Hobby Master Archive

Hobby Master 1/48 Air Power Series HA7003 USN Brewster F2-A2 Buffalo VS-201 USS Long Island (AVG-1) 1941

HA7003 F2 A2 Brewster, a company with absolutely no prior experience building fighters, produced the F2A-2. Management promised more than the plane could deliver and it was over sold worldwide and production fell extremely far behind. Finally the U.S. Government stepped in and took control of the company and production. The first mono-winged fighter for the Navy the F2A-2 was underpowered and plagued by landing gear problems that never did meet the specifications agree to by Brewster. It seemed this little plane always came up short in the performance department.

VS-201 and USS Long Island USS Long Island was a converted cargo ship commissioned June 1941. She was the first USN ship to be designated an Auxiliary Carrier and was considerably slower and smaller than the fleet ships. The USS Long Island and her F2A-2’s were both less capable of doing the job of the bigger and faster equipment. The 8 Brewsters of Scouting Squadron VS-201 were testing the feasibility of this class of carrier. Soon after Pearl Harbor VS-201 was land-based with the ship being converted back to cargo at war' s end.

Brewster F2A-2 Specifications:

Power plant: One Wright R-1820-40 Cyclone nine-cylinder single row air-cooled radial, rated at 1200 hp Performance: Maximum speed - 285 mph at sea level 323 mph at 16,500 ft. 344 mph at 26,500 ft. Cruising speed 157mph Landing speed 73 mph Initial climb rate 2500 ft/min.

Service ceiling: 34,000 ft.

Maximum range: 1670 miles Weight: Empty: 4576 lbs. Gross: 5942 lbs. Maximum take-off: 6890 lbs.

Dimensions: Wingspan - 35 ft. Length - 26 ft. Height - 11 ft. 8 ins. Wing area - 209 sq. ft Armament: Four Browning 0.50 in. Machine guns, two in the upper engine cowling, one in each wing. Bomb racks for 100-lb bombs could be mounted under each wing just outboard of the main landing gear.

Accurate 1/48 scale Professionally painted Pad applied markings Opening canopy Option to use or not use bombs Movable rudder Retractable landing gear with rolling rubber wheels Display stand provided Maximum amount of metal with minimum plastic used Expertly Pre-assembled An excellent to your collection THESE ARE PRE-PRODUCTION PICTURES NOT THE RETAIL VERSION