During the end of WWII, my father flew an F7F when he was stationed at the Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) in Inyokern California. He was doing test work of the Tiny Tim and Holy Moses rockets before deploying them to the Pacific fleet. Prior to that, he flew an SBD dive bomber in combat from the decks of the USS Hornet (CV-8) and the USS Lexington (CV-16) He had also flown the SB2C Hell Diver, the F4F Wildcat, the F6F Hellcat and the F4U Corsair. After the war he also flew the F2H Banshee. He said that the F7F was his favorite all-time Navy plane to fly because of it awesome power.
He hated the SB2C and called it a "Son of A Bitch 2nd Class". He loved and trusted the SBD (Slow But Deadly) which probably saved his life a number of times. I've got some incredible declassified photos of one of his SBDs after being hit by ground fire in the leading edge of his starboard wing. When he was able to get it back aboard the Lexington, the plane was pushed over the side because of the damage. He flew SBDs from the USS Lexington (CV-16) until July of 1944 when he was reassigned to NOTS. For some reason the Lexington bomber squadrons didn't get the SB2Cs that were deployed to most of the US fleet in early 1944. I suspect that his squadron commander Ralph Weymouth and Admiral Mitscher's operations officer Gus Widhelm had something to do with it.
I have lived a few miles south of the Inyokern NOTS station since 1989 - I worked at the Naval Weapons Center (then NWC, now NAWC) at China Lake. That naval station turned into the Inyokern Regional Airport long ago, the Navy moving the air station east a bit to "China Lake". The climate here is, ah, harsh. And even today amenities are on the skimpy side - our best shopping and local restaurants are 90 minutes drive away etc. Did your Dad talk about the area in terms of the towns and practicalities of everyday life? I think that WWII era local military experience isn't well known and recorded.
In late 1944 and early 1945 he said there wasn't lot to do other than to fly and test fire rockets. He wasn't much or a drinker but I have a photo of him being served a drink at a local bar. Originally from the Chicago area, I think he liked the "warmer" weather which influenced his decision to stay in California after the war and raise a family.
saw a Tigercat at an airshow about five years ago; completely fell in love. The sound of those two Double Wasps and the sheer beauty of it's lines and aerobatics... would love to see one again!
The first I'd ever HEARD of these was turning a corner at a museum and seeing one, completely unexpectedly and unprepared. I was absolutely dumbstruck!!
An old timer who flew the F7F told us that the only way to get out of it was to roll inverted and fall out because of the two meat eaters spinning right outside the window. He also said that it was so efficiently cowled that you had to keep the engines from running too cool. Great guy he was.
@@UkrainianPaulie The superbolt is an insane aircraft, but it never left prototype stage, and some of its figures are up for debate. The tigercat and seafury both hit production and saw some service.
@@spaceman081447 the P 38 and P 47 are two of my favs, in fact the jug gets well above things like the spit and mustang, I just love the pure malevolence of the Sea Fury and Tiger Cat, they just look dangerous, and could back it up.
The F7F is an example of the proper way to configure a heavy twin-engine fighter, as opposed to the Bf-110 and Me-210/410 series which produced disappointing performance due to extraneous weight and drag. The superb Dh Hornet was another good example.
@@spaceman081447 The P-38 is another example of a proper configuration for a twin engine fighter in that It does not have a second crewmember and reward firing defensive guns. Unlike the Me 110/210/410 is was capable in combat against other fighters, and also proved to be effective as a fighter-bomber, indicating that the defensive guns and crewman of the German zerstroyers were superfluous. The Germans made a mistake in producing the BF 110 instead of the FW 187, and didn't correct that mistake until too late with the Do 335.
@@johnarnold893 I have admired the Mosquito since I first saw 633 Squadron as a boy, and promptly built a plastic model with the night intruder camouflage. It was indeed a masterful design as a bomber, fighter-bomber, and night fighter. I don't consider it a match for single seat fighter in a dogfight, and neither did De Haviland, who designed the Hornet with a single seat and no bomb bay for that reason.
This was one of the coolest piston powered planes ever. The fuselage, when viewed from straight on shows how narrow and small it was kept. It must have been a real hoot to fly with all that power. and that climb rate was just jamming!!
I met the son of one of the Grumman test pilot/designer who worked on the Tigercat. He had a lot of stories, which had all of us at the museum listening for a good couple of hours.
I was at an outdoor car show many years ago near Paine Field when "Bad Kitty" flew over low and fast. I could not believe what I was seeing! I had no idea a flying example even existed. Had only seen it in an old book. Beautiful plane!
