Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The Curtiss-Wright XF-87 Blackhawk (previously designated the XA-43 and XP-87) was a prototype American all-weather jet fighter interceptor and the company''s last aircraft project. Designed as a replacement for the World War II-era propeller-driven P-61 Black Widow night/interceptor aircraft, the XF-87 lost in government procurement competition to the Northrop F-89 Scorpion. The loss of the contract was fatal; the Curtiss-Wright Corporation closed down its aviation division, selling its assets to North American Aviation. he aircraft started life as a project for an attack aircraft, designated XA-43. When the United States Army Air Forces issued a requirement for a jet-powered night and all-weather fighter in 1945, the design was reworked for that request.