The Brewster F2A Buffalo is an American
fighter aircraft which saw service early in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Designed and built by the
Brewster Aeronautical Corporation
The Brewster Aeronautical Corporation was an American defense contractor that operated from the 1930s until the end of World War II.
History
Originally a carriage builder, Brewster & Co.'s involvement in aviation began in the aftermath of W ...
, it was one of the first U.S.
monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...
s with an arrestor hook and other modifications for aircraft carriers. The Buffalo won a competition against the
Grumman F4F Wildcat
The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atlant ...
in 1939 to become the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
's first monoplane fighter aircraft. Although superior to the
Grumman F3F
The Grumman F3F was a biplane fighter aircraft produced by the Grumman aircraft for the United States Navy during the mid-1930s. Designed as an improvement on the F2F, it entered service in 1936 as the last biplane to be delivered to any Ameri ...
biplane it replaced, and the early F4Fs,
[Wheeler 1992, p. 58.] 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
The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. The A6M w ...
.
Several nations, including Finland, Belgium, Britain and the Netherlands, ordered the Buffalo. The Finns were the most successful with their Buffalos, flying them in combat against early Soviet fighters with excellent results.
[Ethell 1995, p. 212.] During the
Continuation War
The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...
of 1941–1944, the B-239s (de-navalized F2A-1s) operated by the
Finnish Air Force
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries =
, equipment = 159
, equipment_label ...
proved capable of engaging and destroying most types of Soviet fighter aircraft operating against Finland at that time, and claimed in the first phase of that conflict 32 Soviet aircraft shot down for every B-239 lost,
[Neulen 2000, p. 217.] producing 36 Buffalo "
aces".
[Stenman and Thomas 2010, p. 85.]
In December 1941, Buffalos operated by both
British Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
(B-339E) and
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
(B-339C/D) air forces in
South East Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...
suffered severe losses in combat against the Japanese Navy's A6M Zero and the Japanese Army's
Nakajima Ki-43
The Nakajima Ki-43 ''Hayabusa'' (, "Peregrine falcon", "Army Type 1 Fighter" ) is a single-engine land-based tactical fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in World War II.
The Allied reporting name was "Oscar", but it was o ...
"Oscar". The British attempted to lighten their Buffalos by removing ammunition and fuel and installing lighter guns to improve performance, but it made little difference.
[Ethell 1995, p. 213.] After the first few engagements, the Dutch halved the fuel and ammunition load in the wings, which allowed their Buffalos (and their
Hurricanes
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
) to stay with the Oscars in turns.
[Boer 2006, p. 83.]
The Buffalo was built in three variants for the U.S. Navy: the F2A-1, F2A-2 and F2A-3. (In foreign service, with lower horsepower engines, these types were designated B-239, B-339, and B-339-23 respectively.) The F2A-3 variant saw action with
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
(USMC) squadrons at the
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under ...
. Shown by the experience of Midway to be no match for the Zero,
the F2A-3 was derided by USMC pilots as a "flying coffin". Indeed, the F2A-3s performance was substantially inferior
to the F2A-2 variant used by the Navy before the outbreak of the war despite detail improvements.
Design and development
United States Navy
In 1935, the U.S. Navy issued a requirement for a
carrier-based fighter intended to replace the
Grumman F3F
The Grumman F3F was a biplane fighter aircraft produced by the Grumman aircraft for the United States Navy during the mid-1930s. Designed as an improvement on the F2F, it entered service in 1936 as the last biplane to be delivered to any Ameri ...
biplane. The Brewster XF2A-1 monoplane, designed by a team led by Dayton T. Brown, was one of two aircraft designs that were initially considered.
The
XF4F-1 with a double-row radial engine was a "classic" biplane. The U.S. Navy competition was re-opened to allow another competitor, the XFNF-1, a navalized
Seversky P-35
The Seversky P-35 is an American fighter aircraft built by the Seversky Aircraft Company in the late 1930s. A contemporary of the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, the P-35 was the first single-seat fighter in United States Army Air Co ...
eliminated early on when the prototype could not reach more than . The XF2A-1 first flew on 2 December 1937 and early test results showed it was far in advance of the Grumman biplane entry. While the XF4F-1 did not enter production, it later re-emerged as a monoplane, the
Wildcat
The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...
.
The Buffalo was manufactured at the
Brewster Building in
Long Island City, New York
Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...
.
![Brewster XF2A-1 fighter g03807](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Brewster_XF2A-1_fighter_g03807.jpg)
The new Brewster fighter had a modern look with a stubby fuselage, mid-set monoplane wings and a host of advanced features. It was all-metal, with flush-riveted, stressed
aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
construction, although control surfaces were still fabric-covered. The XF2A-1 also featured split flaps, a hydraulically operated retractable main undercarriage (and partially retractable tailwheel), and a streamlined framed canopy. However (as was still common at this time), the aircraft lacked
self-sealing fuel tank
A self-sealing fuel tank is a type of fuel tank, typically used in aircraft fuel tanks or fuel bladders, that prevents them from leaking fuel and igniting after being damaged.
Typical self-sealing tanks have multiple layers of rubber and reinfo ...
s and
pilot armor. Fuel capacity was only , stored in the fuselage. Powered by a single-row
Wright R-1820-22 Cyclone radial engine, it had a good initial climb rate of and a top speed of . The aircraft was then tested in 1938 in the
Langley Research Center full-scale wind tunnel, where it was determined that certain factors were contributing to parasitic drag. Based on the tests, improvements were made to the cowling streamlining and carburetor and oil cooler intakes, and the Buffalo's speed rose to at without any increase in power. Other manufacturers took notice of this 10% increase in speed and efficiency, and wind tunnel tests became standard procedure in the US. With only a single-stage supercharger, high-altitude performance fell off rapidly.
Fuselage armament was one fixed
M2 Browning machine gun with 200 rounds and one fixed
AN Browning machine gun with 600 rounds, both in the nose. The Navy awarded
Brewster Aeronautical Corporation
The Brewster Aeronautical Corporation was an American defense contractor that operated from the 1930s until the end of World War II.
History
Originally a carriage builder, Brewster & Co.'s involvement in aviation began in the aftermath of W ...
a production contract for 54 aircraft, the ''F2A-1s''.
Service testing of the XF2A-1 prototype began in January 1938 and in June, production started on the F2A-1. They were powered by Wright R-1820-34 engines and had larger fins. The added weight of two additional Browning wing guns and other equipment specified by the Navy for combat operations reduced the initial rate of climb to . Plagued by production difficulties, Brewster delivered only 11 F2A-1 aircraft to the Navy; the remainder of the order was later diverted to the Finnish Air Force in modified form under the export designation Model 239.
![Brewster F2A-3 Buffalos USN training unit NAN11-90](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Brewster_F2A-3_Buffalos_USN_training_unit_NAN11-90.jpg)
A later variant, the ''F2A-2'', of which 43 were ordered by the U.S. Navy, included a more powerful R-1820-40 engine, a better propeller, and integral flotation gear, while still lacking pilot armor and self-sealing tanks. The increase in engine power was welcomed, but to some extent offset by the increased loaded weight () of the aircraft; while top speed was increased to a respectable at , initial climb rates dropped to . Both the F2A-1 and the F2A-2 variants of the Brewster were liked by early Navy and Marine pilots, including
Pappy Boyington
Gregory "Pappy" Boyington (December 4, 1912 – January 11, 1988) was an American combat pilot who was a United States Marine Corps fighter ace during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. A Marine aviator with ...
, who praised the good turning and maneuvering abilities of the aircraft. Boyington is alleged to have opined "...the early models, before they weighed it all down with armor plate, radios, and other
quipment they were pretty sweet little ships. Not real fast, but the little
ircraftcould turn and roll in a phone booth" as he stated in his autobiography ''Baa Baa Black Sheep''. This might be expected from the low wing loading, in earlier versions comparable with the
Mitsubishi A6M Zero
The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. The A6M w ...
