Seversky SEV-1XP Fighter Prototype

The Seversky SEV-1XP (single seat experimental pursuit) was a single-seat fighter prototype developed from the SEV-2XP (2-seat experimental pursuit). The SEV-2XP had been entered in a competition for a new single-seat fighter for the United States Army Air Corps in 1935, but was damaged in transit and returned Seversky’s Farmingdale factory for repairs. In the meantime, Seversky learned that his competition from Northrop and Curtiss had entered single seat aircraft with retractable undercarriage. Accordingly, the SEV-2XP was rebuilt in this configuration and given the company designation SEV-1XP.

After winning the fly-off evaluation, an order for 77 P-35 fighters and spare parts equivalent to eight airplanes was placed on 16 June 1936. Seversky was inexperienced in mass-production and deliveries were very slow. It was not until the following spring that the First Pursuit Group received their P-35s. Concerned about slow deliveries, and the sale of 2PA two-seat aircraft to the Japanese Navy, the USAAC contracted with Curtiss-Wright for 210 P-36 aircraft.

The 77th P-35 was retained by Seversky and developed into the XP-41, was developed in parallel with the P-43 Lancer. Work was stopped when the USAAC showed a preference for the latter.

The Seversky SEV-1XP was retained by Seversky and flown in the 1937 Bendix and Thompson races. Modified as an executive transport with a cabin below and behind the cockpit, it was redesignated the SEV-S1 Executive. Aviatrix Jackie Cochran later used it for a record breaking New York-Miami flight. The aircraft later had the tail wheel fail, damaging the SEV-1XP beyond repair.