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[1990.574.001] Aircraft - 'F4F-3 Wildcat' |
| Accession Number |
1990.574.001 |
| Accession Date |
01/12/1990 |
| Creator |
| Creator |
Creator Role |
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Manufacturer |
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| Date Created |
1941 |
| Object Desciption |
Delivered to the Navy in June 1941, this F4F-3 Wildcat was first assigned to Fighting Squadron (VF) 72 on board the aircraft carrier Wasp (CV 7) and participated in the Neutrality Patrol in the Atlantic Ocean. Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the aircraft was briefly transferred to VF-9 before being assigned to Aircraft Carrier Training Group (ACTG) Atlantic. Earmarked briefly for transfer to Great Britain to equip Squadron 892 of the Royal Navy, it instead remained at Naval Air Station (NAS) Norfolk, Virginia, and underwent an extensive overhaul in November 1942.
Assigned to Carrier Qualification Training Unit (CQTU) Atlantic in January 1943, the following May it transitioned to the CQTU at Naval Air Station (NAS) Glenview, Illinois. On the afternoon of 17 August 1943, Lieutenant Albert Newhall was launching from the training carrier Wolverine (IX 64) in this aircraft when he allowed the torque of the engine to pull the plane to port with a final loss of positive control. The plane plunged into Lake Michigan, where it sank after Newhall was rescued.
Recovered from the lake in 1990, the aircraft arrived at the museum that same year. Following restoration in the markings of VF-72, it was placed on display. |
| Place of Origin |
Bethpage, New York |
| Notes |
F4F/FM Wildcat
In 1935, while its F3F biplane fighter was in the initial stages of testing, Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation began work on a prototype, engaging in a competition with Brewster Aeronautical Corporation to provide the Navy's next carrier-based fighter. While Grumman proceeded with another biplane, designated the XF4F-1, Brewster engineers drafted plans for a monoplane, its expected performance clearly outclassing the biplane on Grumman drawing boards and prompting a reengineering of the XF4F-1 as a monoplane. Still incorporating the barrel-like fuselage of previous Grumman fighters, the XF4F-2 was a mid-wing design that boasted a top speed of 290 M.P.H. While the Navy chose to procure the Brewster, which was designated the F2A Buffalo, the sea service left the door open for Grumman to continue to develop the XF4F-2. The result was the XF4F-3, which incorporated the more powerful engine and revised control surfaces. Though heavier than the XF4F-2, the modified fighter could reach a top speed of 335 M.P.H. and, speed being life in air-to-air combat, the Navy ordered 54 production versions of the aircraft in August 1939. The following month, Germany invaded Poland, opening a world war in which the new fighter, nicknamed the Wildcat, was destined to play a prominent part.
Initially delivered to Fighting Squadrons (VF) 4 and 7, in December 1940, the first examples off the assembly line having been delivered to Great Britain, where they served as Martlets, by the time the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor the Navy and Marine Corps operated 248 F4F-3 Wildcats. Design features of note included the fact that these first F4F-3s lacked folding wings, which was remedied in later versions to allow for easier storage in the limited space of an aircraft carrier. In addition, all Wildcats featured landing gear that had to be manually cranked up by the pilot using a handle near his right shin. It took thirty-plus turns of the crank to complete the task, a new Wildcat pilot instantly recognizable in the air a few minutes after take-off by the fact that the airplane proceeded to go up and down quickly, the result of the left hand holding the stick inadvertently going forward and back along with the pilot's right hand as he turned the landing gear handle.
Naval aviation's front line fighter aircraft when the United States entered World War II, the F4F Wildcat contrasted sharply with its primary adversary in the Pacific, the vaunted Japanese Zero. While the former possessed unmatched maneuverability, rate of climb, speed and range, the F4F's strength rested in its ruggedness and firepower. These elements, combined with tactics of mutual defense-most notably the "Thach Weave" developed by Lieutenant Commander John S. Thach- and slashing diving attacks against the Japanese fighter, enabled Wildcat pilots to more than hold their own against their counterparts in the vicious air battles at Coral Sea, Midway, and Guadalcanal during 1942. The Wildcat had its greatest impact in the Pacific, but also served in the European Theater, including support of the landings in North Africa and operations from escort carriers in the continuing battle against German U-boats.
Though Grumman-built Wildcats disappeared from the scene in 1943, the Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors continued production of the design under subcontract. Boasting a more powerful Wright R-1820-56 Cyclone engine and a taller tail, the General Motors built Wildcats carried the designation FM-1/2 and operated primarily from escort carriers. Though employed in the close air support role in the Pacific, FM Wildcats faced down enemy surface ships during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, their pilots heroically making repeated strafing runs against battleships and heavy cruisers in an attempt to draw fire away from American escort carriers during the landmark engagement. All told, sixty-one pilots became aces while flying the Wildcat, which achieved a 6.9:1 kill to loss ratio in air-to-air combat during World War II. In addition, of the nineteen naval aviators who received the Medal of Honor during World War II, eight were F4F pilots.
The inauguration of the National Museum of Naval Aviation's underwater aircraft recovery program in Lake Michigan during the early-1990s yielded a number of rare examples of Wildcats, which had crashed in the lakes waters during carrier qualification on board the training carriers Wolverine (IX 64) and Sable (IX 81). These underwater birds represent the bulk of the fourteen F4F/FM Wildcats owned by the museum.
Manufacturer: Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
Dimensions: Length: 28 ft. 9 in.; Height: 9 ft., 2 ½ in.; Wingspan: 38 ft.
Weights: Empty: 5,342 lb.; Gross Weight: 8,152 lb.
Power Plant: One Pratt & Whitney 1,200 horsepower R-1830-76, -86 engine
Performance: Maximum Speed: 328 M.P.H at 21,000 ft.; Service Ceiling: 37,500 ft.; Range: 845 miles
Armament: Four fixed forward-firing .50-in. guns and two 100 lb. bombs
Crew: Pilot
Aircraft in the Museum Collection
F4F-3 (BuNo 3872)- On indoor static display
F4F-3 (BuNo 4039)- On indoor static display
F4F-3A (BuNo 3969)- On indoor static display
FM-2 (BuNo 86747)- On indoor static display
FM-2 (BuNo 16089)- On indoor static display
F4F-3 (BuNo 12290)- In storage
FM-2 (BuNo 55052)- In storage
FM-2 (BuNo 16161)- In storage
F4F-4 (BuNo 11828)- On loan to San Diego Aerospace Museum
F4F-3 (BuNo 12320)- On loan for display at O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois
F4F-3 (BuNo 12297)- On loan to Cradle of Aviation Museum, Garden City, New York
FM-1 (BuNo 14994)- On loan to Valiant Air Command, Titusville, Florida
FM-2 (BuNo 74161)- On loan to National Museum of the Pacific War, Fredericksburg, Texas
FM-2 (16278)- On loan to Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar, California |
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