1943: USN's ideal dynamic duo?

[VBF-13]

Just a little more on Grumman. By the time they got their teeth into that F6F, they didn't have time for anything else. Thus, the FM2s. Their one plant was devoted to one purpose, that F6F. And, Grumman knew better than anybody, why we needed that aircraft. In fact, they conceived of it well before it was even in the drawing-board stage. Just think of it. The F4F was their product. The trouble with their F4Fs was that they had difficulty "mixing it up" with the lighter Zeroes, which could turn "inside" those heavier aircraft. Grumman knew that better than anybody. After all, that knowledge comprised the field performance data on their product. To wit, their F6Fs didn't even attempt to "dogfight" the Zeroes. Rather, they dove on them, took their shots, swung away, regrouped, then came back and did the same thing, all over again. Even when that aircraft was crippled, they were known to make it back to the carriers. I think the only appreciable difference between their F6F-3 and the F6F-5 was the canopy windows in back of the pilot they later saw little use for. But, that was about it. It was for the most part the same exact aircraft design through 1945 they turned out in 1942. That's how good that aircraft was.