In the world of aircraft manufacturers there are 2 basic types, evolutionary and revolutionary. Revolutionary, think North American, Northrup / Douglas (really Ed Heinemann), Lockheed. Evolutionary think Republic, Curtiss and my favorite Grumman.
This was really the first of Leroy Grumman's successful designs. His FF-1 and F2F preceded this but they were really just good enough to keep the company hanging on until Leroy got a lot of the bugs worked out of his designs and his factory.
This is the first of the "Iron Works" planes. Well named because of their strength and special capability for aircraft carrier handling.
Did quite a bit on Roman V's Gulfhawk II over the weekend. This little jewel really clicks together nicely. I have finally convinced myself that these Europeans do know what they are doing with just gluing things together end to end. Once you get the shape right as the old Brylcreem commercials used to say "A little dab'll do ya".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brylcreem