Grumman F4F Wildcat

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The [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] F4F Wildcat was an [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-based [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] that began service with both the United
States Navy and the British [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in 1940.

Although first used in combat by the British in Europe,
the Wildcat was the only [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] or Marine fighter in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 1941–42 in the Pacific Theater besides the brief appearance of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

With a top speed of 318 mph (512 km/h), the Wildcat was outperformed by the more nimble 331 mph (533 km/h) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], but its ruggedness and tactics such as the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] resulted in an air combat kill-to-loss ratio of 5.9:1 in 1942 and 6.9:1 for the entire war.

Lessons learned from the Wildcat were applied to the faster [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] which could outperform the Zero on
its own terms.

The FM Wildcat continued to be built by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] throughout the remainder of the war to serve on escort
carriers, where larger and heavier fighters could not be used.

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I would still assess the Wildcat as the outstanding naval fighter of the early years of World War II ...
I can vouch as a matter of personal experience, this Grumman fighter was one of the finest shipboard aeroplanes ever created.

—[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], British test pilot

Design and development


Grumman fighter development started with the two-seat [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The FF was the first US naval fighter with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] which retracted, but left the tires visibly exposed but flush on either forward [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] side.

The [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] were single-seat biplane fighters which established the general outlines and landing gear configuration of what would become the Wildcat. The next biplane design which entered in a US Navy competition was beaten by the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] design.

Grumman's defeat resulted in its complete remodeling into the monoplane XF4F-2.

The Wildcat would retain the fuselage-mounted, hand-cranked landing gear with its relatively narrow track.

In service, this would lead to distressingly common landing accidents when the landing gear did not fully lock into place.

This unusual main landing gear design was originally designed by Leroy Grumman for [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in the 1920s and used earlier on all of Grumman's fighter biplanes (from the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] through the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]) of the 1930s and on the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] amphibious [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Even this new monoplane fell short against the Buffalo.

The XF4F-2 was marginally faster, but the the Buffalo was otherwise judged superior and was chosen for production.

Grumman's prototype was then rebuilt as the XF4F-3 with new wings and tail and a supercharged version of the
[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] R-1830 "Twin Wasp" radial engine.

Testing of the XF4F-3 led to an order for F4F-3 production models, the first of which was completed in February
1940.

France also ordered the type, powered by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] "Cyclone 9" radial engines, but France fell before they could be delivered and they ultimately went to the British Royal Navy, which named them "Martlet I"s.

Both the British aircraft and the US Navy's F4F-3 with an armament of four .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning machine
guns, joined active units in 1940.

Although the Buffalo was the Navy's first monoplane fighter, it would prove disappointing in combat and be withdrawn early in World War II.

The name "Wildcat" was officially adopted on 1 October 1941.

The Wildcat's successor was the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], a complete redesign which dropped Grumman's distinctive, exposed main landing gear arrangement.

First flying in 1942, the Hellcat outclassed the Zero almost completely, surprising many Japanese pilots at first that often mistook the outlines for the older, slower Wildcat.

The Navy would also introduce the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] first to land and later to shipboard use which could match the top speed of the fastest land-based planes.

Operational history

U.S. Navy and Marines


The Wildcat was outperformed by the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], its major opponent in the early part of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], but held its own partly because, with relatively heavy armor and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the Grumman airframe could survive far more damage than its lightweight, unarmored Japanese rival .

Many US Navy fighter pilots also were saved by the Wildcat's ZB homing device, which allowed them to find their
carriers in poor visibility, provided they could get within the 30 mi (48 km) range of the homing beacon.

In the hands of an "expert pilot" using tactical advantage, the Wildcat could prove to be a difficult foe even against the formidable Zero.

After analyzing Fleet Air Tactical Unit Intelligence Bureau reports describing the new carrier fighter, USN [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] devised a defensive strategy that allowed Wildcat formations to act in a coordinated maneuver to counter a diving attack, called the "[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]."

Four US Marine Corps Wildcats played a prominent role in the defence of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in December 1941. USN and USMC aircraft were the fleet's primary air defence during the Battles of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and, land-based Wildcats played a major role during the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] of 1942-43.

It was not until 1943 that more advanced naval fighters capable of taking on the Zero on more even terms, the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], reached the South Pacific theatre.


The Japanese ace [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] describes the Wildcat's ability for absorbing damage:


“I had full confidence in my ability to destroy the Grumman and decided to finish off the enemy fighter with only my 7.7 mm machine guns.
I turned the 20 mm cannon switch to the 'off' position, and closed in.
For some strange reason, even after I had poured about five or six hundred rounds of ammunition directly into the
Grumman, the airplane did not fall, but kept on flying.