I got strafed by one used for a low altitude survey of a wildfire in NORCAL back in 1982, and ever since I wanted to fly that dragon of a plane, I mean as a grunt on the ground fighting a huge wildfire, and having this beast of a plane making a 400mph run at you using its cameras to see how you were coming along the fire line really gave us a moral boost I can hardly put into words, that said we all screamed to the sky, FIRECAT, hence its true name!
I got to meet Bad Kitty at a Minter Field air show in the 90's. She was amazing on the ground, sounded like a Roaring Goddess, and was the most impressive plane in the air that day. I've been in love ever since...
As for nose art, by and large in WWII the Navy prohibited it. There was one short lived F6F unit (VF-27), but they too were ordered to remove the art, that being eyes and a cats mouth.
@@warbuzzard7167 your comment made me laugh, and brought back memories of my Dad, he was in the Fleet Air Arm in WW2. He always said the trouble with he Royal Navy was they all thought that Nelson was still alive, and didn't understand the air arm, and begrudge the fact the days of battleships was over. which echo your comment.
Thanks for posting! I’m a fan of Grumman and mainly WWII in general. I’ll admit I didn’t really know much about the F7F, so I definitely learned something today!
I'll have to come back to watch the full video and leave a proper comment, just clicked it as it popped up in my feed and I had to say this. This will always be the most beautiful piston engine aircraft built, hands down. Even more so than my beloved P-38.
finally! a decent video on f7f. it was surely the most aesthetically pleasing bird to come out of grumman but thats a pretty low bar. lol most pleasing twin of the war jmho marines made darn good use of them during the korean "police action". new sub, thx!
They have a Tigercat at The National Museum of WWII Aviation in Colorado Springs, CO, a fairly small but EXCELLENT WWII aviation museum that I would HIGHLY recommend to any aviation enthusiast. The Museum sits on the Colorado Springs Airport annex property. They have some absolutely AMAZING aircraft and even more importantly, aviation memorabilia such as priceless memorabilia including German Pilot Hans Ulrich Rudel's medals and uniform badges. Rudel was a famous Stuka Dive Bomber pilot and was the only pilot in German history to receive the Golden Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, which is now on display at the museum, along with Rudel's uniform and other memorabilia. They have an airplane actually flown by Charles Lindbergh himself on display, early in Lindbergh's career as an early air mail pilot. They have General Billy Mitchell's actual uniform on display, a P-38 lightning (fully flight worthy and actually flying at the Pikes Peak Regional Airshow this weekend in fact, one of only a few flight worthy P-38's in the world). But the cream of the crop in the museum's display of aircraft has to be the Grumman Tigercat painted in dark navy WWII blue livery, like the Corsair's famous paint job, and it is an absolutely gorgeous aircraft to see in person, even if just on a static display. I'm not sure if the museum brings out the Tigercat to fly anymore, but they may. I'm pretty sure many of their aircraft (maybe all of them) are in flight worthy condition. I got really lucky last month when I was at the Museum on a private tour. The tour guide took us over to the restoration and mechanic shop and low and behold, the P-38 was sitting in their being tuned up for the Pikes Peak Air Show. I got a nice close up walk around and detailed history of the aircraft by the docent presenting the tour as everyone else had already left and I was the last one there just talking about the different aircraft in the restoration center. I pointed out that the P-38 was my all time favorite warbird and he gave me all sorts of detailed information about the P-38, some of which even I didn't know. If you ever get to Colorado Springs, CO and you are an aviation enthusiast. IT IS A MUST DO MUSEUM! It's only about $20 to get in per person and well, well worth it. They have a nice little gift shop in the front lobby as well with some really nice model kits on all sorts of airplanes as well as a lot of books, clothing, posters, and general merchandise for purchase related to all the planes they have.
Steve Hinton flew the National Museum of WWII Aviation's Tigercat in a flight demonstration of the Tigercat this past weekend in Colorado Springs, CO Saturday and Sunday at the Pikes Peak Regional Airshow. He also flew their P-38 and was doing all sorts of cool maneuvers alongside of a modern day F-22 Raptor on Sunday with the P-38 Lighting and the F-22 flying alongside each other for much of the routine on Sunday! It was an awesome demo of two very rare aircraft which are rarely seen in flight. The F-22 demonstration was proof that there are very few modern day military aircraft that can even come close to the capabilities of the F-22, let alone the Lockheed F-35 Lightning II.
