Cradle Of Aviation Museum - Brewster F2-A2 Buffalo
Bill Maloney
6/16/2008

01BrewsterBuffalo 02BrewsterBuffalo 03BrewsterBuffaloNose 04BrewsterBuffaloWing
01 Brewster Buffalo 02 F2A Brewster Buffalo 03 Brewster Buffalo Nose 04 Brewster Buffalo Wing
05BrewsterBuffaloNose 06BrewsterBuffalo 07BrewsterBuffaloMainGear 08BrewsterBuffaloNose
05 Brewster Buffalo Nose 06 Brewster F2-A2 Buffalo 07 Brewster F2-A2 Buffalo Main Gear 08 Brewster Buffalo Nose
09BuffaloCanopy 10BrewsterBuffaloNose 11BrewsterBuffalo 12BrewsterBuffalo
09 Buffalo Canopy 10 Brewster Buffalo Nose 11 Brewster Buffalo 12 F2A2 Brewster Buffalo

Brewster F2-A2 Buffalo Specifications:

Length: 26 feet 4 inches
Wingspan: 35 feet, 0 inches
Height: 12 feet, 0 inches
Crew: 1
Weight: 4,700lbs empty Max Takeoff: 7,100lbs
Max Speed: 320mph
Cruise Speed: 161 mph
Range: 1,160 miles
Service Ceiling: 33,000 feet
Fuel Capacity: 240 gallons
Powerplant: Wright R-1820-40 Air Cooled Radial Engine 1,200hp
Armament:  Two 50cal Browning machine guns in nose, two more in the wings
First Flight: 1937

This Brewster Buffalo is a faithful copy of the original made by Cradle of Aviation Museum volunteers using original factory blueprints. Their workmanship is so good that the Finnish Government has commissioned the museum to make another copy for a Finnish aviation museum. The Finns relied heavily on the Brewster Buffalo in their fight against the Soviets early in WWII and had better luck with it than did the American or British air forces. Part of this might be due to the colder operating temperatures cutting down on the engine overheating problems the Buffalo was known for. In my search for other information on the Brewster Buffalo I found a page by Patrick Masell that states the Brewster Buffalo had the highest Loss-to-Kill ratio of any fighter in history. I can't vouch for the numbers but the page is a rather interesting read:

The historyofwar.org website has a photo of Brewster Buffalos flying in formation.

Acepilots.com has several more period F2A Brewster Buffalo Photos and more information on the transition of the type from the F2A to F2A-3 configuration and how the changes degraded its performance.

The RCGroups forum has a good shot of a Finnish Brewster Buffalo in Finland air force markings that had been recovered from a lake in Russia. A good portion of the paint is intact, along with the Findland Air Force Swastika markings.

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