F8F Bearcat

Infobox Aircraft
name= F8F Bearcat


caption=
type= Fighter aircraft
manufacturer= Grumman
first flight= 21 August 1944
introduction= 1945
retired= 1955 (United States Navy), 1960 (Royal Thai Air Force)
status= Retired
primary user= United States Navy
more users= United States Marine Corps
French Air Force
Royal Thai Air Force
produced=
number built= 1,266
unit cost=
developed from=
variants with their own articles=

The Grumman F8F Bearcat (affectionately called "Bear") was an American single-engine naval fighter aircraft of the 1940s. It went on to serve into the mid-20th Century in the United States Navy and other air forces, and would be the company's final piston engined fighter aircraft.

Design and development

Designed for the interceptor fighter role, the design team's aim was to create the smallest, lightest fighter that could fit around the Pratt & Whitney R2800 engine (carried over from the F6F Hellcat). Compared to its predecessor, the Bearcat was 20% lighter, had a 30% better rate of climb and was 50 mph (80 km/h) faster. It was also considerably smaller in size, as it was designed to be operated from small escort aircraft carriers, something the big Hellcat rarely did. Thus the F8F Bearcat was intended mainly as a replacement for the obsolete FM2 Wildcat, still the mainstay fighter of the many wartime escort carriers.

In comparison with the Vought F4U Corsair, the initial Bearcat (F8F-1) was marginally slower but was more maneuverable and climbed faster. Its huge 12' 4" Aero Products four-bladed propeller required a long landing gear (made even longer by the mid-fuselage position of the wing), giving the Bearcat an easily-recognized, "nose-up" profile. For the first time in a production Navy fighter, an all-bubble canopy offered 360-degree visibility.

The Bearcat concept was inspired by an evaluation in early 1943 of a captured Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter in England by Grumman test pilots and engineering staff. [Meyer 1998, p. 42.] After flying the Fw 190, Grumman test pilot Bob Hall wrote a report he directed to President Leroy Grumman who personally laid out the specifications for Design 58, the successor to the Hellcat, closely emulating the design philosophy that had spawned the German fighter, although no part of the German fighter was copied. The F8F Bearcat would emanate from Design 58 [Scrivner 1990, p. 4.] with the primary missions of outperforming highly maneuverable late-model Japanese fighter aircraft such as the A6M-5 Zero Maloney 1969] , and defending the fleet against incoming airborne suicide (kamikaze) attacks. ["U.S. Naval Air Museum http://broadcast.illuminatedtech.com/display/story.cfm?bp=92&sid=7974]

Unfortunately the target weight (derived from the land-based German aircraft) was essentially impossible to achieve as the aircraft had to be made stronger for aircraft carrier landings. As a weight-saving concept the designers came up with detachable wings; if the "g"-force exceeded 7.5g then the tips would snap off, leaving a perfectly flyable aircraft still capable of carrier landing. Unfortunately while this worked very well under carefully controlled conditions in flight and on the ground, in the field, where aircraft were repetitively stressed by landing on carriers and since the wings were slightly less carefully made in the factories, wings tended to break off while the vehicle bombed targets, and the aircraft would then crash. This was replaced with an explosives system to blow the wings off together, which also worked well, however this ended when a ground technician died due to accidental triggering. In the end the wings were reinforced and the aircraft limited to 7.5g. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3897/is_199808/ai_n8826530/pg_1 Clipping the Bearcat's wing] ]

Grumman's project pilot for the Bearcat series was legendary test pilot Corky Meyer, who also had this role on the F6F Hellcat, F7F Tigercat, F9F Panther, XF10F-1 Jaguar, and the F11F Tiger series. Meyer was head of Grumman Flight Operations at Edwards Air Force Base from 1952–56. [ [http://www.grummanpark.org/grumman_test_pilots.htm www.GrummanPark.org] —Grumman test pilots] [Meyer, Corwin. "Corky Meyer's Flight Journal: A Test Pilot's Tales Of Dodging Disasters-Just In Time". North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 2006. ISBN 1-58007-093-0.]

Another famous name is associated with the type; when asked his favorite aircraft to fly, Neil Armstrong's immediate and unequivocal answer was "Bearcat". Armstrong had flown the type in 1950 during his Navy Advanced Training, field qualifying in it at age 19. [Hanson, James R. "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong." New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005. ISBN 0-74325-751-0.]

Operational history

The F8F prototypes were ordered in November 1943 and first flew on 21 August 1944, a mere nine months later. The first production aircraft was delivered in February 1945 and the first squadron was operational by 21 May, but World War II was over before the aircraft saw combat service.

Postwar, the F8F became a major U.S. Navy fighter, equipping 24 fighter squadrons. Often mentioned as one of the best- (if not the best) handling piston-engine fighters ever built, its performance was sufficient to outperform many early jets. Its capability for aerobatic performance is illustrated by its selection for the Navy's elite Blue Angels in 1946, who flew it until the team was temporarily disbanded in 1950 (during the Korean War). The Grumman F9F Panther and McDonnell F2H Banshee largely replaced the Bearcat in USN service, as their performance and other advantages eclipsed piston-engine fighters.

An unmodified production F8F-1 set a 1946 time-to-climb record (after a run of 115 feet) of 10,000 feet in 94 seconds. The Bearcat held this record for ten years until it was broken by a modern jet fighter (which could still not match the Bearcat's short takeoff distance).