's 22 pounds per square foot.
The ''F2A-3'' was the last version of the Buffalo to enter service with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. A total of 108 examples were ordered in January 1941. By this time, the Navy had become disenchanted with the Buffalo, and had become especially annoyed at Brewster Aeronautical Corporation's frequent production delays and its frequent management difficulties. This order was seen more as a way of keeping Brewster's production lines running; they would eventually build Corsair fighters for the Navy as well as
Buccaneer/Bermuda dive bombers.
The F2A-3s were conceived as long range reconnaissance fighters with new
wet wing
A wet wing (also referred to as ''integral fuel tanks''Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 557. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. ) is an aerospace engineering technique where an aircraft's wing structure is se ...
s with self-sealing features and larger fuselage tanks which provided increased fuel capacity and protection, but this also increased the aircraft weight by more than .
[Lundstrom 2005, p. 12.] The wing and enlarged fuselage tank carried an additional of fuel; at , the fuel alone weighed nearly . The addition of armor plating for the pilot and increased ammunition capacity further increased the aircraft's weight, resulting in a reduced top speed and rate of climb, while substantially degrading the Brewster's turning and maneuvering capability.
The Navy found that the added weight of the F2A-3 also aggravated the problem of landing gear failure during carrier landings. However, the −40 two-speed supercharged Cyclone engine in the F2A-3 was an excellent "cruising" engine, and as such the F2A-3 had some value and saw initial service on the carriers ''Saratoga'' and ''Lexington''.
Even in late 1940 it was apparent that the Buffalo was rapidly becoming obsolete. It badly needed a more powerful engine, but the limits of the airframe had been reached, making installation of a larger engine impossible. Soon after deliveries of the F2A-3 began, the Navy decided to eliminate the type altogether. By then, considered a second line aircraft, some were transferred to the U.S. Marine Corps, which deployed two F2A-3 squadrons to the Pacific, one at
Palmyra Atoll
Palmyra Atoll (), also referred to as Palmyra Island, is one of the Northern Line Islands (southeast of Kingman Reef and north of Kiribati). It is located almost due south of the Hawaiian Islands, roughly one-third of the way between Hawaii a ...
, and another at
Midway Island
Midway Atoll (colloquial: Midway Islands; haw, Kauihelani, translation=the backbone of heaven; haw, Pihemanu, translation=the loud din of birds, label=none) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the Unit ...
. Those which still remained on board aircraft carriers narrowly missed a combat opportunity when a relief mission was dispatched to Wake Island, but the relief force was withdrawn before completing the mission. Shortly thereafter, F2A-3s still in naval service were transferred to training squadrons for use as advanced trainers.
Operational history
The first unit to be equipped with the F2A-1 was Lt. Cdr. Warren Harvey's
VF-3, assigned to air group. On 8 December 1939, VF-3 received 10 of the 11 Buffalos delivered to the U.S. Navy.
[Stenman and Thomas 2010, pp. 6–7.] The remaining 43 F2A-1s were declared surplus and sold to
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
.
[Stenman and Thomas 2010, p. 7.] Ralph Ingersoll wrote in late 1940 after visiting Britain that the Buffalo and other American aircraft "cannot compete with either the existing English or German fighters", so Britain used them "either as advanced trainers --or for fighting equally obsolete Italian planes in the Middle East. That is all they are good for". Even the
Eagle Squadrons
The Eagle Squadrons were three fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force (RAF) formed with volunteer pilots from the United States during the early days of World War II (circa 1940), prior to America's entry into the war in December 1941.
Wit ...
's American pilots used
Hawker Hurricanes
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...
instead of the Buffalo.
Early in the war all modern monoplane fighter types were in high demand, however. Consequently, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the
Netherlands East Indies purchased several hundred export models.
[Stenman and Keskinen 1998, p. 74.]
Finland
![Brewster BW-355](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Brewster_BW-355.jpg)
In April 1939, the Finnish government contacted the Roosevelt administration, requesting the supply of modern combat aircraft as quickly as possible. On 17 October, the Finnish Embassy in Washington, D.C., received a telegram clearing the purchase of fighter aircraft. The only strict requirements laid down by Finnish authorities were that the aircraft be already operational and able to use 87-
octane fuel.
[Stenman and Thomas 2010, p. 10.] Part of an F2A-1 shipment – 44 aircraft originally intended for the US Navy – was diverted to Finland, by the US State Department, after the USN agreed to instead accept a later shipment of F2A-2 variants.
On 16 December, the Finnish government signed a contract to purchase 44 aircraft: a F2A-1 variant designated Model ''B-239E'' by Brewster.
Unlike other fighters already in service, the F2A-1 and B-239E lacked self-sealing fuel tanks and cockpit armor. However, the B-239E was built with a more powerful engine than the F2A-1, in the form of the Wright R-1820-G5, producing ,
and the capacity to carry four machine guns (rather than the two carried by the F2A-1). The B-239E was also "de-navalized" before shipment: equipment such as
tailhook
A tailhook, arresting hook, or arrester hook is a device attached to the empennage (rear) of some military fixed-wing aircraft. The hook is used to achieve rapid deceleration during routine landings aboard aircraft carrier flight decks at sea, ...
s and
life raft
A lifeboat or liferaft is a small, rigid or inflatable boat carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard a ship. Lifeboat drills are required by law on larger commercial ships. Rafts ( liferafts) are also used. In the m ...
containers were removed.
[Maas, Jim]
"Brewster F2A-1 & Model 239".
''clubhyper.com.'' Retrieved: 8 March 2009. The upgraded engine and slightly reduced net weight (i.e. from the omitted armor and de-navalization) resulted in an improved power-to-weight ratio and better general performance.
In four batches the B-239E was shipped initially to
Bergen
Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...
, in Norway, in January and February 1940 from
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. The crated fighters were then sent by railway to Sweden and assembled by
SAAB
Saab or SAAB may refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB
** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB
* Saab Automobile, a fo ...
at Trollhättan, northeast of
Gothenburg.
[Stenman and Thomas 2010, pp. 10–11.]
After delivery of the B-239E, the Finnish Air Force added armored backrests, metric flight instruments, the
Väisälä T.h.m.40 gunsight, and four machine guns. The top speed of the Finnish B-239s, as modified, was at , and their loaded weight was .
In February 1940, pilot Lieutenant
Jorma "Joppe" Karhunen flight-tested the first B-239 to become operational in Finland.
[Lindberg, J]
"Jorma "Joppe" Karhunen."
''Fighter Tactics Academy'', January 2006. Retrieved: 10 August 2009. Unfamiliar with the aircraft, he burned out the engine while flying very low at high speed; crashing on a snow-covered field, damaging the propeller and some belly panels.
Initially unimpressed, the Finns later witnessed a demonstration by a Brewster test pilot, who was able to stay on the tail of a Finnish
Fiat G.50
The Fiat G.50 ''Freccia'' ("Arrow") was a World War II Italian fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by aviation company Fiat. Upon entering service, the type became Italy’s first single-seat, all-metal monoplane that had an enclosed ...
''Freccia'' fighter from Italy; although the Fiat fighter was faster in level flight, the Brewster could out-turn it.
[Ford. Dan (reprinted by Jarmo Lindberg)]
"Robert Winston and the Finnish Brewsters, 1940 (part 1)."
''warbirdforum.com,'' June 2008. Retrieved: 30 October 2010.
None of the B-239E fighters saw combat in the
Winter War
The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...
(1939–1940). However, five of the six delivered during the war became combat-ready before it ended.
The B-239E was never referred to as the name Buffalo in Finland; it was known simply as the Brewster, or by the nicknames ''Taivaan helmi'' ("sky pearl") or ''Pohjoisten taivaiden helmi'' ("pearl of the northern skies"). Other nicknames were ''Pylly-Valtteri'' (lit. "butt-walter"), ''Amerikanrauta'' ("American hardware" or "American car") and ''Lentävä kaljapullo'' ("flying beer-bottle"). The total of 44 examples of the B-239E fighters used by the FAF received serial numbers ''BW-351'' to ''BW-394''.
