The Seversky P-35 Prototype.
Called the SEV-1XP, it was the first all metal, enclosed cockpit, monoplane fighter with (semi) retractable gear, ever purchased by the Army...It competed against several entrants including the Curtiss P-36 prototype to replace the antiquated P-26.
The Army first ordered 75 in 1937, and less that 200 ever were built because the “modern” P-35 was obsolete as a front line fighter by the time there were enough of them mass produced to fill a squadron.
Seversky (and later, Republic) would have other tricks up their sleeve, culminating with the legendary P-47, but it all leads back to this nifty little fighter.
Called the SEV-1XP, it was the first all metal, enclosed cockpit, monoplane fighter with (semi) retractable gear, ever purchased by the Army...It competed against several entrants including the Curtiss P-36 prototype to replace the antiquated P-26.
The Army first ordered 75 in 1937, and less that 200 ever were built because the “modern” P-35 was obsolete as a front line fighter by the time there were enough of them mass produced to fill a squadron.
Seversky (and later, Republic) would have other tricks up their sleeve, culminating with the legendary P-47, but it all leads back to this nifty little fighter.
