How many kills did the F4F Wildcat have?
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 178 aerial losses, 24 to ground/shipboard fire, and 49 to operational causes (an overall kill-to-loss ratio of 6.9:1).
What does F4F Wildcat stand for?
Acronym. Definition. F4F. Grumman Wildcat Fighter (WWII)
Did the F4F have folding wings?
XF4F-4. The biggest change made to the F4F-4 was the installation of folding wings. The U.S. Navy requested this feature early in 1940. It took the Grumman company until April 1941 to fit hydraulically powered folding wings to the last F4F-3 produced, turning it into the XF4F-4 prototype.
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.
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.
What engine did the F4F Wildcat have?
It was powered by a Wright R-1820-G205A-2 Cyclone engine, with a single-speed, two-stage supercharger rated at 1,200 hp for takeoff, and 1,000 hp at 11,500 feet. The French contract specified six wing mounted 7.5 mm.
Who built the F4F Wildcat?
GrummanGrumman F4F Wildcat / Manufacturer
What engine was in the F4F Wildcat?
Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin WaspGrumman F4F Wildcat / Engine type
It was powered by R-1830-86 Twin Wasp engine, driving a Curtiss Electric constant-speed propeller. Armament consisted of six 0.50 caliber machine guns in the wings with 240 rounds per gun (rpg).
What was the best fighter in World war II?
The P-51D Mustang is considered by many to be the #1 fighter aircraft of WWII. With internal tanks, the plane had a range of 950 miles. The range increased to 2,200 miles with external tanks. This aircraft was both fast and maneuverable.
What is the best book on the Grumman Wildcat?
“Grumman Wildcat”. Wings of the Navy, Flying Allied Carrier Aircraft of World War Two. London: Jane’s Publishing Company, 1980, pp. 40–52. ISBN 0-7106-0002-X. Buttler, Tony. British Secret Projects 3: Fighters and Bombers 1935–1950. Hersham, Surrey, UK: Midland Publishing, 2004. ISBN 978-1-85780-179-8.
What is the Grumman F4F Wildcat?
The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet.
Who wrote Grumman’s willing Wildcat?
Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. WW2 Fact Files: US Navy and Marine Corps Fighters. London: Macdonald and Jane’s Publishers Ltd., 1976. ISBN 0-356-08222-9. Green, William, Gordon Swanborough and Eric Brown. “Grumman’s Willing Wildcat”.
How did the Grumman Wildcat compare to the zero?
The Wildcat was generally outperformed by the Mitsubishi Zero, its major opponent in the early part of the Pacific Theater but held its own partly because, with relatively heavy armor and self-sealing fuel tanks, the Grumman airframe could survive far more damage than its lightweight, unarmored Japanese rival.