![Brewster 239 formation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Brewster_239_formation.png)
Finnish pilots regarded the B-239E as being easy to fly, or in the words of ace
Ilmari Juutilainen
Eino Ilmari "Illu" Juutilainen (21 February 1914 – 21 February 1999) was a fighter pilot of the Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force), and the top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time. The top flying ace of the Finnish Air Force, he led all Fi ...
, a "gentlemen's travelling
touring.html"_;"title="tourism.html"_;"title="r_tourism">touring">tourism.html"_;"title="r_tourism">touringplane".__The_Buffalo_was_also_popular_within_the_FAF_because_of_its_relatively_long_range_and_good_maintenance_record._This_was_in_part_due_to_the_efforts_of_the_Finnish_mechanics,_who_solved_a_problem_that_plagued_the_Wright_Cyclone_engine_by_inverting_one_of_the_piston_rings_in_each_cylinder,_which_had_a_positive_effect_on_reliability._The_cooler_weather_of_Finland_also_helped,_because_the_engine_was_prone_to_overheating_as_noted_in_tropical_Pacific_use._The_Brewster_Buffalo_earned_a_reputation_in_Finnish_Air_Force_service_as_one_of_its_more_successful_fighter_aircraft,_along_with_the_Fiat_G.50,_which_scored_an_unprecedented_kill-loss_ratio_of_33-1.
Arena_1996,_p._483.
In_service_from_1941_to_1945,_Buffalos_of_No._24_Squadron,_Finnish_Air_Force.html" ;"title="tourism">touring.html" ;"title="tourism.html" ;"title="r tourism">touring">tourism.html" ;"title="r tourism">touringplane". The Buffalo was also popular within the FAF because of its relatively long range and good maintenance record. This was in part due to the efforts of the Finnish mechanics, who solved a problem that plagued the Wright Cyclone engine by inverting one of the piston rings in each cylinder, which had a positive effect on reliability. The cooler weather of Finland also helped, because the engine was prone to overheating as noted in tropical Pacific use. The Brewster Buffalo earned a reputation in Finnish Air Force service as one of its more successful fighter aircraft, along with the Fiat G.50, which scored an unprecedented kill-loss ratio of 33-1.[Arena 1996, p. 483.]
In service from 1941 to 1945, Buffalos of No. 24 Squadron, Finnish Air Force">''Lentolaivue'' 24 (Fighter Squadron 24) claimed 477 Soviet Air Force warplanes destroyed, with the combat loss of just 19 Buffalos, an outstanding victory ratio of 26:1.
During the Continuation War
The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...
, ''Lentolaivue'' 24 (Fighter Squadron 24) was equipped with the B-239s until May 1944, when the Buffalos were transferred to ''Hävittäjälentolaivue'' 26 (Fighter Squadron 26). Most of the pilots of ''Lentolaivue'' 24 were Winter War combat veterans. This squadron claimed a total of 459 Soviet aircraft with B-239s, while losing 15 Buffalos in combat.
The Brewsters had their baptism by fire in Finland on 25 June 1941, when a pair of Buffalos from 2/LLv24, operating from Selänpää airfield ( ICAO:EFSE) intercepted 27 Soviet Tupolev SB
The Tupolev ANT-40, also known by its service name Tupolev SB (russian: Скоростной бомбардировщик – ''Skorostnoi Bombardirovschik'' – high speed bomber) and development co-name TsAGI-40, was a high speed twin-engined ...
s from 201st SBAP near Heinola
Heinola () is a town and a municipality of inhabitants () located in the eastern part of the Päijänne Tavastia region, Finland, near the borders of the South Savonia region and the Kymenlaakso region. It is the third largest municipality in ...
. Five SBs were claimed as downed. Subsequent attacks were repelled by LLv24 pilots who, by dusk, had flown 77 sorties.[Stenman and Thomas 2010, pp. 11–12.]
Many Finnish pilots racked up enormous scores by using basic tactics against Soviet aircraft. The default tactic was the four-plane "''parvi''" (swarm), with a pair flying lower as bait, and a higher pair to dive on enemy interceptors. The Soviet Air Force was never able to counteract this tactic. The top-scoring B-239 pilot was Hans Wind, with 39 kills. Lt Hans Wind, with six other Buffalos of LeLv 24, intercepted some 60 Soviet aircraft near Kronstad. Two Soviet Pe-2
The Petlyakov Pe-2 (russian: Петляков Пе-2) was a Soviet twin-engine dive bomber used during World War II. One of the outstanding tactical attack aircraft of the war,Ethell 1996, p. 152. it also proved successful as a heavy fighter, as ...
bombers, one Soviet Hawker Hurricane fighter, and 12 I-16s were claimed for the loss of just one B-239 (BW-378).[Neulen 2000, p. 208.] After evaluation of claims against actual Soviet losses, aircraft ''BW-364'' was found to have been used to achieve 42½ kills in total by all pilots operating it, possibly making it the highest-scoring fighter airframe in the history of air warfare. The top scoring Finnish ace, Ilmari Juutilainen
Eino Ilmari "Illu" Juutilainen (21 February 1914 – 21 February 1999) was a fighter pilot of the Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force), and the top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time. The top flying ace of the Finnish Air Force, he led all Fi ...
, scored 34 of his 94½ kills in B-239s, including 28 in BW-364.
During the Continuation War, a lack of replacements led the Finns to develop a copy of the Buffalo built from non- strategic materials such as plywood, however the '' Humu'', as they called it, was already obsolete and only a single prototype was built. By late 1943, the lack of spares, wear-and-tear, and better Soviet fighters and training greatly reduced the effectiveness of Finnish B-239s, though LeLv 26 pilots would still claim some 35 victories against Soviet aircraft in mid-1944. The last victory by a Buffalo against Soviet aircraft was claimed over the Karelian Isthmus
The Karelian Isthmus (russian: Карельский перешеек, Karelsky peresheyek; fi, Karjalankannas; sv, Karelska näset) is the approximately stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern ...
on 17 June 1944.
From 1943, Finland's air force received Messerschmitt Bf 109Gs from Germany, and this much-superior fighter re-equipped most Finnish Air Force fighter squadrons.
After Finland signed an armistice with the Soviet Union in September, 1944, they had to drive Finland's former ally, Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
out of the country during the "Lapland War
During World War II, the Lapland War ( fi , Lapin sota; sv, Lapplandskriget; german: Lapplandkrieg) saw fighting between Finland and Nazi Germany – effectively from September to November 1944 – in Finland's northernmost region, Lapland. ...
". The only clash with the ''Luftwaffe'' took place on 3 October 1944 when HLeLV 26 intercepted Junkers Ju 87s, claiming two, the last victories to be made by Brewster pilots in World War II.[Stenman and Thomas 2010, pp. 83–84.] By the end of the war in Lapland, only eight B-239s were left.
Five B-239s continued to fly until 1948, with last flights of Brewsters by the Finnish Air Force on 14 September 1948, when they were stored until scrapped in 1953.[Stenman and Thomas 2010, p. 84.]
Belgium
Just before the start of the war, Belgium sought more modern aircraft to expand and modernize its air force. Belgium ordered 40 Brewster B-339 aircraft, a de-navalized F2A-2, fitted with the Wright R-1820
The Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 is an American radial engine developed by Curtiss-Wright, widely used on aircraft in the 1930s through 1950s. It was produced under license in France as the Hispano-Suiza 9V or Hispano-Wright 9V, and in the Soviet Un ...
-G-105 engine approved for export use. The G-105 engine had a power output of (peak) on takeoff, some less than the engine fitted to the U.S. Navy F2A-2. The arrestor hook and liferaft container were removed, and the aircraft was modified with a slightly longer tail.
