canceling/modifying most of the 1935 and programs will have little practical effect on the war as a whole. America Built 100,000 single engine fighters
just of the eight major types during WW II. a few hundred more or less of different types in 1939-40 isn't going to amount to a fa*t in a Hurricane by 1942.
Pretty much the same with the bombers.
A lot of those piddly little contracts
allowed design teams to gain experience and companies to stay in business or grow and train a core of workers for the later big expansions.
The Allison was NOT a mature engine in 1939 let alone any earlier. Allison had to take back several hundred engines and re-work them at company expense to meet contract power levels.
P-36 development was accelerating about as fast as it could. P-36 used the 3rd different engine tried in the airframe, XP-37 tried a turbo Allison. By the Spring of 1939 they had also tried a mechanical 2 stage supercharged engine (predecessor of the one used in the Wildcat) and the non-turbo Allison.
The older planes served as operational trainers even if not called that in the late 30s. they gave experience to both air and ground crews that simply would not be there if replaced by 1/2 the number of "better' planes. Of course the "better" 1938/39/early 1940 aircraft would also be totally useless for combat in Dec 1941 and later so no, you aren't getting head start for the beginning of the war.
Lets see;
Douglas B-18 Bolo, yes they built about 350 but would 175
early B-17s really have added much to US capabilities? 6 more B-17Cs in the Philippines rather than 12 B-18s? a few dozen B-17Cs in the Caribbean flying anti sub patrols instead of the B-18s that were used there?
Bell Aircuda, no argument , a real turkey but with only 13/14 built it's impact on US defense is non-existent. Did provide training/experience for Bell work force though and helped keep company in business.
Seversky P-35, Pretty much the same deal, first "production" plane for Seversky/Republic. " By April 1939, the Seversky Aircraft Corporation had lost $550,000, and Seversky was forced out of the company he had founded" and that is WITH the production contract for the P-35. Without it would there have been a Seversky/Republic in 1940 to design the P-47?
Northrop A-17, failed to deliver expect performance how?
Curtiss A-18, 13 aircraft built,please remember that it takes about 3 years to go form initial requirement to squadron service. lots of planes became obsolete between the time they were speced and the time the could enter service in the late 30s.
The Wright Cyclone engine went from 575hp in 1930 to 1100hp in 1938 as one example of "progress", put that together with the 1930 engine only rarely using a reduction gear and all using a fixed pitch prop and 1938 engines all having reduction gears and either controllable pitch props or constant speed props and one can see how planes "speced" in 1934-36 could very well fall short by 1940/41. Gas went from 73 octane to 87 octane with 100 octane coming fast for American planes ( but NOT the 100 octane used by the British). The Wright R-1820 went through 7 major model changes from 1930 to 1942.
Doesn't seem to matter what country- America,Germany,Britian, Japan-many people seem to think they can dump all the 'intermediate' planes/engines of the mid 1930s that many/most companies cut teeth/learned a lot from and leap into 1941/42 aircraft/engines without any intermediate steps from the aircraft of the late 20s/early 30s.
The P-26 was the first
service US military plane fitted with flaps of any kind, in 1935 ( (and were retro fitted to early examples) . it was more a speed brake/drag producer than anything else. By 1937 The Lockheed 14 was using Fowler flaps and on 10 July 1942 the A-26 prototype flew with both a laminar flow wing and double slotted flaps so airfloils and flaps ( and leading edge devices) were all making big changes in just a few years.
BTW due to a lack of B-17 orders Boeing had the production capacity to build at least 240 Douglas DB-73, originally for the British but 194 of them were kept by the USAAC. Some of the Boeing built aircraft may have wound up in Russia.
be careful what you ask for