Imagine what they'll say about the F-22 a hundred years from now, the most advanced fighter of the period only has a single combat kill: a high altitude balloon.
Thanks for this great video. I never knew about this aircraft, or the F5F. I appreciate your research and presentation about this arguably greatest fighter of WW2. Thanks again!
Disappointing that the obvious comparison with the De Havilland Hornet was not addressed. Captain Eric Winkle Brown wrote very highly of both machines but described the Hornet as his favourite piston engined machine. Great video though.
The F7F is, to my eyes, the most beautiful aircraft ever to exist. With 32 cylinders of Pratt & Whitney's finest*, the Tigercat may have also made the most beautiful sound, on its way to becoming one of the fastest piston engined aircraft ever. There's much to love here. Nice kitty. Pretty kitty. Thank you for giving us this moment. *2 x R2800
@@petesheppard1709 Shows how bad my memory is: did Monogram exist then? 😄 If yes, then quite possible! This was before my parent would let me muck with model paint, yet it was that deep Navy/Marines blues, so must have been the mold.
@@michaelhoffmann2891I was building Monogram kits back in the mid-60s. The first one was a 1/4" (1/48 scale) SBD. There are RUclips channels dedicated to the old scale model companies. Pick a name and search; they can be real nostalgia trips! 😎
1966 Monogram, according to SM And in true Revell Fashion, they re-released the kit "only" 30 years later, probably with a lying "NEW!" sticker on the box, like they always do.
Grumman could have achieved great things in 1946 or '47 by exchanging the R-2800s for a pair of Allison J-35s, and seeping back the wings and tailplanes by about 15 degrees. By those modifications, they would have essentially created a navalized Me-262 with longer range, better performance, and far better reliability. Without the need for prop clearance, the Allisons could have been installed much closer to the centerline, allowing a greater length of the wings to fold, thus improving deck handling. Or they could have been faired into the fuselage like on the Northrop F-89, thus improving agility and reducing drag.
On second thought, my idea may be just so much bullsh*t. In jet-powered F7F, where does that very nice wide-track landing gear retract? In the real design, there was plenty of space behind the Pratt & Whitney radials. Not so in a jet.
@@enscroggs nice idea 💡. Like how you think...... The Navy was working to adopt the FJ1 Fury late '46- '48. A twin engine Fury would have been desired except for the fuel required could make it a chunky Garfield 😺.
This AC gets so little coverage, this video was great! You should cover the time that Corky shot himself down. He unloaded rounds (in a Cougar of F11F Tiger I think) with the nose up and flew down range under the ballistic arc of his own bullets. Would love a detailed breakdown of that incident.
I've never really been a fan of naval aircraft whether it was this country or other countries during World War 2. But I have to tell you, it was some relatively obscure history and I liked it.
Japan surrendered the DAY the F7F showed up in theatre, coincidence? I think not! F7F the real reason Japan surrendered confirmed. Also the line in the video "God forbid people think of cat coutis when they see a murder machine" is one of the funniest lines I have heard in a RUclips video.
A dam good plane that seemed to succeed at almost everything asked of it. High top speed and an amazing climb rate, plenty of guns, agile and could carry bombs. I think if it arrived in the Pacific theatre 12-18 months earlier, it would have given the Japanese a VERY nasty surprise.
I remember an old WW2 flight sim that featured F7F's among those you could fly in missions. In between the incredible horsepower of the engines and the awesome firepower it carried, it was the ultimate boom and zoom fighter to play.
Surplus F7Fs were purchased in the 1960s and 70s to be used as fire bombers to fight wildfires in California. There were still a few operating into the 1980s.
Excellent review of a plane that I had previously only known from the Azur Lane game. The F7F is an ER Fighter that can be purchased and equipped on CV ships. I had idly purchased one, installed it on an Eagle Union carrier (Intrepid) and was astonished by how it tore through Siren aircraft when it launched. Now I know why! Regarding the Tomcat naming kerfuffle, it is noteworthy that at the time, the Hays Office in Hollywood forbade the use of slang terms "tom cat" and "alley cat" to refer to promiscuous men and women respectively in films. Apparently someone in the Navy shared the same sentiments regarding appropriate names for fighter planes.
There is a comic book series that started during WWII that used the F5F Skyrocket. This was Blackhawk. Don’t get confused, as there became second Blackhawk series with super powers. This first series evolved around a Polish pilot that escapes from Poland after flying a PZL P.50 Jastrzab (Hawk) prototype fighter aircraft that he painted all black against the NAZIS. He then forms a volunteer squadron of men and flee the Skyrockets against the Nazis in many adventures, but no super powers. The series ran for over 50 years.
