Grumman Ww2 Fighters - The Grumman F7F Tigercat is a heavy fighter aircraft that served the United States Navy (USN) and the United States Marine Corps (USMC) from the end of World War II until 1954. It was the first twin fighter to be deployed by the USN. . Although the Tigercat was released late to see combat in World War II, it served as a night fighter and attack aircraft during the Korean War.
Originally intended for medium-class carrier aircraft service, the first production F7Fs were land-based variants. The type was too large to operate from larger and smaller carriers and only late variants (F7F-4N) were reported for carrier service.
Grumman Ww2 Fighters
From the previous Grumman XP-50, which was eventually retired, the company developed the XP-65 (M. 51) for the future concept of "fighter stocks". In 1943, work on the XP-65 was discontinued in favor of the project that would eventually become the F7F.
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The contract for the XF7F-1 prototype was signed on June 30, 1941. Grumman's goal was to produce a fighter equipped and preemptive against all existing fighter aircraft and which would have a supporting ground attack capability.
A performance prototype and the first production aircraft were awaited; The F7F was one of the fastest fighter jets, with a top speed well above that of a single USN aircraft—71 mph faster than the Grumman F6F Hellcat at sea level.
Captain Fred Trapnell, one of the USN's most experienced pilots, said, "He's the best fighter I've ever flown."
The F7F was heavily armed - four 20 mm cannons, four 50 caliber (0.50 in; 12.7 mm) machine guns, as well as undercarriage and bunkers for bombs and torpedoes. This speed and firepower came at the cost of heavy weight and high takeoff speed, but what caused the aircraft to fail airworthiness tests was poor directional stability with only one operational engine, as well as problems with the tail structure.
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The initial production run was only used from land bases by the USMC as night fighters with the APS-6 radar.
Although the F7F was also originally known as the Grumman Tomcat, this name was dropped because it had too much sex appeal at the time;
(Since the 1970s, the name Tomcat has been commonly associated, and officially used by the Navy, with another Grumman design, the F-14 twin jet trainer interceptor). The first production variant was the Comfort F7F-1N aircraft; After the 34th production aircraft, a second radar operator seat was added and these aircraft were designated the F7F-2N.
The second production version, the F7F-3, was modified to correct the problems that caused it to fail at acceptance, and this version was re-tested on the USS Shangri-La. A wing failure on a heavy port also resulted in the utter failure of this carrier. The F7F-3 aircraft was produced in day fighter, night fighter and photoreconnaissance versions.
Grumman G 58 Archives
The final production version, the F7F-4N, was completely redesigned for added strength and stability, and the carrier passed the test, but only 12 were built.
Marine Corps Night Fighter Squadron VMF(N)-513 flying F7F-3N Tigercats saw action in the early stages of the Korean War, flying night interdiction and fighter missions and flying two Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes.
Most F7F-2Ns have modified drones to control combat training, and these receivers have buttons in the rear cockpit for the drone controller. The F7F-2D also uses a transom pilot on the rear, canopy.
In 1945, two Tigercats, serial numbers TT346 and TT349, were rejected by the British Royal Navy in favor of the naval version of the de Havilland Hornet.
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Twin-engine fighter-bomber powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-2800-22W radial piston engines. First production version, 34 built.
A small number of F7F-2Ns were converted to drone control aircraft. In aircraft with the Grumman F8F Bearcat, the shield was mounted behind the cockpit.
Single-seat fighter-bomber powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800-34W radial piston engine and having a wide tail for improved stability at high altitude, 189 built.
From 1949, F7Fs flew in the USA. Naval depot at Naval Air Station Litchfield Park, Arizona.
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Although much of the airframe was later scrapped, a few surplus models were acquired. Surviving Tigercats were used primarily as water bombers for firefighting in the 1960s and 1970s, and Sis-Q Flying Services' Santa Rosa, California, F7F-3N transport operated in this role until they were retired in the late 1980s. The Grumman F8F Bearcat is an American single-engine fighter aircraft introduced during World War II. In the mid-20th century, he served in the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and the Air Force of other countries. It was Grumman's last piston fighter aircraft.