Only one aircraft[Stenman and Thomas 2010, p. 8."] reached France by the time Germany launched its '' Blitzkrieg'' in the West on 10 May 1940. The Buffalo was later captured intact by the Germans, and it was partially rediscovered near Darmstadt in 1945.
Six more Belgian Brewsters were offloaded at the French Caribbean island of Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...
and languished on a coastal hillside, never to be flown. The rest of the order went to the RAF.
British Commonwealth (Malaya)
Facing a shortage of combat aircraft in January 1940, the British government established the British Purchasing Commission The British Purchasing Commission was a United Kingdom organisation of the Second World War. Also known at some time as the "Anglo-French Purchasing Board", it was based in New York City, where it arranged the production and purchase of armaments fr ...
to acquire U.S. aircraft that would help supplement domestic production. Among the U.S. fighter aircraft that caught the Commission's attention was the Brewster. The remaining 32 B-339 aircraft ordered by the Belgians, suspended at the fall of France, were passed on to the United Kingdom. Appraisal by Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
acceptance personnel criticized it on numerous points including inadequate armament and lack of pilot armor, poor high-altitude performance, engine overheating, maintenance issues, and cockpit controls, while it was praised for its handling, roomy cockpit, and visibility.[Ford, Dan]
"The Sorry Saga of the Brewster Buffalo."
''warbirdforum.com'', 2008. Retrieved: 6 September 2009. With a top speed of about at , but with fuel starvation issues over , it was considered unfit for duty in western Europe. Still desperately in need of fighter aircraft in the Pacific and Asia for British and Commonwealth air forces, the UK ordered an additional 170 aircraft under the type specification ''B-339E''.[Rickard, J]
"Brewster Buffalo in British Service."
''historyofwar.org'', 27 June 2007. Retrieved: 6 September 2009. The aircraft were sent to Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
, RAF and Royal New Zealand Air Force fighter squadrons in Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
, Malaya and Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, shortly before the outbreak of war with Japan.
The B-339E, or Brewster Buffalo Mk I as it was designated in British service, was initially intended to be fitted with an export-approved Wright R-1820-G-105 Cyclone engine with a (peak takeoff) engine. The Brewster aircraft delivered to British and Commonwealth air forces were significantly altered from the B-339 type sold to the Belgium and French forces in accordance with their purchase order. The Brewster factory removed the Navy life raft
A lifeboat or liferaft is a small, rigid or inflatable boat carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard a ship. Lifeboat drills are required by law on larger commercial ships. Rafts ( liferafts) are also used. In the m ...
container and arrestor hook
A tailhook, arresting hook, or arrester hook is a device attached to the empennage (rear) of some military fixed-wing aircraft. The hook is used to achieve rapid deceleration during routine landings aboard aircraft carrier flight decks at s ...
, while adding many new items of equipment, including a British Mk III reflector gun sight, a gun camera, a larger fixed pneumatic tire tail wheel, fire extinguisher, engine shutters, a larger battery, and reinforced armor plating and armored glass behind the canopy windshield.
The Brewster Model B-339E, as modified and supplied to Great Britain was distinctly inferior in performance to the F2A-2 (Model B-339) from the original order. It had a less powerful () engine compared to the F2A-2's Cyclone, yet was substantially heavier due to all of the additional modifications by some . The semi-retractable tail wheel had been exchanged for a larger fixed model, which was also less aerodynamic. Top speed was reduced from at combat altitudes.
In its original form, the B-339 had a theoretical maximum speed of at a rather unrealistic , but fuel starvation problems and poor supercharger performance at higher altitudes meant that this figure was never achieved in combat; the B-339E was no different in this regard. Its maneuverability was severely impaired (the aircraft was unable to perform loops), and initial rate of climb was reduced to . The Wright Cyclone 1890-G-105 engine designated for use in the Brewster Mk I was in short supply; many aircraft were fitted with secondhand Wright engines sourced from Douglas DC-3 airliners and rebuilt to G105 or G102A specifications by Wright. In service, some effort was made by at least one Brewster squadron to improve the type's sluggish performance; a few aircraft were lightened by some by removing armor plate, armored windshields, radios, gun camera, and all other unnecessary equipment, and by replacing the machine guns with machine guns.[Gunston, Bill “The Illustrated Directory of Fighting Aircraft of World War II.” Salamander Books, 1988. .] The fuselage tanks were filled with a minimum of fuel, and run on high-octane aviation petrol where available. At Alor Star airfield in Malaya, the Japanese captured over of high-octane aviation petrol from British forces, which they promptly used in their own fighter aircraft.
Many of the pilots assigned the Buffalo lacked adequate training and experience in the type. A total of 20 of the original 169 Buffalos were lost in training accidents during 1941. By December 1941, approximately 150 Buffalo B-339E aircraft made up the bulk of the British fighter defenses of Burma, Malaya and Singapore. The two RAAF, two RAF, and one RNZAF squadrons, during December 1941 – January 1942, were beset with numerous problems,[Harper 1946, pp. 1–2.] including poorly built and ill-equipped aircraft. Aviation historian Dan Ford characterized it as, "The performance... was pathetic." Inadequate spare parts and support staff, airfields that were difficult to defend against air attack, lack of a clear and coherent command structure, a Japanese spy in the Army air liaison staff, antagonism between RAF and RAAF squadrons and personnel, and inexperienced pilots lacking appropriate training would lead to disaster. Although the Mk I had .50-inch guns, many aircraft were equipped with .303 Browning mounts and electric firing solenoids, which tended to fail in service.
When the Japanese invaded northern Malaya
The term Unfederated Malay States () was the collective name given to five British protected states in the Malay peninsula in the first half of the twentieth century. These states were Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis, and Terengganu. In contras ...
on 8 December 1941, the B-339E initially performed adequately. Against the Nakajima Ki-27
The was the main fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service up until 1940. Its Allied nickname was "Nate", although it was called "Abdul" in the "China Burma India" (CBI) theater by many post war sources; Allied Intellige ...
"Nate", the overloaded Brewsters could at least hold their own if given time to get to altitude, and at first achieved a respectable number of kills. However, the appearance of ever greater numbers of Japanese fighters, including markedly superior types such as the Nakajima Ki-43
The Nakajima Ki-43 ''Hayabusa'' (, "Peregrine falcon", "Army Type 1 Fighter" ) is a single-engine land-based tactical fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in World War II.
The Allied reporting name was "Oscar", but it was o ...
"Oscar" soon overwhelmed the Buffalo pilots, both in the air and on the ground. Another significant factor was the Brewster engine's tendency to overheat in the tropical climate, which caused oil to spray over the windscreen, usually forcing an aborted mission and greatly complicating attempts to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft. In the end, more than 60 Brewster Mk I (B-339E) aircraft were shot down in combat, 40 destroyed on the ground, and approximately 20 more destroyed in accidents. Only about 20 Buffalos survived to reach India or the Dutch East Indies.[Huggins 2007, pp. 35–36.] The last airworthy Buffalo in Singapore flew out on 10 February, five days before the island fell
A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of Man, pa ...
.[Stenman & Thomas 2010, p. 67.]
It is not entirely clear how many Japanese aircraft the Buffalo squadrons shot down, although RAAF pilots alone managed to shoot down at least 20.[Dennis et al. 2008, p. 115.] Eighty were claimed in total, a ratio of kills to losses of just 1.3 to 1. Additionally, most of the Japanese aircraft shot down by the Buffalos were bombers. The Hawker Hurricane, which fought in Singapore alongside the Buffalo from 20 January, also suffered severe losses from ground attack; most were destroyed. The Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...
also used the Buffalo in the Mediterranean in the Battle of Crete
The Battle of Crete (german: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta, el, Μάχη της Κρήτης), codenamed Operation Mercury (german: Unternehmen Merkur), was a major Axis airborne and amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island ...
in early 1941.
The Brewster Mark I produced four Commonwealth aces: Geoff Fisken, Maurice Holder, A. W. B. (Alf) Clare and R. D. (Doug) Vanderfield.[Flores, Santiago A]
"Notable Brewster Buffalo pilots in Southeast Asia, 1941–42."
