SI 98–15877
SI 2009–9043 (RUDY ARNOLD PHOTO COLLECTION)
In the mid–1930s, the U.S. Navy was looking to replace its biplane fighters with modern, all-metal monoplanes. The Navy asked Grumman to submit a design as a backup to the Brewster F2A Buffalo. Due to the Buffalo’s poor performance, the resulting Grumman F4F Wildcat became the Navy and Marine Corps’ primary fighter aircraft in the early years of the war. Produced in some 20 variants, the Wildcat was the only naval fighter to serve operationally from the beginning to the end of the war.
The first production Wildcat, the F4F–3, entered service in December 1940. Early combat experience revealed that the Wildcat was inferior in performance to the Japanese Zero. Wildcat pilots, however, soon learned to use their aircraft’s strengths, along with new tactics, to hold their own against the Japanese fighter.
In late 1941, the F4F–4 model was introduced. This variant had folding wings for more efficient carrier operations and increased the armament from four .50 caliber machine guns to six. By 1943, Grumman was concentrating on the new F6F Hellcat, but the Navy still needed Wildcats. General Motors’s Eastern Aircraft Division therefore took over production of the Wildcat and produced more of them than Grumman. Designated FM–1s, the new Wildcats were essentially the same as the F4F–4 model with the exception of a return to four machine guns. The final version of the Wildcat was the FM–2. With a lightened airframe and more powerful engine it was the ideal fighter for the escort carriers and was produced in higher quantities than any other Wildcat model.
Two features of the Wildcat cockpit immediately define it as a naval fighter. Prominent on the left side rail of the cockpit is a black and yellow handle. This was the control for the tail hook used for landing on aircraft carriers. The second feature is the chart table found on many single-seat naval aircraft. Operating over water, where landmarks were nonexistent, naval aviators had to be proficient in navigation. Another unusual feature for a modern fighter was the hand crank used to raise and lower the landing gear. Just visible on the right side, it is below the electrical panel. Raising the landing gear inevitably introduced a roller-coaster effect as the pilot’s body transferred the motion of each turn of the crank to the control stick.
LEND-LEASE MARTLET VARIANT BOUND FOR GREAT BRITAIN PRIOR TO SHIPMENT.
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THE EXTENDABLE NAVIGATION TABLE WAS ESSENTIAL FOR PLOTTING POSITIONS RELATIVE TO THE WILDCAT’S CONSTANTLY MOVING BATTLE GROUP.
SI 98–15878