johnny1000
Recruit
- 6
- Jul 21, 2016
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The 3 identification lights (red, green, amber) on F4F were located under the belly. IN D&S, page 47 you see them on a FM-2. On some variants they are not visible, on some of the restored airplanes they are clearly there. My guess is they were not used on all a/cs and were faired over. A good photo of covered lights is the Palm Springs F4F-3:Hello
I'm looking for an image of the IFF lights on an F4F-4. I've scoured the web and various reference books (Detail in Scale, Squadron/Signal Walk Around) and can't find anything.
Did that aircraft even have them, and if so, where would they be located?
Thanks!
-J
It's hard to find authentic photos from the period clearly showing the belly of the plane. Many restored a/cs are accessible and can be seen from below. This is a restored F4F-3 and the identification lights are there.I agree. These lights can be noticed on the FM-2 kites mostly. While in pics of the F4F-4s and British Martlets these it can't be seen.
Wurger, IMHO the recognition lights are factory equipment, but they were not installed on all planes. It is very hard to judge about any fairings over the 3 holes, based on original photos. I have one from the war games (as shown above) with a bigger resolution but by all means I don't see any proof pro or con fairings over the lights.Yep. Also I have seen a pic of the FM-2 kite without the lights at the belly. Therefore I would say it wasn't the factory equipment attached to all planes. Even if these weren't mounted but there would be the holes with blinds and these should be noticed too.
Wurger, IMHO the recognition lights are factory equipment, but they were not installed on all planes...
Yep. Also I have seen a pic of the FM-2 kite without the lights at the belly. Therefore I would say it wasn't the factory equipment attached to all planes. Even if these weren't mounted but there would be the holes with blinds and these should be noticed too.
Here acouple of images I found via the net...
A FM-2 of training unit ...
View attachment 367711
A F4F-3A ...
View attachment 367712
View attachment 367713
A F4F-4 ...
View attachment 367714
View attachment 367715
Aren't these the four-gunned FM-1's ?
Grumman ceased production in late '42 and the insignia at that time was the blue circle w white star