I thought this very odd—it had never happened before—and closed the distance between the two airplanes until I could almost reach out and touch the Grumman.

To my surprise, the Grumman's rudder and tail were torn to shreds, looking like an old torn piece of rag.

With his plane in such condition, no wonder the pilot was unable to continue fighting!

A Zero which had taken that many bullets would have been a ball of fire by now.”

Grumman's Wildcat production ceased in early 1943 to make way for the newer [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], but General Motors continued producing Wildcats for both US Navy and Fleet Air Arm use.

From 1943 onward, Wildcats equipped with bomb racks were primarily assigned to escort carriers for use against submarines and attacking ground targets, though they would also continue to score kills against Japanese fighters, bombers and kamikaze aircraft.

Larger fighters such as the Hellcat and the Corsair and dedicated dive bombers were needed aboard fleet carriers, and the Wildcat's slower landing speed made it more suitable for shorter flight decks.

In the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], fleet carriers had failed to destroy a battleship-led force, but it was lightly armed Avengers and FM fighters from escort carriers of Taffy 3 which found themselves backed against the wall in the path of a much larger Japanese fleet away from Leyte Gulf.

By resorting to tactics such as strafing ships including the bridge of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the combined efforts of what was only equipped as a slow light escort force turned back the Japanese fleet.

At first, GM produced the FM-1 (identical to the F4F-4, but with four guns).

Production later switched to the improved FM-2 (based on Grumman's XF4F-8 prototype) optimized for small-carrier operations, with a more powerful engine, and a taller tail to cope with the torque.

In all, 7,860 Wildcats were built.

The British received 300 Eastern Aircraft FM-1s as the Martlet V in 1942/43 and 340 FM-2s as the Wildcat VI.

In total, nearly 1,200 Wildcats would serve with the FAA. By January 1944, the Martlet name was dropped and the type was identified as "Wildcat."

During the course of the war, Navy and Marine F4Fs and FMs flew 15,553 combat sorties (14,027 of these from aircraft carriers), destroying 1,327 enemy aircraft at a cost of 191 Wildcats (an overall kill-to-loss ratio of 6.9:1).

True to their escort fighter role, Wildcats dropped only 154 tons of bombs during the war.

Royal Navy


The F4F was taken on by the British [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] as part of an interim replacement for the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien];
navalised [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] not being available because of the greater need of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

In the European theater, the Wildcat scored its first combat victory on [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 1940, when a land-based Martlet (as the type was then known in British service) destroyed a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] bomber over the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] naval base.

This was the first combat victory by a US-built fighter in British service in World War II.

The type also pioneered combat operations from the smaller [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Six Martlets went to sea aboard the converted ex-German merchant vessel [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in mid-1941 and shot down several [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] bombers during highly effective convoy escort operations.

These were the first of many Wildcats to see shipboard combat.

The Fleet Air Arm was later to abandon the practice of using its own unique names for US-provided aircraft in British naval service, and began to use the US Navy's aircraft names instead.

The MK.III variant was not equipped with folding wings and was only used for land-based operations.

In March 1945, Wildcats shot down four Bf 109s over Norway, the FAA's last victory with a Wildcat.

Specifications (F4F-3)

Data from The American Fighter

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
  
• Length: 28 ft 9 in (8.76 m)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 38 ft (11.58 m)
  
• Height: 11 ft 10 in (3.60 m)
  
• Loaded weight: 7,000 lb (3,200 kg)
  
• Powerplant: 1× [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-76 double-row [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], 1,200 hp (900 kW)
  

Performance

• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 331 mph (531 km/h)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 845 mi (1,360 km)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 39,500 ft (12,000 m)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 2,303 ft/min (11.7 m/s)
  

Armament

• Guns: 4 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], 450 rpg
  
• Bombs: 2 × 100 lb (45 kg) bombs and/or 2 × 58 gal (220 L) drop tanks
  

Specifications (F4F-4)

Data from The American Fighter

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
  
• Length: 28 ft 9 in (8.8 m)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 38 ft 0 in (11.6 m)
  
• Height: 9 ft 2.5 in (2.8 m)
  
• Wing area: 260 ft² (24.2 m²)
  
• Empty weight: 5,760 lb (2,610 kg)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 7,950 lb (3,610 kg)
  
• Powerplant: 1× [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-86 double-row [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], 1,200 hp (900 kW)
  

Performance

• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 320 mph (290 kn, 515 km/h)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 770 mi (670 nmi, 1,240 km)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 39,500 ft (12,000 m)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 1,950 ft/min (9.9 m/s)
  

Armament

• Guns: 6 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], 240 rpg
  
• Bombs: 2 × 100 lb (45 kg) bombs and/or 2 × 58 gal (220 L) droptanks
  

Quelques vues d'un F 4 F3

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