The F2W was ordered by the US Navy to enter in the 1923 Pulitzer Trophy.

It was later converted into a floatplane as the F2W-2 to take part in the 1924 Schneider Trophy race.

During testing it was very unstable, and on its only flight, on 11 October 1924, crashed into the Delaware River at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when the tremendous torque of the Tornado engine flipped it onto its back while attempting to land.

[2] The pilot, badly injured, extricated himself from the wreckage.

[3] Data from The American Fighter from 1917 to the present [1]General characteristics Performance