MIflyer
1st Sergeant
Last flying F4F-3 non-folding wing Wildcat
The Last Flying F4F
- Thread starter MIflyer
- Start date
Last flying F4F-3 non-folding wing Wildcat
Warbird Registry - Grumman F4F Wildcat - A Warbirds Resource Group Site
The Grumman F4F Wildcat registry follows the history of all Wildcats that survived military service.
Wildcat
Major
Nice! Some great aerial shots in that video.
vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
Meanwhile in Terry's (aka Airframes) backyard............
- Thread starter
- #5
MIflyer
1st Sergeant
I think that is the F4F that was covered in the EAA Magazine years ago. They showed a picture of one of the original radio tubes, full of water.
Other Wildcats have been recovered from the lake and restored, although I don't know how many are flying. This one is at the Valiant Air Museum, an FM-1 recovered from the lake and restored. It looks great but it does not fly and it does not have the engine with the two stage supercharger.
Other Wildcats have been recovered from the lake and restored, although I don't know how many are flying. This one is at the Valiant Air Museum, an FM-1 recovered from the lake and restored. It looks great but it does not fly and it does not have the engine with the two stage supercharger.
vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
Amazing how small they were
- Thread starter
- #7
MIflyer
1st Sergeant
Yes, small, but still larger than a BF-109 or FW-190A.
GreenKnight121
Senior Airman
- 401
- Mar 16, 2014
Interestingly, the other 16 airworthy Wildcats (plus 1 under restoration to airworthy status) are all FM-2s (General Motors-built), making this the only actual F4F (Grumman-built) flying.
And while small, they are big enough for FM-2 #86680 to have had a 3-seat passenger cabin fitted in the fuselage - complete with windows!
1969 paint scheme:
2011 paint scheme:
And while small, they are big enough for FM-2 #86680 to have had a 3-seat passenger cabin fitted in the fuselage - complete with windows!
1969 paint scheme:
2011 paint scheme:
- Thread starter
- #9
MIflyer
1st Sergeant
Yep, a big belly! Take a look at the F4F radio compartment. On the F3F that compartment was so large that they actually did carry people in it, at least over short distances. In the movie "Flight Command" when an F3F crashes on a beach another lands and the pilot removes the radio and puts the injured man back there.
Peter Gunn
Tech Sergeant
Not gonna lie, that's pretty cool!
Nice one!
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