''warbirdforum.com'', 2008. Retrieved: 3 October 2007. New Zealander Fisken, the top-scoring pilot, later flew RNZAF P-40s and became the highest-scoring Commonwealth pilot within the Pacific theatre.
Burma
No. 67 Squadron RAF was equipped with thirty Buffalos when the Japanese invaded Burma. They were joined by Curtiss P-40
The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...
fighters of the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers
The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China. Operating in 1941–1942, it was composed of pilots from the United States ...
). AVG crews were initially impressed with the Buffalo, some even urging General Claire Chennault
Claire Lee Chennault (September 6, 1893 – July 27, 1958) was an American military aviator best known for his leadership of the "Flying Tigers" and the Chinese Air Force in World War II.
Chennault was a fierce advocate of "pursuit" or fighte ...
to trade a squadron of P-40s for Buffalos.[C O Lamp 2007, unspecified page] In response, Chennault arranged a mock dogfight between both fighters, with 1st Lieutenant Erik Shilling flying the P-40 and Squadron Leader Jack Brandt flying the Buffalo. Over their training base in Toungoo
Taungoo (, ''Tauñngu myoú''; ; also spelled Toungoo) is a district-level city in the Bago Region of Myanmar, 220 km from Yangon, towards the north-eastern end of the division, with mountain ranges to the east and west. The main industry ...
, the P-40 proved to be superior to the Buffalo. When Shilling and Brandt met again fifty years later, the RAF pilot said, "how I wish I could have swapped my aircraft for yours".
The Buffalos and P-40s carried out air defenses over Rangoon and Mingaladon
Mingaladon Township ( my, မင်္ဂလာဒုံ မြို့နယ် ) is located in the northernmost part of Yangon, Myanmar. The township comprises 31 wards, and shares borders with Hmawbi Township in the north, North Okkalapa Tow ...
as well as strafing missions on Japanese airfields.[Stenman & Thomas, p.72.] Like Malaya and Singapore, lack of effective early warning systems greatly hampered British and AVG efforts to defend Burma from air raids. Reports of Japanese aircraft performance from the Malayan Campaign prompted Buffalo pilots in Burma to employ different tactics; according to Flight Sergeant Vic Bargh, "come in from above, or at the same level at the very least, then dive away before they got onto you, because if they did get onto you, well, you were shot down".[Stenman & Thomas 2010, p.74.] One of the Buffalo's final victories of the Burma Campaign was claimed by Bargh; he found the wreckage of the bomber and had his picture taken with it as proof.
The IJAAF secured air superiority over Rangoon by early February 1942, and with the situation on the ground rapidly deteriorating, No. 67 Squadron withdrew north to Toungoo.[Stenman & Thomas, p.76.] On 13 February, the squadron moved further north to Magwe with only eight Buffalos, where they continued to carry out reconnaissance flights as well as escorting Westland Lysander
The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War.
After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's ...
s on ground attack missions. The Buffalo flew its last combat sortie with the RAF on 5 March, escorting Hawker Hurricanes and Bristol Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until ...
s for an attack on a Japanese airbase in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
. Only six Buffalos remained when the squadron withdrew to Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
, India on 11 March to re-equip with Hurricanes.[Stenman & Thomas, p.77.] They were swiftly relegated to training duties, though two were briefly acquired by No. 146 Squadron RAF in early April, one of which was regularly flown by Squadron Leader Count Manfred Czernin. No. 67 Squadron claimed 27 Japanese aircraft destroyed; eight Buffalos were shot down and eight pilots were killed. For their actions, Squadron Leader Jack Brandt and Flight Lieutenant Colin Pinckney were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (the latter posthumously), while Sergeant Gordon Williams received the Distinguished Flying Medal
The Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Royal Air Force and other British Armed Forces, and formerly to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for "exceptional va ...
.
Netherlands East Indies
The ''Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger'' ("Military Air Service of the Royal Netherlands East Indian Army", ML-KNIL) had ordered 144 Brewster B-339C and 339D models, the former with rebuilt Wright G-105 engines supplied by the Dutch and the latter with new Wright R-1820-40 engines Brewster purchased from Wright. At the outbreak of war, only 71 had arrived in the Dutch East Indies, and not all were in service. A small number served briefly at Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
before being withdrawn for the defense of Borneo and Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
.
As the Brewster B-339 aircraft used by the ML-KNIL were lighter than the modified B-339E Brewster Mark Is used by British, Australian, and New Zealand air forces, they were able to successfully engage the Japanese Army Nakajima Ki-43
The Nakajima Ki-43 ''Hayabusa'' (, "Peregrine falcon", "Army Type 1 Fighter" ) is a single-engine land-based tactical fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in World War II.
The Allied reporting name was "Oscar", but it was o ...
"Oscar", although both the "Oscar" and the Japanese Navy's A6M Zero still out-climbed the B-339 at combat altitudes (the Zero was faster as well). After the first few engagements, the Dutch halved the fuel and ammo load in the wing, which allowed their Buffalos (and their Hurricanes) to stay with the Oscars in turns. In February 1942 they received new model gunsights. Around the same time the Dutch started to use tracer ammunition as well. These two improved their hit ratio. Still, their lack of heavy machine guns (.50") meant their success rate wasn't as high as it could have been.
Apart from their role as fighters, the Brewster fighters were also used as dive bombers against Japanese troopship
A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...
s. Although reinforced by British Commonwealth Buffalo Mk I (B-339E) aircraft retreating from Malaya, the Dutch squadrons faced superior numbers in the air, usually odds of one against two or three. Timely early warning from British radar would have countered this deficit, especially in avoiding unnecessary losses from raids on airfields, but the British government had decided too late to send these: the first British radar stations became operational only towards the end of February. Had they been ready two weeks earlier, the outcome of the Japanese invasion here might well have been different (read Boer's book).
In a major engagement above Semplak on 19 February 1942, eight Dutch Brewster fighters intercepted a formation of about 35 Japanese bombers with an escort of about 20 Zeros. The Brewster pilots destroyed 11 Japanese aircraft and lost four Brewsters; two Dutch pilots died.
Only four airworthy Buffalos remained on 7 March. Capt. Jacob van Helsdingen led this flight on its final sortie that day, and was credited with a Zero before he was killed. This made him and Lt. August Deibel the most successful Dutch pilots on the Buffalo with three victories each. Altogether, 17 ML-KNIL pilots were killed, and 30 aircraft shot down; 15 were destroyed on the ground, and several were lost to misadventure. Dutch pilots claimed 55 enemy aircraft destroyed.
USAAF/RAAF in Australia
Following the surrender of the Netherlands East Indies on 8 March 1942, 17 B339-23 belonging to the ML-KNIL (diverted to Australia because of late delivery) were transferred to the U.S. Fifth Air Force
The Fifth Air Force (5 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is the U.S. Air Force's oldest continuously serving Numbered Air Force. The organizat ...
in Australia.
All of these USAAF aircraft were lent to the RAAF, with which they were used mainly for air defence duties outside frontline areas, photo-reconnaissance and gunnery training. Buffalos served with 1 PRU, 24 Sqn, 25 Sqn, 85 Sqn and the RAAF Gunnery Training School.
Between August 1942 and November 1943, 10 of these Brewsters constituted the air defense force for Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
, while assigned to 25 and 85 Sqns at RAAF Pearce and RAAF Guildford.
In 1944, all of the surviving aircraft were transferred to the USAAF.
U.S. Marine Corps
At Midway Island, United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
fighter squadron VMF-221
Marine Fighting Squadron 221 (VMF-221) was a reserve fighter squadron of the United States Marine Corps. Originally commissioned during the World War II, it flew the Brewster F2A-3, and after reconstitution in 1943, the F4U Corsair. The squadro ...
operated a mixed group of 20 Brewster F2A-3 Buffalos and seven Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats.["U.S. Marine Fighting Squadron VMF-221 Defends Midway."](_blank)
''Pacific War Home Page''. Retrieved: 10 August 2009. They were originally assigned to as part of a relief force bound for Wake Island
Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of T ...