I would love to find those comics. They made some interesting comics of that type. I think "The Nam" was the only one I was aware of, but it covered a number of topics, even the controversial ones, like "fragging", draftees going nuts, drug use etc.
So we have yet another phenomenal, double-engined late war fighter that came out to be one of the finest handling super props ever designed, beloved even by test pilots, that didn’t get the chance to see much action. Sounds exactly like DH 103 De Havilland Hornet.
Imagine you’re just chilling in your slow little bi-plane watching the scenery as your co-pilot takes recognizance photos and out of fricking nowhere a great winged beast triple your size roars past you at quadruple your speed, flips a quick u-turn, and guns you down with a quick burst from its cannons that somehow contains enough lead to vaporize an elephant
Second most beautiful combat aircraft* ever designed, after the Hustler. I will die on this hill. *Edited due to the undeniable superiority of the Dragon Rapide and Staggerwing.
@@AlexDeese The only triangle sexier than a Convair triangle is a Cool Ranch Dorito triangle. (Thank you so much for that laugh! It hit me right in the geeks.)
tomcat was used in a honor of the Navy Admiral who went b4 congress to cite a litany of good reasons for the navy to ditch the F111 program as it was viewed as an unsuitable platform, the Admirals first name was in fact Thomas, and Ward Carrol USN retired spoke about this on his channel that covered that part of the tomcats development, his call sign in real life was Mooch.
Tough bird. There was a story about nightflying a t-cat in korea, and running into one of the cables the norks strung across the valley. The marine snagged one, finished the bombing mission, and returned to base, landing in the dark. Dragging half a mile of wound-up cable with two 1,000 lb concrete blocks.
The Marine Corps fielded 2- Squadrons with the Grumman F7F-3N’s & 5N’s in Korea to great affect in Night Interdiction, Close Air Support, Night Bomber Escort and Reconnaissance missions, VMF(N)-513 “Flying Nighmares” (Which was a mixed/Composite Squadron of F4U-5N’s Corsairs, F3D-2 Skyknights & F7F-3N & 5N’s) and VMF(AW)-542 “Tigers” (AW=All Weather) which was F7F-5N’s & F3D-2 Skyknights). Both Squadrons where heavily used during the battle of Chosen Reservoir. Research those squadrons and you’ll be amazed at what you find out… They were commonly armed with 2x 500lbs & 8-10x 3” HVARS on CAS & Night Interdiction missions.
The added weight/slight decrease in maneuverability that came with adding a second engine in dual prop fighters just seems to be an insurmountable problem for engineers in every country during every period of the war. Ironically, their failure as a concept is what led Germany to pursue jet aircraft technology so heavily. They were in dire need of an interceptor aircraft that could climb quickly, carry enough fire power to bring down bombers, AND stand a chance against any escorting spitfires/P-51s. The twin engine Bf-110s they were using to intercept bombers were sitting ducks, and somewhere along the line of trying to engineer an improved dual-engine interceptor, they began experimenting with alternative engine/propulsion methods. That's where the Me-262 comes from and consequently why it has TWO jet engines instead of just one behind the cockpit or fuselage. In a way, the failure of dual prop fighter designs subsequently led to the overall antiquation of propeller propulsion technology in aviation.
🎉 I'm so happy that you used metric units as well! Thanks a lot from a Brazilian subscriber, been a sub since 1k subs, and the quality of your videos has significantly improved. If you are accepting ideas for videos, I'd suggest you check out Brazilian airplane industry, we have a long history of airplane development (since the Wright Brothers time)
One has to be careful when quoting Wikipedia for comparison of specifications such as gross weight. The number quoted in the video as gross weight is actually listed in Wiki as max takeoff weight, and no gross weight is listed. The Dh Mosquito on the other hand is listed with a max takeoff weight of 25,000 pounds, but also lists a lighter gross weight of 18,100 pounds. I have never seen an explanation of exactly what these terms mean in Wikipedia, and have come to assume that gross weight means the design gross weight for which performance specifications are quoted, and max takeoff weight would be what was then called "overload" weight and what we today call a restricted weight or war emergency weight. The airplane can fly at overload weight but with degraded performance, and perhaps reduced limits for G and landing vertical velocity. If anybody has more precise understanding of these terms as used by Wikipedia please let me know.
British do tend to record different things to America so inevitably places like Wikipedia can only put what they have. This has happened even with identical planes in service with both in records.
