Hobby Master 1/48 Air Power Series
HA7014
Brewster Model 239 "Buffalo" (winter scheme) BW364, 3/LeLv 24, flown by WO Ilmari Juutilainen, March 1942
 
General Background
The Brewster F2A Buffalo was USN's first mono-wing fighter. The status of the “Buffalo” is somewhat controversial in the history of aviation. It was designed by US but saw its real success only in Finland, a co-belligerent of Germany during WWII. It was designed as a carrier based fighter but only saw combat from land bases.
 
The most distinctive feature of the Buffalo was the retractable landing gear. With the right pilot the plane was quite capable in combat. Some historians believe that some units of the Commonwealth squadrons may have achieved a 2 to 1 kill ratio in the Far East.