Modified versions of the Bearcat have speed charts for piston engine powered aircraft. Today, the Bearcat is popular with bird owners and air racers.
The Bearcat concept began between Mediterranean War F4F Wildcat pilots and Grumman Vice President Jake Swirbull at Pearl Harbor on June 23, 1942. At the meeting, Lt. Jimmy Teach emphasized one of the most important requirements for a good fighter jet. "Rate of Climb".
Climb is closely related to power-to-weight ratio and is improved by packing the airframe as small and light as possible on the most powerful engines. Another goal was that the G-58 (Grumman's design for the aircraft) could operate from the armor that was limited to the aging F4F Wildcat, as the Grumman F6F Hellcat was too large and heavy. A small, lightweight developer can do this. After spending a year and a half of intense carrier warfare in the Pacific theater of operations, Grumman began development of the G-58 Bearcat in late 1943.
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In 1943, Grumman was in the process of introducing the F6F Hellcat, powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine producing five thousand horsepower (1,500 kW). The R-2800 was the most powerful American engine available at the time, so it was retained for the G-58. This means better performance is achieved from a lighter airframe.
To achieve this, the Bearcat's fuselage was approximately 5 feet (1.5 m) shorter than the Hellcat's and was cut vertically behind the cockpit area. This allowed for the use of a bubbler, the first on a US Navy destroyer. The vertical stabilizer was the same height as the Hellcat, but the aspect ratio was increased, giving it a slimmer appearance. The wingspan was 7 feet (2.1 m) less than that of Hellcats. The fuselage was constructed using red tape and spot welding, with heavy gauge 302W aluminum alloy skins fitted to the ports.
The Hellcat used a 13 ft 1 in (3.99 m) three-bladed Hamilton Standard propeller. A slight reduction in dimensions was achieved by switching to a 12 ft 7 in (3.84 m) Aeroproduct four-bladed propeller. Keeping the aircraft design from the ship required a long landing gear, which combined with a shortened fuselage, gave the Bearcat a distinctive "nose" on the ground. The hydraulic undercarriage used an articulated support, which was lowered from the oil of thin legs; Just as the undercarriage reworked the shortened pipes to fit neatly into the steering wheel that rested tirelessly in the wing. An added advantage of the internal retractor units was the wide path that assisted the propeller rotation during takeoff and gave the F8F good ground handling on board.
The team's mission plan determined that the G-58 weighed 8,750 pounds (3,970 kg) fully loaded. As development continued, it became clear that this could be done because the structure of the new jet had to fit into the vehicle's ports. Finally, most of the weight savings involved the internal fuel tank, which limits capacity to 160 US gallons (610 L).
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And a fixed armament limitation of four .50 cal Browning M2/AN machine guns, two in each wing. The limited range due to the reduced fuel load means it will be useful in tracking situations, but the Hellcat will still be needed for longer patrols. The role later disappeared from the fleet against kamikaze air attacks.
Compared to the Hellcat, the Bearcat was 20% lighter, had a 30% better climb rate, and was 50 mph (80 km/h) faster.
Another weight-saving concept came up with pregnant women when they dropped their wings. The wings are designed to be folded at a point of about 2 3 lengths, which minimizes the space that must be taken up in the carrier. A very strong hinge system will usually be built to transfer the load from the outer sections of the wing to the inner section of the spar, which adds a lot of weight. Due to the construction of graphite wings, it can withstand high g loads, only the inner part of the wing can do this. The outer parts were made lighter and designed to break the hinge line if the force exceeded 7.5g. In this case, the aircraft is still flying and can be repaired after returning to the carrier. This saved him 230 pounds (100 kg) of weight.
The plan is complete
Grumman F7f Tigercat
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