, but were diverted to Midway instead after the force was controversially recalled on 22 December 1941. Wake Island fell
A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of Man, pa ...
on the following day.[Moran 2011, p. 24.] The squadron first saw action on 10 March 1942 when a Kawanishi H8K
The Kawanishi H8K was a flying boat used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service during World War II for maritime patrol duties. The Allied reporting name for the type was "Emily".
The Kawanishi H8K was a large, four-engine aircraft designed ...
"Emily" flying boat was shot down by Captain James L. Neefus near Midway, the Buffalo's first kill in U.S. service.["James L. Neefus."](_blank)
''Military Times Hall of Valor.'' Retrieved: 15 June 2011.
''Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center.'' Retrieved: 22 May 2012.
During the Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under ...
in 1942, VMF-221 was destined to participate in one of the few aerial combats involving the Buffalo in U.S. military service. The initial Buffalo interception of the first Japanese air raid was led by Major Floyd B. Parks, whose 13-aircraft division did not fly in paired flights of mutually supporting aircraft. After attacking a formation of 30–40 Aichi D3A
The Aichi D3A Type 99 Carrier Bomber ( Allied reporting name "Val") is a World War II carrier-borne dive bomber. It was the primary dive bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and was involved in almost all IJN actions, including the a ...
1 "Val" dive bombers escorted by 36 Zeros, the Marines, flying in two divisions of aircraft, downed several Japanese bombers before the escorting Zeros reacted; a furious dogfight developed. Thirteen out of 20 Buffalos were lost;["Brewster F2A 'Buffalo'."](_blank)
''Naval History and Heritage Command.'' Retrieved: 20 November 2010. of the six Wildcats, only two remained flyable at the end of the mission. The losses included the Marine air commander, Major Parks, who bailed out of his burning Buffalo, only to be strafed by Zeros after parachuting into the sea.
The Marine pilots who managed to shake off the Zeros used high speed split-s turns or very steep dives. These maneuvers were later found to be the best means to evade pursuit by the highly maneuverable Japanese fighters. One F2A-3 pilot, Marine Captain William Humberd, dove away from his pursuers, then attacked a Zero in a head-on pass, shooting his opponent down. In the battle, some F2A-3s suffered from inoperative guns. The nose-mounted guns' occasional failure to fire was noticed by other users as well; the phenomenon may have been caused by frayed electrical wires in the mechanism that synchronized the nose guns with the propeller. Other Buffalos had not been fitted with plate armor behind the pilot, making them vulnerable to even a single bullet or shell. Losses were aggravated due to the Japanese practice of strafing pilots who had bailed out. Second Lt. Charles S. Hughes, whose Buffalo was forced to retire at the start of the raid due to engine trouble, had a ringside view of the aerial combat:
The Zeros came in strafing immediately afterward. I saw two Brewsters trying to fight the Zeros. One was shot down and the other was saved by ground fires covering his tail. Both looked like they were tied to a string while the Zeros made passes at them.
Second Lt. Charles M. Kunz reported that after successfully downing two Val bombers, he was attacked by Japanese fighters:
I was at an altitude of about 9,000 ft, and shoved over in a dive trying to shake the plane on my tail until I was about 20 feet from the water. I was making radical turns hoping the pilot couldn't get steadied on me. I glanced out of the rear and saw that it was a Zero
0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation such as the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, 0 also serves as a placeholder numerical digit, which works by multiplying digits to the left of 0 by the radix, usual ...
fighter. I continued flying on a rapid turning course at full throttle when I was hit in the head by a glancing bullet. After he fired a few short bursts he left as I had been in a general direction of 205 degrees heading away from the island. My plane was badly shot up... In my opinion, the Zero fighter has been far underestimated. I think it is probably one of the finest fighters in the present war. As for the F2A-3, (or Brewster trainer), it should be in Miami as a training plane, rather than used as a first-line fighter.["'Brewster Buffalo Part 2."](_blank)
''USMC Combat Reports'' via ''warbirdforum.com.'' Retrieved: 8 March 2009.
Claire Chennault's report on the Zero and air combat reached Washington in 1941, where it was disseminated to aviation forces of the U.S. Army and Navy.[Lundstrom 2005, p. 480.] This information, along with the development of two-plane mutual defensive formations and tactics, were incorporated into U.S. and Marine Corps air combat training doctrine by some prescient U.S. commanders, including Lieutenant Commander "Jimmy" Thach. The Thach Weave was developed for use by Wildcat pilots against the Zero and was later adopted by other Wildcat squadrons in the Pacific.
With the emergence of new tactics for the F4F-3 and F4F-4 Wildcat, the Battle of Midway marked the end of the Buffalo in both U.S. Navy and Marine Corps fighting squadrons. Surviving F2A-3 aircraft were transported to the U.S. mainland, where they were used as advanced trainers. The introduction in late 1943 of vastly superior American carrier-borne fighters such as the F6F Hellcat
The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United States Navy's dominant fighter in the second ha ...
and Vought F4U Corsair
The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contract ...
soon relegated the Brewster F2A-3 to a distant memory.
Buffalo aces
The Finnish Air Force produced 36 Buffalo aces. The top three were Capt. Hans Wind, with 39 Buffalo air victories (out of 75), WO Eino Ilmari Juutilainen, with 34 (out of 94) and Capt. Jorma Karhunen
Jorma "Joppe" Karhunen (17 March 1913 – 18 January 2002) was a Finnish Air Force ace and an author.
Karhunen scored 31.5 kills in World War II; 25.5 of his air victories were achieved while flying the Brewster F2A Buffalo, an American fighter ...
, with 25.5 (out of 31.5). First Lt Lauri Nissinen also had victories in the type (22.5 out of 32.5).
The non-Finnish Buffalo aces were: Geoff Fisken (RNZAF), with six air victories, and Doug Vanderfield (RAAF) with five individual kills, plus one shared. Alf Clare (RAAF) and Maurice Holder (RAF) had five victories each.[Stenman and Thomas 2010, p. 86.]
Variants
;XF2A-1: Prototype
;F2A-1: (with Wright R-1820-34 Cyclone engine and two guns above engine cowling, plus two optional guns in the wings) for the United States Navy, 11 built
;F2A-2: (with Wright R-1820-40 Cyclone engine and four guns) for the United States Navy and Marines, 43 built
;F2A-3: Improved F2A-2 for the United States Navy with larger fuel tank, heavier armour, and provision to carry two underwing bombs, 108 built
;XF2A-4: One converted from an F2A-3
;B-239: Export version of the F2A-1 for Finland (with Wright R-1820-G5 Cyclone
The Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 is an American radial engine developed by Curtiss-Wright, widely used on aircraft in the 1930s through 1950s. It was produced under license in France as the Hispano-Suiza 9V or Hispano-Wright 9V, and in the Soviet Uni ...
engines and four guns), 44 built
;B-339B: Export version for Belgium, 40 built (only two delivered to Belgium, the rest to the Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
's Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...
)
;B-339C: Export version for the Netherlands East Indies with Wright GR-1820-G105 Cyclone engines; 24 built
;B-339D: Export version for the Netherlands East Indies with Wright R-1820-40 Cyclone engines; 48 built (47 delivered to Dutch East Indies)
;B-339E: Export version of the F2A-2 for the Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
with Wright GR-1820-G105 Cyclone engines as the ''Buffalo Mk I''; 170 built (also used by the RAAF and RNZAF)
;B-339-23 a.k.a. B-439: Export version of the F2A-3 for the Netherlands East Indies with Wright GR-1820-G205A engines; 20 built (17 later to the RAAF, some used by the USAAF)
Operators
;: Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
:: No. 21 Squadron RAAF
:: No. 24 Squadron RAAF
::No. 25 Squadron RAAF
No. 25 (City of Perth) Squadron is a general reserve squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). It is based at RAAF Base Pearce in Perth, Western Australia, and forms part of the Combat Support Group. The squadron was formed in early 1 ...
