# Best Grumman 'Cat' II



## Pong (Sep 1, 2008)

Here's a revisit of the old Best Grumman 'Cat' plane thread. Beginning in the 1930s, Grumman made a series of planes called the "Cats". So, what's your favorite Grumman Cat?


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## eddie_brunette (Sep 1, 2008)

F6F by far for me. Tested and proven and probably the best US "dogfighter" of the war. This plane does not get all the attention it deserves.

edd


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## <simon> (Sep 1, 2008)

I'm saying F-14 just because of its role in Top Gun!!!!

WW2 wise, the Hellcat would win it for me


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## Thorlifter (Sep 1, 2008)

Gotta go with the F6F with the F14 a very close 2nd. Tough to argue two complete different era's in airplanes.


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## wilbur1 (Sep 1, 2008)

Yup f6f


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## B-17engineer (Sep 1, 2008)

For WWII F6F

For Modern Era F-14


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## evangilder (Sep 2, 2008)

As much as I like the Hellcat, I still think the F4F was what held things in check with the Japanese until the other fighters, like the Hellcat came into the fray. 

I am still a big fan of the Bearcat too. That things climbs like nothing else with a prop.

When I saw the F6F, F7F, and F8F all in formation at Camarillo this year, I was surprised to see how tough a time it was for the Hellcat to keep up. It was made worse by the fact that the Hellcat was on the outside of the turns. He was pouring on the juice and the Bearcat and Tigercat were pulling away.


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## Timppa (Sep 3, 2008)

I have always thought that the F8F was what the other R-2800 engined fighters, the F6F, F4U and P-47 should have been. Light, small, high performance fighters with adequate range and ordnance capability.


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## Bucksnort101 (Sep 3, 2008)

> When I saw the F6F, F7F, and F8F all in formation at Camarillo this year, I was surprised to see how tough a time it was for the Hellcat to keep up.



You should see a F4F in formation with a F6F and Corsair then. That "little" radial in the old F4f really had to turn to try to keep up with the others two.


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## evangilder (Sep 3, 2008)

I have seen it with an F6F and F8F. Yeah, that poor Wildcat pilot was pouring on the juice to keep up.


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## ToughOmbre (Sep 3, 2008)

F4F Wildcat. 

Why?

Wake Island, Midway.

TO


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## renrich (Sep 3, 2008)

I am going to go with the F4F because it held the line in the early going and pretty much had a draw with one of the most innovative fighters in the war, the A6M. The USN and Marine fighter pilots of course contributed heavily with their skills and training but that tubby little fighter from 1941 until early 1943 was practically all the Navy and Marines had as a fighter and it did yeoman service. The Wildcat in the form of the FM2 served until the end of the war in both the Atlantic and Pacific.


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## pbfoot (Sep 3, 2008)

I also opted for the Wildcat it was the bulwark that kept the Zeroes at bay til better aircraft arrived on the scene


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## Amsel (Sep 3, 2008)

The F-14 Tomcat is one of my favorite all time choices of favorite planes. I really like the Bearcat out of the "warbirds".


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## Gnomey (Sep 4, 2008)

It is between the F4F and the F6F for me but I have gone with the F4F because of its early war record as the stalwart of the American Air Forces.


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## JoeB (Sep 4, 2008)

The F9F (Panther) is my favorite Grumman fighter, not necessarily 'best'. The first truly operational USN jet fighter (the FH and FJ were never deployed overseas) and first Navy combat jet (claiming a pair of Yak-9's at the beginning of the Korean War). And it was the first jet of any country to down another jet fighter in combat, and have opposing records agree that's what happened, Nov 9 1950. Both MiG-15's and F-80's were credited with the other type Nov 1 and Nov 8, but US and Soviet records respectively don't show losses in those encounters. The VF-111 F9F victory over a MiG-15 Nov 9 does show up in Soviet records, first jet recorded lost in jet-jet combat in history.

Joe


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## kool kitty89 (Sep 4, 2008)

Wasn't the F2H deployed around the same time as the F9F?


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## renrich (Sep 4, 2008)

Yes, the F2H was in service at the same time as the F9F Panther. In those days the Navy always wanted two different fighters being developed in case one was unsuccessful.


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## JoeB (Sep 4, 2008)

kool kitty89 said:


> Wasn't the F2H deployed around the same time as the F9F?


