Wimble, ............ US carrier fighters using technology available prior to F4U:
The Brewster Buffalo was an aircraft obsolete before introduction, and is better forgotten. The Grumman F4F was a quickie conversion of a biplane configuration and, in retrospect was adopted only because the Buffalo made it look good by comparison.
(disclosure: I like Grumman, regularly fly an airplane much modified by their Roy LoPresti and my grandfather built Avengers at their Trenton N.J. GM plant. Despite my warm feelings for Grumman, the Wildcat was.....) Wish they had saved that name for a better aircraft. ......
Dynasoar
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Agreed!
I had the most fun flying a Grumman American Cheetah.
The prettiest airplanes - on the West Coast of Canada are Grumman Widgeons, Grumman Geese and Grumman Mallard.
As for Grumman's Wildcat being less than perfect ...... It definitely was a step in the evolution from biplanes to monoplanes. Saint Eric "Winkle" Brown described Wildcat as "the best early war naval fighter." He flew a Wildcat/Martlet when he downed a pair of German bombers.
No gentleman would even contemplate questioning the wisdom of Saint EW Brown with less than a fifth of Scotch flowing through his veins!