Originally designed for a United States Navy request for a dual-power aircraft, the Elephant Industries FE was going to be built with a Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone engine. However, due to teething issues with the powerplant, the engine was changed to the venerable Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp producing 2600 horsepower in production versions. This engine backs a set of contra-rotating propellors which give the FE excellent acceleration and rates of climb. Mounted in the rear of the fuselage underneath two large air intakes wasan Allison J33 turbojet putting out over 3000 lbf of thrust. This thrust number was down from Allison's intentions, but the thrust went down when the engine was tuned for standard avgas.

The aircraft underwent sea trials in 1943 and, like the earlier P-98, airframes were damaged and deemed unsuitable for carrier operations. However, this time Elephant Industries went back to the drawing board and rebuilt the wing structure and beefed up the undercarriage to handle the stresses of carrier landings.

Again in 1944 the FE underwent sea trials and passed with flying colors. Production FEs were delivered to the first combat wings in mid-1944, and VF-88 left for war weeks later. Unfortunately though, the FE didn't arrive soon enough to get any action in World War II.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AG 1 activates the turbojet. The turbojet is intended to be used on short take offs or in combat situations, not for cruising.

AG 2 releases the center pylon's ordinance.

AG 3 releases the outer pylons' ordinance.

As equipped, this FE has a single centerline bomb and two 30-gallon drop tanks: one on each wing.

A huge thank you to TheAlban for his star insignias!

As always, enjoy the aircraft and let me know how I can make it better!