DETAIL & SCALE 30 F4F WILDCAT WW2 GRUMMAN USN VF USMC VMF ROYAL NAVY FAA MARTLET

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DETAIL & SCALE 30 F4F WILDCAT WW2 GRUMMAN USN VF USMC VMF ROYAL NAVY FAA MARTLET DETAIL & SCALE 30 F4F WILDCAT WW2 GRUMMAN USN VF USMC VMF RN FAA WRITTEN BY BERT KINZEY. PUBLISHED BY TAB BOOKS INC. / AIRLIFE PUBLISHING (1988) SOFTBOUND BOOK - 72 PAGES. INTRODUCTION / DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY (XF4F-1 BIPLANE SCALE DRAWINGS, XF4F-2 MONOPLANE PROTOTYPE, WILDCAT PRODUCTION, GRUMMAN WILDCAT BUREAU NUMBERS, IMPORTANT CHANGES MADE TO WILDCAT AFTER PRODUCTION, GENERAL MOTORS FM-1 FM-2, JOE FOSS CMOH USMC GUADALCANAL, HENDERSON FIELD, CACTUS AIR FORCE) WILDCAT DETAILS MAIN LANDING GEAR DETAILS TAIL WHEEL AND ARRESTING GEAR CANOPY DETAILS ENGINE DETAILS (PRATT & WHITNEY R-1820 R-1830) XF4F-2 (MOCK UP, DATA, SCALE THREE-VIEW, COCKPIT DETAILED PHOTOGRAPHS) XF4F-3 (DATA, XF4F-3 COCKPIT DETAILS, INSTRUMENT PANEL, CONSOLES, PRODUCTION SUMMARY) F4F-3 COCKPIT DETAILED PHOTOGRAPHS (INSTRUMENT PANELS, COCKPIT CONSOLES, WING GUN BAYS) F4F-3S WILDCATFISH FLOATPLANE FIGHTER XF4F-4 / F4F-4 (DATA, VINTAGE BW PHOTOGRAPHS) LIFE RAFT INSTALLATION DETAILED PHOTOGRAPHS .50 CALIBRE MACHINE GUN ARMAMENT INSTALLATION DETAILED PHOTOGRAPHS WING FOLD DETAILS AFT FUSELAGE COMPARTMENT F4F-4 COCKPIT DETAILS DIMENSION DATA 1:72 SCALE FIVE VIEW DRAWINGS XF4F-7 (DATA) XF4F-8 (COCKPIT DETAILS) GENERAL MOTORS FM-1 & FM-2 FRENCH NAVY AERONAVALE WILDCATS BRITISH ROYAL NAVY FLEET AIR ARM MARTLETS WILDCAT COLOR PHOTO GALLERY (OVERALL NON-SPECULAR NEUTRALITY GREY, PRE-WAR NON-SPECULAR BLUE-GRAY WITH RUDDER STRIPES, ROYAL NAVY FLEET AIR ARM DARK BLUE) GENERAL MOTORS FM-2 COLOR COCKPIT PHOTOS (INSTRUMENT PANEL, PILOT�S SEAT, CONSOLES) COLOR PORTRAITS: NAVY ACES LCDR JOHN S. �JIMMY� THACH VF-3, LT EDWARD H. �BUTCH� O�HARE RESTORED WILDCATS COLOR PHOTO GALLERY -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Additional information from Internet Encyclopedia The Grumman F4F Wildcat was an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that began service with both the United States Navy and the British Royal Navy (as the Martlet) in 1940. First used in combat by the British in Europe, the Wildcat was the only effective fighter available to the United States Navy and Marine Corps in the Pacific Theater during the early part of World War II in 1941 and 1942; the disappointing Brewster Buffalo was withdrawn in favor of the Wildcat and replaced as units became available. With a top speed of 318 mph (512 km/h), the Wildcat was outperformed by the faster 331 mph (533 km/h), more maneuverable, and longer ranged Mitsubishi A6M Zero. But the F4F's ruggedness, coupled with tactics such as the Thach Weave, resulted in an air combat kill-to-loss ratio of 5.9:1 in 1942 and 6.9:1 for the entire war. After losing out to Brewster, Grumman completely rebuilt the prototype as the XF4F-3 with new wings and tail and a supercharged version of the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 "Twin Wasp" radial engine. Testing of the new 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 a Wright R-1820 "Cyclone 9" radial engine, but France fell to the Axis powers before they could be delivered and the aircraft went instead to the British Royal Navy, who christened the new fighter the "Martlet." The U.S. Navy officially adopted the aircraft type on 1 October 1941 as the "Wildcat." Both the Royal Navy's and U.S. Navy's F4F-3s were armed with four .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning machine guns. At the time of Pearl Harbor, only Enterprise had a fully equipped Wildcat squadron, VF-6 with F4F-3As. Enterprise was then transferring a detachment of VMF-211, also equipped with F4F-3s, to Wake. Saratoga was in San Diego, working up for operations of the F4F-3s of VF-3. 