<!-- This article is a part of Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft. Please see Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout. --> {{Infobox aircraft | name = XF3W | logo = | logo_size = | image = Wright XF3W Apache at NACA Langley in 1926.jpeg | alt = | caption = Wright XF3W Apache | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Racer | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = United States | manufacturer = Wright Aeronautical | design_group = | designer = | builder = | issuer = | status = | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 1 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = 5 May 1926<ref name="Angel">{{cite book |last= Angelucci |first= Enzo |title=The American Fighter from 1917 to the present |year=1987 |publisher=Orion Books |location=New York |isbn= 0-517-56588-9 |page=462 }}</ref> | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }}

The '''Wright XF3W''' was an American racing aircraft built by Wright Aeronautical for the United States Navy.

==Development and design== After the U.S. Navy declared its preference for radial engines, Wright developed the P-1 Simoon. To demonstrate the engine, the F3W was designed to carry it. The F3W was a single-seat biplane, with a steel tubing fuselage and wood wings, covered by fabric. Designed to be a carrier-based fighter and powered by the Simoon engine, its performance was poor. After the Navy took delivery of the aircraft, they installed a rival company's engine, the Pratt & Whitney R-1340 radial. The aircraft was redesignated XF3W, and flew with the new engine for the first time on 5 May 1926.<ref name="Angel"/>

==Operational history== The Navy used the XF3W as a test bed for the Pratt & Whitney engine until 1930, during which time the aircraft set a number of records. On 6 September 1929, the XF3W piloted by Apollo Soucek set the world altitude record for seaplanes of {{convert|38500|ft|m|abbr=on}}; on 6 April 1930, Soucek set the landplane altitude record of {{convert|43166|ft|m|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Angel"/> The XF3W was also fitted with a single centreline float to evaluate the concept of basing floatplanes on battleships.<ref name="Johnson">{{cite book|last=Johnson|first=E.R|title=United States Naval Aviation, 1919–1941: Aircraft, Airships and Ships Between the Wars|year=2011|publisher=McFarland Publishing|location=United States|isbn=9780786445509|pages=353}}</ref>

==Specifications== thumb|The XF3W-1 with floats. {{Aircraft specs |ref=Angelucci, 1987. p. 462.<ref name="Angel"/> |prime units? = imp |crew=1 |length m=6.73 |length ft=22 |length in=1 |span m=8.33 |span ft=27 |span in=4 |height m=2.59 |height ft=8 |height in=6 |wing area sqm=19.97 |wing area sqft=215 |empty weight kg=641 |empty weight lb=1,414 |gross weight kg=965 |gross weight lb=2,128 |eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=Pratt & Whitney R-1340-B |eng1 kw=336 |eng1 hp=450 |max speed kmh=261 |max speed mph=162 |ceiling m=11,753 |ceiling ft=38,560 }}

<!-- ==See also== --> {{aircontent <!-- include as many lines are appropriate. additional lines/entries with carriage return. --> |see also= |related= |similar aircraft= |lists= }}

==References== {{Reflist}} <!--==Further reading==-->

==External links== {{Commons category-inline|Wright XF3W Apache}}

{{Wright aircraft}} {{USN fighters}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright F03W}} Category:1920s United States fighter aircraft XF3W Category:Biplanes Category:Aircraft first flown in 1926 Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft Category:Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear Category:Carrier-based aircraft Category:Single-engined piston aircraft Category:Floatplanes