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Article: Aircraft, Fighter
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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AIRCRAFT, FIGHTER
AIRCRAFT, FIGHTER.
The first American-built fighter, the Thomas-Morse MB-1 Scout, appeared in 1919. The U.S. Army relied on the Curtiss Hawk series until 1930, when the army switched to the Boeing P-26. As world tension generated technical advances, the army switched to the Republic P-35 and the Curtiss P-36 (Hawk 75), all-metal, low-wing monoplanes with enclosed cockpits, retractable landing gear, and heavier armament.
The Army Air Corps's interest in aircraft with close-support and coast defense roles retarded development of U.S. fighters, so that the standard fighters
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the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (1940) and the Bell P-39 Airacobra (1941)
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were obsolescent ...