Brewster F2A-3 Buffalo
|
Crew |
1 |
|
Dimensions |
35'1" by 26'3" by
12'2" 10.69m by 8.00m by 3.71m |
|
Wing area |
209 square feet 19.4 square meter |
|
Weight |
4732-7159 lbs 2146-3247 kg |
| 1100hp Wright R-1820-40 (G-205A) Cyclone nine-cylinder radial, rated at 1200 hp takeoff, 900 hp at 14,000 feet. | |
|
Maximum speed |
300 mph (483 km/h) at 16,500 feet (5030 meters) 284 mph (526 km/h) at sea level. |
|
Landing speed |
81 mph 150 km/h |
|
Takeoff length |
230/508 feet 70/155 meters |
|
Rate of climb |
41 feet per second 12.5 meters per second |
|
Ceiling |
30,500 feet 9300 meters |
|
Armament |
2 wing 0.50
machine guns 2 fuselage 0.50 machine guns |
|
Range |
965 miles (1550km) at 171 mph (275km/h) or 7.0 hours
normal Maximum 1680 miles (2700km) |
|
Fuel |
110-240 gallons 416-908 liters |
|
Built |
11 F2A-1, 43 F2A-2 and 108
F2A-3 from 12/8/39 to 4/42 by Brewster Aircraft Company, Long Island
City, NY. An additional 170 went to the RAF in Malaya and 72 to the Netherlands East Indies. |
|
Variants |
The –1 was armed with one 0.50 and one 0.30 machine gun. The –2 lacked armor and self-sealing fuel tanks. |
The Brewster Buffalo was the U.S. Navy’s first monoplane carrier fighter. As such its performance was much better than any previous Navy fighter. However, it was obsolescent by 1941, and it became notorious for its poor combat record over Malaya, the Netherlands East Indies, and Midway. It had lousy visibility and heavy and unstable controls.
Curiously, the Buffalo was much liked by Finnish pilots who received the aircraft during the Winter War of 1939-40. This probably reflects the rapid advancement in fighter aircraft performance, or perhaps it reflects on the relative skill of the Soviet and Finnish pilots.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia (c) 2007 by Kent G. Budge. Index
