Why Brewster chose the Wright Cyclone engine

The single-row Wright Cyclone occupied roughly similar volume to the Twin Wasp and promised simpler maintenance and reliability for a fleet air-defence fighter. A lower purchase price was probably another reason Brewster chose it. Its development path raised nominal output from about 950 to 1,200 horsepower, although F2A variant labels and the -40 and -42 engine ratings did not form perfectly clean categories. Some F2A-2 engines approached the output associated with F2A-3 installations, complicating comparisons based on variant names alone. Compared with the engines in the F3F generation the Buffalo replaced, the Cyclone was a defensible safe bet in 1938. Its later shortcomings arose from the failure to sustain development after a reasonable initial selection.