(ex-Dutch)
:: No. 43 Squadron RAAF
:: No. 85 Squadron RAAF (ex-25 Sqn.)
:: No. 453 Squadron RAAF
::No. 452 Squadron RAAF
No. 452 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) air traffic control unit. It was established in 1941 as a fighter squadron, in accordance with Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme during World War II. The squadron flew Supermar ...
:: No. 1 PRU RAAF (ex-Dutch, Photo Reconnaissance Unit)
;: Finnish Air Force
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries =
, equipment = 159
, equipment_label ...
:: No. 24 Squadron (1941–1944)
:: No. 26 Squadron (1944–1945)
;: Captured Buffalos were repaired and test flown, both in Japanese markings, and – starring in recreated combat footage – in incorrect RAF markings.
;: Militaire Luchtvaart KNIL
:: Vliegtuiggroep IV, 3e Afdeling (3-VLG-IV: 3rd Squadron, IV Group)
:: Vliegtuiggroep V, 1e Afdeling (1-VLG-V)
:: Vliegtuiggroep V, 2e Afdeling (2-VLG-V, helped defend Singapore)
:: Vliegtuiggroep V, 3e Afdeling (3-VLG-V)
;: Royal New Zealand Air Force
:: No. 488 Squadron RNZAF
;: Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
::No. 60 Squadron RAF
No. 60 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1916 at Gosport. It is currently part of No. 1 Flying Training School based at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire flying the Airbus H135 Juno HT1.
The squadron badge is a markhor's head and was app ...
:: No. 67 Squadron RAF (ex-60 Sqn., most pilots were RNZAF)
::No. 71 Squadron RAF
No. 71 Squadron was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron. The number has been used three times: once by the Royal Flying Corps for an Australian Flying Corps squadron; in the Second World War as the first of three Eagle Squadrons; and post-war as ...
:: No. 146 Squadron RAF (ex-67 Sqn.)
:: No. 243 Squadron RAF (most pilots were RNZAF)
:Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...
::711 Naval Air Squadron
711 Naval Air Squadron (711 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm.
References Citations
Bibliography
*
700 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons
Military units and formations established in 1936
Air squadrons of the ...
:: 759 Naval Air Squadron
:: 760 Naval Air Squadron
::804 Naval Air Squadron
804 Naval Air Squadron (804 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy, formed in November 1939 from part of 769 NAS Sea Gladiators which had been detached to RNAS Hatston. The squadron was merged into 800 NAS in June 1944 and subsequently ...
::805 Naval Air Squadron
8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9.
In mathematics
8 is:
* a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2.
* a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...
:: 813 Naval Air Squadron
::885 Naval Air Squadron
885 Naval Air Squadron (885 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. First formed on 1 March 1941, the squadron served as a fighter squadron during the Second World War. It operated in the Mediterranean in 1942–43, whe ...
;: United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
::5th Air Force
The Fifth Air Force (5 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is the U.S. Air Force's oldest continuously serving Numbered Air Force. The organizat ...
, Australia (ex-Dutch)
:United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
::VMF-111
Marine Fighting Squadron 111 (VMF-111) was a reserve fighter squadron in the United States Marine Corps. Nicknamed the "Devil Dogs", the squadron was one of the first aviation squadrons in the Marine Corps and gained national attention in the 19 ...
, based at Camp Kearney, Calif.
::VMF-112
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 112 (VMFA-112) is a reserve United States Marine Corps McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18 Hornet squadron. The squadron is based at NASJRB Fort Worth, Texas and falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 41 (MAG-41), 4 ...
, based at Camp Kearney, Calif.
:: VMD-2
::VMF-211
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 (VMFA-211) is a United States Marine Corps fighter attack squadron, currently consisting of F-35B Lightning II stealth STOVL strike fighter jets. Known as the "Wake Island Avengers" and the "Bastion Defenders", ...
, based at Palmyra Atoll
Palmyra Atoll (), also referred to as Palmyra Island, is one of the Northern Line Islands (southeast of Kingman Reef and north of Kiribati). It is located almost due south of the Hawaiian Islands, roughly one-third of the way between Hawaii a ...
::VMF-212
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 212 (VMFA-212) was a United States Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet squadron. Most recently known as the "Lancers", the squadron was last based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan and fell under the command of Mar ...
, based at MCAS Ewa
::VMF-213
Marine Fighting Squadron 213 (VMF-213) was a reserve fighter squadron in the United States Marine Corps. Nicknamed the "Hell Hawks", the squadron fought during World War II in the Philippines and at the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. With its ...
, based at MCAS Ewa
::VMF-214
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 214 (VMFA-214) is a United States Marine Corps attack squadron consisting of Lockheed Martin F-35B STOVL jets. It is currently in the process of transitioning from its fleet of AV-8B Harrier ( V/STOL) jets. The ...
, based at MCAS Ewa
::VMF-221
Marine Fighting Squadron 221 (VMF-221) was a reserve fighter squadron of the United States Marine Corps. Originally commissioned during the World War II, it flew the Brewster F2A-3, and after reconstitution in 1943, the F4U Corsair. The squadro ...
, used in Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under ...
::VMF-222
Marine Fighting Squadron 222 (VMF-222) was a fighter squadron of the United States Marine Corps that was activated and fought during World War II. Known as “The Flying Deuces,” they fell under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 14 (MAG-14) ...
, based at MCAS Ewa
::VMF-224
Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 224 (VMFA(AW)-224) is a United States Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet squadron. Also known as the "Fighting Bengals", the squadron is based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina and falls under ...
::VMO-251
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 251 (VMFA-251) was a United States Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet squadron. Known as the "Thunderbolts", the squadron was deactivated on 23 April 2020. If current plans hold, the squadron is to be re-activated by 2025 as ...
:United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
:: VF-2
:: VF-3
::VF-9
Fighting Squadron 9 or VF-9 was an aviation unit of the U.S. Navy, originally established on 1 March 1942, it was disestablished on 28 September 1945.
Operational history
VF-9 established at NAS Norfolk on 1 March 1942 as part of the new Carr ...
:: VJ-5
:: VJ-6
:: VS-201
::Training Units at NAS Pensacola
Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United State ...
and NAS Miami
Surviving aircraft and replicas
Only export models of the Buffalo are preserved. There is currently a complete Finnish B-239 (BW-372), a VL Humu
The VL Humu (Whirlwind) is a Finnish fighter aircraft, designed by Valtion lentokonetehdas in 1944, and based on the American Brewster F2A Buffalo.
Design and development
The Finnish Air Force had acquired 40+ surplus B-239 naval variants of ...
variant (HM-671 at the Central Finland Aviation museum
The Finnish Air Force Museum ( fi, Suomen Ilmavoimamuseo), formerly the Aviation Museum of Central Finland ( fi, Keski-Suomen ilmailumuseo), is an aviation museum located near Jyväskylä Airport in Tikkakoski, Jyväskylä, Finland. The museum ...
), and two replicas – one in ML-KNIL
The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force ( nl, Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger, ML-KNIL) was the air arm of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) from 1939 until ...
markings and the other in U.S. Navy markings.
Finnish B-239 (serial no. BW-372) flown by Lt. Lauri Pekuri was damaged by a Soviet Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...
and crashed in 1942 on Lake Big Kolejärvi, about from Segezha
Segezha (russian: Сеге́жа; krl, Segeža; fi, Sekehe) is a town and the administrative center of Segezhsky District of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located north of Petrozavodsk on the Segezha River and on the western shore of La ...
, Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
and was rediscovered in 1998 and is now on display at the Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseo (Aviation Museum of Central Finland
The Finnish Air Force Museum ( fi, Suomen Ilmavoimamuseo), formerly the Aviation Museum of Central Finland ( fi, Keski-Suomen ilmailumuseo), is an aviation museum located near Jyväskylä Airport in Tikkakoski, Jyväskylä, Finland. The museum ...
