Manufacturer: U.S. Navy / Grumman

Model: unknown

Name: Whirlcat

Type: Attack

Date: 1945

Status: Experimental

Country: United States of America

Service: U.S. Navy

Designation: XAN-1

The Navy-Grumman XAN-1 Whirlcat was an attempt to produce a fighter using the same contra-rotating props and the ill-fated XT40 engine as the Douglas Skyshark but with a lighter airframe, obtained by combining elements from Grumman's Bearcat and Tigercat fighters. The design worked on paper, but the T40 turbine was such a disastrous program that the AN-1 was never procured.

Just as the synopsis says: a Bearcat's fuselage, a Tigercat's tail, a Skyshark's engine and propellers... Weird combination, yet it looks a lot better to me than the Skyshark did!

Design-wise, the Whirlcat doesn't seem any less possible than genuine contemporary designs. However, such an aircraft would probably not have been elaborated from bits of three different models in real life because it's cheaper to create a type from scratch than to solve all the engineering problems stemming from the combination of different aircraft!

• "I like your Whirlcat, very uncommon and with a feeling of 'I have seen something like that somewhere'..." (Tophe)
• "Like a Wyvern on steroids?" (PR19_Kit)