 963 miles |
| ARMAMENT | 4 x 12.7mm machine-guns, 2 x 45-kg bombs |
 | A three-view drawing (752 x 1128) |
| Luis, 06.09.2008 Obv obselete at the start of WWII but acctually quite effective against Japanese aircraft | | Reino Myllymäki, reino.myllymaki(@)yit.fi, 01.08.2008 The only one Brewster 239 (F2A-1) is nowadays in The Aviation Museum of Central Finland inb Tikkakoski, Finland (www.k-silmailumuseo.fi). There is also the prototype of VL Humu which is the clone of F2A-1 or 239.
US Navy ordered 54 F2A-1 but only 11 delivered. The remaining 43 sold to Finland. Although that, Finland bought 44 F2A-1s but 38 came from US Navy order and six from Belgium order (339). 43-38=5. Where went the remaining five F2A-1s from US Navy order? | | MO Chance, vmit20(@)charter.net, 20.05.2008 Flew these in Pre- Operational Training before going into the F4U 1. Had to be a master mechanic (kidding) to pull out all the tools to unscrew and cut wires to let the gear down in an emergency. | | tom, n44378(@)peoplepc.com, 31.10.2007 Very difficult to find data and pix of this bird though highly manueverable pitifully under-utilized by military thinking at the time.. Pilots with world war one tactics were not properly trained for the zero or the me-109 too bad it didnt utilize a supercharged engine. I found a Model of this plane in an antique shop but made in a south american country for Revell 1:72 scale . |
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COMPANY
PROFILE
FACTS AND FIGURES© The F2A-1 was only armed with
two machine guns, one 7.62mm calibre and one 12.7mm. Most export models also
had wing guns, but RAF ones
often flew with half ammunition
to save weight. © Addition of armour plate on
the F2A-2 version reduced
any performance advantage
the basic Buffalo may have
had over Japanese fighters. © The Finns liked the Buffalo enough
to design a version called the Humu
('Reckless') with a wooden wing
and a Russian engine. It proved
unsatisfactory in trials and only a
single example was built.
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