11 F4F-3s of VMF-211 were at the Ewa Marine Air Corps Station on Oahu; nine of these were damaged or destroyed during the Japanese attack. The detachment of VMF-211 on Wake lost seven Wildcats to Japanese attacks on 8 December, but the remaining five put up a fierce defense, making the first bomber kill on 9 December. The destroyer Kisaragi was sunk by the Wildcats and the Japanese invasion force retreated. In May 1942, the F4F-3s of VF-2 and VF-42, onboard Yorktown and Lexington, participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Lexington and Yorktown fought against the Zuikaku, Sh�kaku and the light carrier Sh�h� in this battle, in an attempt to halt a Japanese invasion of Port Moresby on Papua New Guinea. During these battles, it became clear that attacks without fighter escort amounted to suicide, but that the fighter component on the carriers was completely insufficient to provide both fighter cover for the carrier and an escort for an attack force. This floatplane version of the F4F-3 was developed for use at forward island bases in the Pacific, before the construction of airfields. It was inspired by appearance of the A6M2-N "Rufe", a modification of the Mitsubishi A6M2 "Zeke". BuNo 4038 was modified to become the F4F-3S "Wildcatfish". Twin floats, manufactured by Edo Aircraft Corporation, were fitted. To restore the stability, small auxiliary fins were added to the tailplane. Because this was still insufficient, a ventral fin was added later. The F4F-3S was first flown 28 February 1943. The weight and drag of the floats reduced the maximum speed to 241 mph (388 km/h). As the performance of the basic F4F-3 was already below that of the Zero, the F4F-3S was clearly of limited usefulness. In any case, the construction of the airfields at forward bases by the "Seabees" was surprisingly quick. Only one was converted. At the end of 1939, Grumman received a French order for 81 aircraft of model G-36A, to equip their new Joffre-class aircraft carrier: Joffre and Painlev�. The main difference with the basic model G-36 was due to the unavailability for export of the two-stage supercharged engine of F4F-3. The G-36A was powered by the nine-cylinder, single-row R-1820-G205A radial engine, of 1,200 hp (890 kW) and with a single-stage two-speed supercharger. The G-36A also had French instruments (with metric calibration), radio and gunsight. The throttle was modified to conform to French pre-war practice: the throttle lever was moved towards the pilot (i.e. backward) to increase engine power. The armament which was to be fitted in France was six 7.5 mm (.296 in) Darne machine guns (two in the fuselage and four in the wings). The first G-36A was flown on 11 May 1940. After the Battle of France, all contracts were taken over by Britain. The throttle was modified again, four 0.50 in (12.7 mm) guns were installed in the wings and most traces of the original ownership removed. The Martlets were modified for British use by Blackburn, which continued to do this for all later marks. British gunsights, catapult spools and other items were installed. After attempts to fit British radio sets, it was decided to use the much superior American equipment. The first Martlets entered British service in August 1940, with 804 Naval Air Squadron, stationed at Hatson in the Orkney Islands. The Martlet Mk I did not have a wing folding mechanism and was therefore only used from land bases. In 1940, Belgium also placed an order for at least 10 Martlet Mk 1s. These were to be modified with the removal of the tailhook. After the surrender of Belgium, none were delivered and by 10 May 1940, the aircraft order was transferred to the Royal Navy. FREE scheduling, supersized images and templates. Get Vendio Sales Manager. Make your listings stand out with FREE Vendio custom templates! FREE scheduling, supersized images and templates. Get Vendio Sales Manager. 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