There actually were at least two designs for a racer version of the F2A-1: the P-21 and P-21 A (these are Brewster project designations), the former with a 1,200 hp Wright R-1820-G231, which I can't find on this
list of Wright engines, and the latter with a 1,000 hp Wright R-1820-34, with estimated top speeds of 330 mph @ 16,000 ft and 310 mph @ 17,200 ft respectively, with the spec sheets dated 25 and 27 January 1939 respectively. Neither left the drawing board.
Another proposed design was the P-22, which was a version of the F2A-1 for the USAAC with a 1,200 hp Allison V-1710 inline engine, with a calculated top speed of 342-347 mph @ 12,000 ft, with the spec sheet dated 16 February 1939. With a two-stage supercharger it was calculated the design could reach 363 mph. In 1940 (1939?) using this design as a reference, Brewster's chief engineer Dayton Brown calculated that an Allison-equipped Model 339 (the export version of the F2A-2) could reach 375 mph. The latter was related to French interest in buying Brewster fighters; aircraft engine production couldn't keep up with demand at the time, but France had already ordered large quantities of Allison engines for their P-40s, so the idea was to mate French Allison engines to Brewster 339 airframes.
The sale didn't materialise, but French interest in buying from Brewster did lead to France on 9 May 1940 giving a letter of intent for an order of 250 Brewster Model 240 dive-bombers. The Model 240 was a proposed 2-seater version of the Model 339 with two .30 cals, presumably in the fuselage, internal stowage for a 500 lb bomb, and a rear-gunner with a single .30 cal flexible machine gun. Germany began the invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May 1940 followed by the invasion of and fall of France, leading to the cancellation of the order. Later Brewster tried to sell Turkey the Model 240, without success. Despite the engine shortage, the spec sheet for the 240 has it with a 1,200 hp Wright GR-1820-G205A geared radial engine, and 338 mph @ SL at the maximum military-rated power setting and an approximated 330 mph @ 18,000 at normal power. From what I understand those figures are perhaps on the optimistic side as far as max speed estimates go. I wonder why the G205A engine? Did the logistical situation with the various engines change, or was the Allison thought too unreliable or vulnerable for a dive-bomber? The spec sheet for the 240 is dated 21 March 1940.
At any rate, the Model 240 was never produced, and neither were any of the inline-engined variants of the F2A. If the latter had been produced, they might have looked something like this:
The above speculative drawing is from someone's post on the Secret Projects forum
here.
Sources:
Jim Maas (1985):
Fall from Grace: The Brewster Aeronautical Corporation, 1932-42 in
American Aviation Historical Society Journal, vol. 30, 1985
Brewster Aeronautical Corporation Airplane Characteristics data sheets kindly provided to me by Jim Maas
FAF tried to buy CW-21s in pre war situation but bought Fokkers instead as they were much cheaper.
The Commander of the FAF suggested the Fokker D.XXI in October 1936 and the decision to purchase the first squadron of the aircraft was made then or soon thereafter. By the time the order for the first batch of 35 Finnish-produced Fokker D.XXIs was placed in June 1937, the first seven aircraft together with the production license had already been purchased from Holland.
The CW-21 came into the picture later, with Curtiss-Wright giving the Finns a
verbal estimate via Colonel Talvela in the spring of 1939 of a cost of $40,000-50,000 for the
airframes alone, with an estimated delivery schedule of 3-8 months. Curtiss-Wright even made the assurance that deliveries would continue even if Finland was at war. This was either a misunderstanding or a deception, as the US Neutrality Acts forbade selling materiel to countries at war. This ban would not be lifted until 4 November 1939. The Finnish company Autola Oy showcased the CW-21 to the FAF as late as September 1939. Note that in those days in peacetime it took around a year just to train a fighter squadron ready for wartime operations, and that's
after a squadron's worth of aircraft have arrived to the unit. To my knowledge at no point did the FAF "try to buy" the CW-21. For more on this see e.g. Jukka Raunio's excellent magazine
GX-hanke.
Sources:
Kari Selén (1980):
Mannerheim ja hänen puolustusneuvostonsa 1931-1939, pp. 161-162
Jukka Raunio (2017):
Suomen Ilmailuhistoriallisen Lehden Erikoisnumero 2: GX-hanke: Suomen hävittäjävaihtoehdot ennen talvisotaa, pp. 28-29
