A Tale of Two Heavy Fighters: Breda Ba.88 Lince & Beechcraft XA-38 Grizzly

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The Breda Ba.88 Lince (Italian: Lynx) was a ground-attack aircraft used by the Italian Regia Aeronautica during World War II. After its debut in 1937, this aircraft established several world speed records while its streamlined external shape and retractable undercarriage made it look highly advanced for the time. But when military equipment was installed on production aircraft, problems of instability developed and the aeroplane general performance deteriorated so much that its operational career was cut short and the Ba.88 were used as fixed installations on the airfields to mislead enemy reconnaissance. It represented, perhaps, the most remarkable failure of any operational aircraft to see service in World War II.
[Breda Ba.88 Image Source]




The Beechcraft XA-38 Grizzly was a United States ground attack aircraft, fitted with a forward-firing 75 mm cannon to attack heavily armored targets. The first prototype flew on 7 May 1944 but after testing it became obvious it would not be ready for the projected invasion of Japan, and furthermore it used engines required by the B-29 Superfortress — which had priority. It was thus canceled after two prototypes had been completed, and remains a fascinating might-have-been.
[Beechcraft XA-38-Grizzly Image Source]