The first operational deployment of jets on carriers, ie. other than operations off US coast within range of shore divert fields, was VF-111 and VF-112, F9F-2's, aboard USS Valley Forge, left US May 1 1950 for the Pacific, became first combat deployment when the Korean War broke out in late June and they flew their first combat missions July 3 1950. The first F2H's were VF-171 and 172 F2H-2's on USS Coral Sea, left US September 9 1950 for the Med. The first Korean deployment was VF-172 aboard USS Essex with first combat mission August 23 1951. So the F9F was definitely first, though not a big gap by today's standards. Jets had operated on carriers from 1946 close to shore, but the Valley Forge cruise was pioneering in integrating jets in a real air group, operating overseas and at times outside range of shore divert fields, even before the 'first' of going into combat, and eventually scoring the first jet-jet victory (besides Meteor v V1 if one wants to count that).

Joe


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## renrich (Sep 6, 2008)

I have a book by Marion Carl, which I can't locate right now, in which he talks of commanding a mixed Marine squadron after WW2 that was operating an early McDonnell jet, the Demon(?) and Corsairs. He said the performance of the jet was so anemic and somewhat dangerous that they used the Corsairs almost to the exclusion of the jets. In another of my books, "Eighty Knots to Mach Two," the author says the early McDonnell jets deserved their names, Demon, Banshee, etc. as they always seemed to be haunted because they would emit weird ghostly sounds that the mechanics could never locate and eliminate. He liked the F2H very much but had more time in the F9F.


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## kool kitty89 (Sep 6, 2008)

Probably the FH Phantom: FH Phantom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (withdrawn from USN and USMC service in 1949, used by the USNR until '54)


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## Emon_Essex (Sep 17, 2008)

The F4F has always been my favorite WWII aircraft... but the F8F is very nice too!


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## Burmese Bandit (Dec 6, 2008)

Well, in importance to the War effort the F6F of course. But the best cat was the one with my vote, the F8F!!!


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## Messy1 (Dec 8, 2008)

Wow, this is a tough call. For me, The F-14, F7F, and F8F are among my favorite aircraft of all time, but to be fair I want to key in on just WW2 or Korean era planes. I'd have to say the F8F just for it's performance capabilities, but if I was judging on war record, it would have to be the Hellcat!


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## noelchan127 (Jan 3, 2009)

renrich said:


> I am going to go with the F4F because it held the line in the early going and pretty much had a draw with one of the most innovative fighters in the war, the A6M. The USN and Marine fighter pilots of course contributed heavily with their skills and training but that tubby little fighter from 1941 until early 1943 was practically all the Navy and Marines had as a fighter and it did yeoman service. The Wildcat in the form of the FM2 served until the end of the war in both the Atlantic and Pacific.



I Wildcat fought the Zero resulting in more than just a draw, in fact more Zeros were destroyed by the Wildcats than Wildcats destroyed by the Zeros


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## ratdog (Jan 3, 2009)

well going with the best combat records i would say the F6F but favorite is the Bearcat cause if it was introduced early enough then that would have effectively ended the Japanese rule in the Pacific


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## Soundbreaker Welch? (Jan 4, 2009)

Hellcat, Hellcat, Hellcat!!!! It's da best Navy plane evaaarrrr!


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## Thunderbolt56 (Jan 6, 2009)

My favorite is the Wildcat. 

It wasn't even close to the best, but that's unimportant to me. At a time when the US was struggling to get its military machine up to speed, there were guys like Butch Voris, Butch O'Hare, Joe Foss and John Thach towing the line and making a difference...in their Wildcats.


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## drgondog (Jan 6, 2009)

I liked the F8 with the F7F as a close second - two fighters that I believe would have performed well in combat in any theatre. The problem for both is that they also followed the deployment of the He 162 and Me 262 - rendering both obsolete except in carrier based role.


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## Lucky13 (Jan 6, 2009)

F4F Wildcat, maybe not the best, but.....Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal....nough said! 8)


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## renrich (Jan 7, 2009)

TB56, that is a really good picture you posted of the F4F. It shows how good the view over the nose is for carrier landings and for deflection shooting. Thanks!


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## Thunderbolt56 (Jan 7, 2009)

You're absolutely welcome. That was taken at the Chino airshow last year by Bernard Zee. Here's a couple more:










and sticking with the "cat" theme:


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## Lucky13 (Jan 7, 2009)

Maaaan....I can almost hear the engines and I LOVE the Chrome Yellow machine, what a beauty!


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## fly boy (Jan 8, 2009)

ww2 hellcat 

modern f-14 

i like the design and look of the f-14 and done a sim at the boeing field and it was there for like a week then they changed it to a f/a 18


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