Brewster F2A Buffalo

what is it?

The Brewster F2A Buffalo is an American fighter aircraft which saw service early in World War II. Designed and built by the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation, it was one of the first U.S. monoplanes with an arrestor hook and other modifications for aircraft carriers. The Buffalo won a competition against the Grumman F4F Wildcat in 1939 to become the U.S. Navy's first monoplane fighter aircraft. Although superior to the Grumman F3F biplane it replaced, and the early F4Fs, the Buffalo was largely obsolete when the United States entered the war, being unstable and overweight, especially when compared to the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 10.7 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 516 km/htop speed
• size 3,247 kgmax take-off weight
• built 509made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 89 years ago, in 1937.
• 🏎️Top speed is 4.0× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 10.7 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.1× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1937-12-02

introduced

1939

retired

1948

status

retired

number built

509

role

fighter aircraft

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Brewster Aeronautical Corporation

engines

1× Wright R-1820-40 Cyclone 9

length

8 m

wingspan

10.7 m

height

3.7 m

max take-off weight

3,247 kg

top speed

516 km/h

cruise speed

259 km/h

range

—

ceiling

10,119 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.