Brewster Aeronautical Corporation's F2A Buffalo won the first Navy monoplane fighter competition over Grumman's entry.

The company continued to design and produce lackluster aircraft, and the XA-32, despite a sound layout, became a compendium of management-induced faults.

The drag induced by its bulbous shape was amplified by careless detail design, which left it festooned with bumps and lumps.

One disastrous characteristic was that the exhaust scoops that ringed the cowling nearly blinded the test pilots during night flying; the backfiring at low power settings resulted in flames engulfing the nose of the aircraft.

Devoid of weapons load, the XA-32 could only reach 279 mph (242 kn; 449 km/h) and although handling was adequate, as soon as armament and external stores were added, the performance dropped drastically and more seriously, the disturbed airflow "set up severe buffeting at its top speed.