United States' Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter

Photos

Grumman F4F Wildcat on a carrier off of Casablanca: United States Army in World War II, Pictorial Record, The War Against Germany and Italy: Mediterranean and Adjacent Areas, 1951, pg 22	Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal on March 22, 1943:
Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighter:	Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighter:	Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighter:	Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighter:
Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighter: Aeronautics Aircraft Spotters' Handbook	Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighter: Aeronautics Aircraft Spotters' Handbook
Grumman F4F-3A Wildcat, Lt. Commander Thach and Lt. O'Hare, April 1942:
Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, Squadron 41, early 1942:	Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, float:	Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, US Navy training unit, 1943:	Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, USS Enterprise, VF-6, testing machine guns, April 1942:
Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, USS Suwanee, late 1942 or early 1943:	Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, VF-11, Sundowners, 1943:	Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, mid 1943:	Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, Naval Air Station Anacostia:
Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, February 1942:	Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, Marine Corps, Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, February 1943:
Grumman Martlet fighter:	Grumman Wildcat Mk IV fighter:	Grumman Wildcat Mk V fighter:	Grumman Wildcat Mk VI / FM-2 fighter:
Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter:

Design

Originally Grumman designed the F3F, a biplane, that was to be used in case the monoplane F2 Buffalo failed.⁴

The US Navy chose the Buffalo over the Wildcat in June 1938.^1,4 However, the Wildcat was still considered a good plane and another prototype was ordered in September 1938.⁴ This resulted in the XF4F-3 prototype.⁴ By December 1941 the decision was reversed to use the Wildcat over the Buffalo.¹

Cockpit

Visibility wasn't very good and was cramped.¹

Engine

Initially the two-stage blower caused problems and was later replaced by a one-stage blower.¹

Undercarriage

The wheels retracted half way to fit against the fuselage.¹

Prototype

Was first flown on September 2, 1937 by Robert L. Hall.^1,2,3,4

The second prototype, XF4F-3, was well liked and 54 were ordered.⁴

The first F4F-3 flew in February 1940.³ The first F4F-4 flew on April 14, 1941.⁴

The FM-1 first flew in August 1942.³ The FM-2 flew in November 1942.³

Production

In August 1939 44 were ordered.² 22 of these were delivered by the end of 1940.²

Production of the F4F moved from Grumman to General Motors in 1942.³

• Grumman F4F-3: 285³
• Martlet I: 100³
• Martlet II: 90³
• Grumman F4F-3A / Martlet III: 95³
• Grumman F4F-4: 1,168³, 1,169²
• Grumman F4F-7: 21³
• Grumman Wildcat IV: 220³
• FM-1 / Wildcat V: 1,060³, 1,150⁴
• FM-2 / Wildcat VI: 4,777^3,4
• Total: 7,808³, 7,825¹, 7,885², ~8,000⁴
  • Grumman: 1,988¹
  • General Motors FMs: 5,237², 5,837¹

Variants

• Grumman XF4F-2: The first prototype to be flown.² Had Twin Wasp engine (1,050 HP).³
• Grumman XF4F-3: Had the two stage supercharged XR-1830-76 installed and could go 333.5 mph / 537 kph.² Appeared in February 1939 / February 12, 1939.^3,4 Had changes to wings and tail.³
• Grumman F4F:
• Grumman F4F-3:
• Grumman F4F-3A: Had R-1830-90 installed.²
• Grumman F4F-4: Main production model.⁴ Wings could be manually folded.^3,4
• Grumman F4F-7: Long range reconnaissance developed but was replaced by F6F.^1,2,3 Its range was 3,500 miles / 5,633 km.²
• FM-1 / Wildcat Mk V: Produced by General Motors.² Had a taller tail fin.² Had a Wright R-1820 engine.²
• FM-2 / Wildcat Mk VI: Produced by General Motors.² Had a taller tail fin.² Had a Wright R-1820 engine.² Had four 12.7 mm machine guns and could carry two 250 lb / 113 kg bombs or six 5" / 127 mm rockets.² Intended for use on escort carriers.²

Usage

Early Delivery

The first 22 were delivered to the VF-4 and VF-7.²

United States

The first used of the F4F Wildcat by the United States Navy was at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked.⁴ The Navy had 183 F4F-3s and the Marine Corps had 65 F4F-3As.⁴

The first US Navy ace was Lt. Edward "Butch" O'Hare, who shot down five Japanese bombers in five minutes.¹

With a score of 19 Japanese warplanes shot down, Major John L. Smith was the top Wildcat ace.¹

France

The French ordered 81 Wildcats in 1939.² These were later transferred to the Royal Navy and called the Martlet.²

United Kingdom

Was initially named the Martlet⁴ but was later changed to the Wildcat in early 1944.^1,3 There were 81 Wildcats that went into service with the Royal Navy in the summer of 1940.⁴

Orders of F4Fs by France and Greece were delivered to the Fleet Air Arm.^1,3 These were received in July 1940.³

The Wildcat was the first American fighter in British service to shoot down an enemy plane, a Ju 88 over Scapa Flow in December 1940.^3,4

The Fleet Air Arm received around 700 FM-2s.⁴

Royal Canadian Air Force

The RCAF also used the F4F Wildcats.¹

Escort Carrier Duty

As the F4F Wildcats became obsolete during the last two years of World War II, they were still used on Escort Carriers as they had a small size with the folded wings.²

Specifications