- quality wooden model WWI and WWII airplanes -
- quality wooden model WWI and WWII airplanes -
F4F (FM) Wildcat, US Navy
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Photography by Action Asia Photo |
The F4F saga began in 1935 when Grumman's XF4F-1 biplane prototype lost out in competition against the Brewster F2A-1 monoplane (later called the Buffalo) for a contract with the Navy for a new carrier based fighter. Data on the F2A-1 soon showed that a biplane could not compete against a successful monoplane and further development of the XF4F-1 was stopped in favor of an alternative monoplane designed by Grumman and ordered by the Navy as the XF4F-2. In 1938 Grumman Aircraft Corporation was awarded a contract for the F4F Wildcat. This was followed in 1942 by a subcontract with Eastern Aircraft (General Motors assembly factories) to produce F4Fs with a designation of FM thus leaving Grumman to concentrate on the F6F Hellcat. Basic differences between the F4F and FM was in the armament (6-50 cal guns on the F4F versus 4-50 cal guns and bombs/rockets on the FM) and in the power plant (1200 hp for the F4F versus 1350 hp with water injection in the FM-2 - which enabled the FM-2 to operate from small deck escort carriers). Over 9,000 F4F/FM aircraft were produced, many of which were sent to Britain and saw combat against the Germans before United States entry into World War II. Unique to the Wildcat were manually retracted landing gear, folding wings (on later models) for easy stowage on board carriers, cockpit armor and self-sealing gas tanks. The ruggedness of the F4F reduced its speed, maneuverability and range, attributes that had been built into its primary adversary - the Japanese Zero. Early action against the Zero indicated that survival of the Wildcat in a one-on-one dogfight was marginal. One of the tactics devised to beat the Zero was the weave developed by LCDR Jimmy Thach in which a pair of aircraft fly parallel to one another. When one was attacked both aircraft would break toward each other giving the free aircraft an opportunity to fire upon the attacking aircraft. The pair would then resume their parallel position to fend off another attack. The Thach weave was first used in the Battle of Midway and became the standard naval fighter doctrine. The Wildcat's overall ratio of victories to losses was 6.9:1. After the Solomon Island campaign, the F4Fs were gradually replaced by the more advanced F4U Corsair and the F6F Hellcat. Wildcats remained in service aboard the escort carriers.
Designation: F4F or FM
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Wildcat,20.jpg)
Wildcat,20,engine.jpg)