Grumman F8F Bearcat
R

Grumman F8F Bearcat

Last in the line of single-seat single-engined fighters to originate from the F4F Wildcat, the Bearcat had the distinction of being one of the most successful piston-engined aircraft to serve with the US Navy. The provision of significantly more power than the R-2800 engine of the F6F Hellcat was impractical, so the design team concentrated upon producing a smaller lightweight aircraft which would ensure the performance required of a carrier-based interceptor.

The prototype XF8F-1 flew for the first time on 27 November 1943, confirming at once that Grumman had produced a high-performance fighter, and deliveries of F8F-ls to the first operational squadron began in May 1945. Variants included F8F-1B with cannon armament; F8F-1N night fighter with redesigned power-plant section and revised radio and radar equipment; F8F-2 with an 1,863kW R-2800-E engine, fin and rudder height increased by 30.5cm to improve directional stability (made a controlled climb from take-off to 3,050m in 92 seconds); F8F-2N night fighter; and F8F-2P photo-reconnaissance aircraft. Entering service too late for operational deployment in World War II, ex-US Navy Bearcats were used by the French Armee de l'Air and the Royal Thai Air Force, playing a significant role in the conflict in Indo-China.

Info: Aviastar
http://www.aviastar.org/index2.html

Profile: American Aircraft Of World War II
Published by Chancellor Press Ltd.
There are no comments to display.

Media information

Category
Profiles
Added by
Roelf
Date added
View count
4,407
Comment count
0
Rating
0.00 star(s) 0 ratings

Share this media

Back