Was the F4F Wildcat a good fighter?
Bigger and better fighters—such as the Grumman F6F Hellcat—would enter the fray, but the F4F Wildcat saw service throughout the war. Its durability, along with multiple . 50-caliber machineguns and wing space for two 100-pound bombs, made it ideal for search-and-destroy missions.
How many guns did the F4F Wildcat have?
| Grumman F4F Wildcat | Specifications: | |
|---|---|---|
| F4F-3 | F4F-4 | |
| FM-2 | One Wright Cyclone R-1820-56 , 1,350 hp (1,006 kW) 9-cylinder, single-row radial piston, air-cooled engine. | Four Browning M2, 0.50 inch (12.7 mm) 430 rpg machine guns, and two 100 lb (45 kg) bombs. |
How good is F4F?
F4F fliers won more Medals of Honor than any other fighter pilots in World War II. Of the eight medals, six went to Marines fighting in the Solomon Islands campaign in 1942‑1943. Navy and Marine Corps squadrons flew the Wildcat in combat for just 20 months, from December 1941 to August 1943.
What does F4F Wildcat stand for?
Acronym. Definition. F4F. Grumman Wildcat Fighter (WWII)
Is the F4F good war thunder?
The F4F-3 Wildcat is a rank II American fighter with a battle rating of 2.7 (AB/RB) and 3.0 (SB). The F4F-3 Wildcat is a good all-around fighter, though its top speed and rate of climb are lacking.
How good was the F6F Hellcat?
U.S. Navy and Marine F6F pilots flew 66,530 combat sorties and claimed 5,163 kills (56% of all U.S. Navy/Marine air victories of the war) at a recorded cost of 270 Hellcats in aerial combat (an overall kill-to-loss ratio of 19:1 based on claimed kills).
Who made the F4F Wildcat?
Grumman
Grumman F4F Wildcat/Manufacturers
How many Hellcats are still flying?
In total, 12,275 were built in just over two years. Hellcats were credited with destroying a total of 5,223 enemy aircraft while in service with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm….Grumman F6F Hellcat.
| F6F Hellcat | |
|---|---|
| Number built | 12,275 |
Does Grumman still make aircraft?
IN a historic move, Grumman Corporation – one of the nation’s largest aerospace contractors and the last remaining builder of fighter/bomber military aircraft in the Northeast – is shutting down its manufacturing facilities on Long Island, N.Y.
How many F6F Hellcats are left?
Is F6F better than zero?
The Hellcat’s top speed of around 380 mph outpaced the Zero at optimum altitude. The Hellcat’s 37,000-foot service ceiling also translated into an operational altitude edge. Above 10,000 feet, the F6F climbed as quickly as the lighter Zero.
What replaced the F4F Wildcat?
Grumman F6F Hellcat
The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United States Navy’s dominant fighter in the second half of the Pacific War.
What is an F4F-4 Wildcat?
After war erupted in the Pacific, the Grumman F4F Wildcat was the primary fighter aircraft operated by the United States Navy and the Marine Corps. Highlighted in this image is the landing gear of the Grumman FM-1 (F4F-4) Wildcat.
Was the F4F Wildcat the fastest fighter of World War II?
Leroy Grumman’s F4F Wildcat was not the fastest or most advanced fighter aircraft of World War II, but during the dark months after Pearl Harbor, Wildcat pilots stood firm, held the line, and stopped the Imperial Japanese military air forces when they seemed invincible.
Is this the best tribute ever paid to the Grumman F4F Wildcat?
Those words of top Japanese ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, part of a November 1942 conversation that was reported in fighter pilot Saburo Sakai’s autobiography, Samurai, might be the best tribute ever paid to the Grumman F4F Wildcat.
What was the first F4F to be used in combat?
First combat for the F4F was not with the U.S. Navy but with Britain’s Royal Navy, and its first victim was German. The British had shown great interest in the Wildcat as a replacement for the Gloster Sea Gladiator, and the first were delivered in late 1940.