).[Lindberg, Jarno]
"Annals of the Brewster Buffalo."
''warbirdforum.com''. Retrieved: 10 August 2009. The Finnish museum also has components from FAF BW-393.
In June 2012, divers discovered the partial wreckage of a Buffalo in shallow water just off Midway Atoll. The aircraft had been ditched during February 1942, after an aborted landing attempt in bad weather by 1st Lt Charles W. Somers Jr., USMC (later Colonel, USMC Ret). Officials at the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, where the wreckage was found, have not decided whether to recover any of the parts or leave them in place.[Eckholm, Erik]
"10 Feet below waters off Midway Atoll, a famous flying dud."
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', 1 January 2013. Retrieved: 2 January 2013.
In July 2008, a static full-scale replica B-339C was completed by the Cradle of Aviation Museum
The Cradle of Aviation Museum is an aerospace museum located in Garden City, New York on Long Island, established to commemorate Long Island's part in the history of aviation. It is located on land once part of Mitchel Air Force Base which, to ...
in Long Island, New York. The aircraft carries the markings of an ML-KNIL fighter flown by Lt. Gerard Bruggink (two kills). It was built for the ''Militaire-Luchtvaartmuseum'' (Military Aviation Museum) at Soesterberg
Soesterberg is a town in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Soest, and lies about 5 km northeast of Zeist, on the road between Amersfoort and Utrecht. It was the location of Soesterberg Air Base
History
The ...
, the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
.["Netherlands Military Aviation Museum."](_blank)
''militaireluchtvaartmuseum.nl.'' Retrieved: 16 June 2012. The Cradle of Aviation Museum houses a static full-scale replica/model F2A-2, carrying the markings of unit "201-S-13" from VS-201, aboard USS ''Long Island''.[Maloney, Bill]
"Cradle Of Aviation Museum: Brewster F2-A2 Buffalo."
''williammaloney.com'', 16 August 2008. Retrieved: 26 January 2010.
Specifications (F2A-3)
See also
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
* Arena, Nino. ''I caccia a motore radiale Fiat G.50'' (in Italian). Modena: Mucchi editore, 1996. NO ISBN
* Boer, P.C. ''The Loss of Java''. Singapore: NUS Press, 2011. .
* Boer, P.C. ''Het Verlies van Java'' (in Dutch). Amsterdam: De Bataafsche Leeuw, 2006. .
* Byk, Gary. ''Buffalo Down Under: The Modeller's Guide to Australia's Inherited Fighter''. Glen Waverly, Victoria, Australia: Red Roo Models Publication, 1998.
* Cull, Brian, Paul Sortenhaug and Mark Haselden. ''Buffaloes over Singapore: RAF, RAAF, RNZAF and Dutch Brewster Fighters in Action over Malaya and the East Indies 1941–1942''. London: Grub Street, 2003. .
* Dann, Richard S/Ginter, Steve. ''Brewster F2A Buffalo and Export Variants''. Simi Valley, CA: Ginter Publications, 2017. .
* Dennis, Peter et al. ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History''. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Australia & New Zealand, 2008 (Second edition). .
* Drendel, Lou. ''U.S. Navy Carrier Fighters of World War II''. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications Inc., 1987.
* Ford, Daniel. "The Sorry Saga of the Brewster Buffalo". ''Air&Space/Smithsonian'', July 1996. Expanded and revised digital edition, Warbird Books, 2013.
*Gerdessen, F. "Talkback". ''Air Enthusiast
''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to ''Air International'' maga ...
''. No. 13, August–November 1980. p. 78.
* Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. "Brewster F2A Buffalo". ''WW2 Fact Files: US Navy and Marine Corps Fighters''. London: Macdonald and Jane's, 1976, pp. 5–15. .
* Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. "Brewster's Benighted Buffalo". ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', No. 1, n.d., pp. 66–83.
* Horn, Steve. "The Second Attack on Pearl Harbor: Operation K And Other Japanese Attempts to Bomb America in World War II". Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2005. .
* Huggins, Mark. "Falcons on Every Front: Nakajima's KI-43-I Hayabusa in Combat." ''Air Enthusiast
''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to ''Air International'' maga ...
'', Issue 131, September/October 2007.
* Keskinen, Kalevi, Kari Stenman and Klaus Niska. ''Brewster B-239 ja Humu'' (in Finnish). Espoo, Finland: Tietoteos, 1977. . Expanded and revised edition published in two parts:
** ''Brewster Model 239: Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia 1A''. Espoo, Finland: Kari Stenman Publishing, 2005. .
** ''Brewster Model 239: Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia 1B''. Espoo, Finland: Kari Stenman Publishing, 2005. .
* Lamp, C. O. ''The Flying Tigers Poke Payoff: They Saved China.'' iUniverse, 2007. .
*
* Lundstrom, John B. ''The First Team: Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2005. .
* Maas, Jim. ''F2A Buffalo in action''. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications Inc., 1988. .
* Moran, Jim
''Wake Island 1941: A Battle to Make the Gods Weep'' (Osprey Campaign 144).
Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2011. .
*
* Neulen, Hans Werner. ''In the Skies of Europe.'' Ramsbury, Marlborough, UK: The Crowood Press, 2000. .
* O'Leary, Michael. ''United States Naval Fighters of World War II in Action''. Poole, Dorset, UK: Blandford Press, 1980. .
* Pacco, John. "Brewster B-339" ''Belgisch Leger/Armee Belge: Het militair Vliegwezen/l'Aeronautique militaire 1930–1940'' (in French). Artselaar, Belgium: J.P. Publications, 2003, pp. 70–71. .
* Raunio, Jukka. ''Lentäjän näkökulma 2 – Pilot's viewpoint 2'' (in Finnish). Self-published, 1993. .
* Shores, Christopher. ''The Brewster Buffalo (Aircraft in Profile 217)''. Windsor, Berkshire, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1971.
* Stanaway, John. ''Nakajima Ki.43 "Hayabusa": Allied Code Name "Oscar"''. Bennington, Vermont: Merriam Press, 1998. .
* Stenman, Kari and Andrew Thomas. ''Brewster F2A Buffalo Aces of World War 2'' (Aircraft of the Aces). Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2010. .
* Stenman, Kari and Kalevi Keskinen. ''Finnish Aces of World War 2''. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 1998. .
* Stenman, Kari. ''Lentolaivue 24''. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2001. .
* Swanborough, Gordon and Peter M. Bowers. ''United States Navy Aircraft since 1911''. London: Putnam, Second Edition, 1976. .
* Taylor, John W.R. "Brewster F2A Buffalo." ''Combat Aircraft of the World from 1909 to the present''. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. .
* Wheeler, Barry C. ''The Hamlyn Guide to Military Aircraft Markings.'' London: Chancellor Press, 1992. .
* Winchester, Jim. "Brewster Buffalo." ''The World's Worst Aircraft: From Pioneering Failures to Multimillion Dollar Disasters''. London: Amber Books Ltd., 2005. .
* Wixey, Ken. ''A Rotund New Yorker: Brewster's Embattled Buffalo''. ''Air Enthusiast
''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to ''Air International'' maga ...
'' 105, May/June 2003, pp. 26–40.
* Zbiegniewski, Andre R. ''Brewster F2A Buffalo'' (bilingual Polish/English). Lublin, Poland: Kagero, 2003. .
External links
Manual: (1939) AP 1806A – Pilot's Notes – The Buffalo I Aeroplane – Wright Cyclone GR. 1820 G. 105A Engine
* ttp://www.microworks.net/pacific/aviation/f2a_buffalo.htm Brewster F2A-3 Buffalo
Finnish Buffalo BW372 recovery
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F02A
1930s United States fighter aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Carrier-based aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1937
World War II aircraft of Finland