How the Wildcat became a wartime fighter

What made the eighteen months before 1941 so important for naval aviation?

More powerful engines helped, while sustained redesign and testing transformed types such as the Wildcat and prepared the way for the Hellcat.

The two-thousand-horsepower engine helped naval aircraft performance advance rapidly before 1941. The Wildcat also illustrates how much development could change an aircraft: its early version lost its competition and performed poorly. Continued work produced the much stronger fighter that entered the war in 1941. The later Hellcat likewise depended on time spent developing the design.