Other nations that flew the Bearcat included the French Air Force and Royal Thai Air Force. French aircraft saw combat service in the First Indochina War as fighter-bombers in the early 1950s. Nearly 70 surviving aircraft passed to the Vietnam Air Force upon its creation in 1955. [ [http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww3/f/802/17/0 Wings Palette. AVIA Camouflage Profiles. "Grumman F8F Bearcat"] ]

Air racing

Bearcats have long been popular in air racing. A stock Bearcat flown by Mira Slovak and sponsored by Bill Stead won the first Reno Air Race in 1964. "Rare Bear", a highly-modified F8F owned by Lyle Shelton, went on to dominate the event for decades, often competing with Daryl Greenamyer, another famous racer with his own Bearcat victories and a Bearcat world speed record. "Rare Bear" also set many performance records, including the 3 km World Speed Record for piston-driven aircraft (528.33 mph (850.26 km/h), set in 1989), and a new time-to-climb record (3,000 meters in 91.9 seconds, set in 1972, breaking the 1946 record cited above). [ [http://www.RareBear.com www.RareBear.com—"Lyle Shelton's "Rare Bear"] [Note that Shelton's claim to be the "fastest propeller-driven aircraft in the world" does not acknowledge faster turboprop aircraft such as the Russian Tupolev Tu-95 "Bear" bomber. Other sources credit "Rare Bear" as the fastest "piston-driven" aircraft.] ] [ [http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/performance/q0023.shtml www.AeroSpaceWeb.org—aircraft speed records] ] [ [http://www.airrace.com/New%20speed%20records.htm www.AirRace.com —speed records from archives of the Society of Air Racing Historians] ]

Operators

;FRA
* French Air Force;THA
* Royal Thai Air Force;USA
* United States Navy
* United States Marine Corps;flag|South Vietnam
* Vietnam Air Force

urviving aircraft

A small number of Bearcats survive: approximately 11 are airworthy (several as racing aircraft), eight are restored for static display and approximately a dozen more are wrecks or restoration projects.

pecifications (F8F-1 Bearcat)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War IIBridgman 1946, p. 233.] , Maloney 1969]
crew=1 pilot
length main=28 ft 3 in
length alt=8.6 m
span main=35 ft 10 in
span alt=10.9 m
height main=13 ft 10 in
height alt=4.2 m
area main= ft²
area alt= m²
empty weight main=7,070 lb
empty weight alt=3,210 kg
loaded weight main=9,600 lb
loaded weight alt=4,400 kg
max takeoff weight main=12,947 lb
max takeoff weight alt=5,870 kg
engine (prop)=Pratt & Whitney R-2800-34W "Double Wasp"
type of prop=two-row radial engine
number of props=1
power main=2,100 hp
power alt=1,567 kW
max speed main=421 mph
max speed alt=366 knots, 678 km/h
range main=1,105 mi
range alt=1,780 km
ceiling main=38,700 ft
ceiling alt=11,800 m
climb rate main=4,570 ft/min
climb rate alt=23.2 m/s
loading main=
loading alt=
power/mass main=0.22 hp/lb
power/mass alt=360 W/kg

guns=4× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns
bombs=1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs
rockets=4× 5 in (127 mm) unguided rockets

ee also

aircontent
related=
* F6F Hellcat

similar aircraft=
* Hawker Sea Fury
* Vought F4U Corsair

lists=
* List of fighter aircraft
* List of military aircraft of the United States
* List of United States naval aircraft

see also=

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Andrews, Hal. "The Grumman F8F Bearcat" (Aircraft in profile 107). Windsor, Bershire, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1972 (reprinted from 1966).
* Bridgman, Leonard. "The Grumman Bearcat." "Jane’s Fighting Aircraft of World War II". London: Studio, 1946. ISBN 1-85170-493-0.
* Chant, Christopher. "Grumman F8F Bearcat: Super Profile". Sparkford, Yeovil, UK: Haynes Publishing, 1985. ISBN 0-85429-447-3.
* Drendel, Lou. "U.S. Navy Carrier Fighters of World War II". Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications Inc., 1987. ISBN 0-89747-194-6.
* Green, William. "Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat". "War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Four: Fighters". London: Macdonald & Co.(Publishers) Ltd., 1961, pp. 109–111. ISBN 0-356-01448-7.
* Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. "Grumman F8F Bearcat". "WW2 Fact Files: US Navy and Marine Corps Fighters". London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1976, pp. 62–63. ISBN 0-356-08222-9.
* Maloney, Edward T. "Grumman F8F Bearcat" (Aero Series Vol. 20). Fallbrook, California: Aero Publishers, 1969. ISBN 0-8168-0576-8.
* Meyer, "Corky". "Clipping the Bearcat's Wing." "Flight Journal", Vol. 3, no. 4, August 1998.
* Morgan, Eric B. "Grumman's Hot Rod." "Twenty-first Profile, Volume 1, no. 12". New Milton, Hantfordshire, UK: Profile Publications, 1972. ISSN 0961-8120.
* Morgan, Eric B. "Grumman Bearcat part II." "Twenty-first Profile, Volume 2, no. 17". New Milton, Hantfordshire, UK: Profile Publications, 1972. ISSN 0961-8120.
* O'Leary, Michael. "United States Naval Fighters of World War II in Action". Poole, Dorset, UK: Blandford Press, 1980. ISBN 0-7137-0956-1.
* Scrivner, Charles L. "F8F Bearcat in Action, Aircraft number 99". Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications Inc., 1990. ISBN 0-89747-243-8.
* Taylor, John W.R. "Grumman F8F Bearcat". "Combat Aircraft of the World from 1909 to the Present". New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. ISBN 0-425-03633-2.

External links

* [http://www.aircraft.co.za/Encyclopedia/G/106.php Aircraft.co.za - The Complete Aviation Reference]
* [http://www.warbirdalley.com/bearcat.htm Warbird Alley: Bearcat page - Information about Bearcats still flying today]