@@seriousmaran9414 Wiki lists both gross weight and max takeoff weight for the Lancaster. Then for the Hawker Tempest is lists only gross weight, while for the Mosquito it lists only max takeoff weight. Makes it hard to know what one is looking at.
@@jeffreymcdonald8267 Not much. Every time I get on the computer that drunk Hoosier Frank Garrett calls me up. I’m about to head down to Sugar Creek and deal with him.
It is good that the "pearl clutchers" turned down the "Tomcat" name. Because their actions the name was available for the most iconic naval jet fighter ever made.
The big problem was size. An aircraft carrier could carry either 2 Tigercats or 3 Hellcats. The Tigercat would have been a great aircraft for intercepting kamikazee
Two side-notes: 1) A development of the F5F was submitted to the USAAC as the XP-50; The XP-50 resembles the F5F, but the nose was etended past the wing. It lost the competition to Lockheeds XP-49, itself an upgrade of the P-38 Lightning; 2) The F7F was also submitted to the USAAC as the XP-65. Apparently, events after Pearl Harbour caused the USAAC to cancel the contract.
"God forbid people think about cat coitus when they see the murder machine..."
That's quotable, right there.
Too true, too true. I just can’t get past kitties copulating whenever I see an F-14!
Are Tom cats the ones that yowl all night? Or are those the thot cats?
Maybe they could have considered the Tomcat would have ultimately sc__wed its enemies.
The navy was always pretty anal and prudish about names and personalized names on aircraft.
Hilarious as well that was they then realized "oh it makes them better at war" when making the computer voices. Hence them being female voices.
During the end of WWII, my father flew an F7F when he was stationed at the Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) in Inyokern California. He was doing test work of the Tiny Tim and Holy Moses rockets before deploying them to the Pacific fleet. Prior to that, he flew an SBD dive bomber in combat from the decks of the USS Hornet (CV-8) and the USS Lexington (CV-16) He had also flown the SB2C Hell Diver, the F4F Wildcat, the F6F Hellcat and the F4U Corsair. After the war he also flew the F2H Banshee. He said that the F7F was his favorite all-time Navy plane to fly because of it awesome power.
Which was his most hated? Im guessing SB2C
He hated the SB2C and called it a "Son of A Bitch 2nd Class". He loved and trusted the SBD (Slow But Deadly) which probably saved his life a number of times. I've got some incredible declassified photos of one of his SBDs after being hit by ground fire in the leading edge of his starboard wing. When he was able to get it back aboard the Lexington, the plane was pushed over the side because of the damage. He flew SBDs from the USS Lexington (CV-16) until July of 1944 when he was reassigned to NOTS. For some reason the Lexington bomber squadrons didn't get the SB2Cs that were deployed to most of the US fleet in early 1944. I suspect that his squadron commander Ralph Weymouth and Admiral Mitscher's operations officer Gus Widhelm had something to do with it.
I have lived a few miles south of the Inyokern NOTS station since 1989 - I worked at the Naval Weapons Center (then NWC, now NAWC) at China Lake. That naval station turned into the Inyokern Regional Airport long ago, the Navy moving the air station east a bit to "China Lake".
The climate here is, ah, harsh. And even today amenities are on the skimpy side - our best shopping and local restaurants are 90 minutes drive away etc. Did your Dad talk about the area in terms of the towns and practicalities of everyday life? I think that WWII era local military experience isn't well known and recorded.
In late 1944 and early 1945 he said there wasn't lot to do other than to fly and test fire rockets. He wasn't much or a drinker but I have a photo of him being served a drink at a local bar. Originally from the Chicago area, I think he liked the "warmer" weather which influenced his decision to stay in California after the war and raise a family.
My father ran Grummans flight test department and Flight Tested the F7F during its development. With Corky Meyer as test pilot.
The beauty of two engines is counter-rotating props and not be biased by torque.
saw a Tigercat at an airshow about five years ago; completely fell in love. The sound of those two Double Wasps and the sheer beauty of it's lines and aerobatics... would love to see one again!
The first I'd ever HEARD of these was turning a corner at a museum and seeing one, completely unexpectedly and unprepared. I was absolutely dumbstruck!!
This is THE fighter I have been in love with for around 30 years now.
An old timer who flew the F7F told us that the only way to get out of it was to roll inverted and fall out because of the two meat eaters spinning right outside the window. He also said that it was so efficiently cowled that you had to keep the engines from running too cool. Great guy he was.
This and the sea fury are the bomb. Just the absolute pinnacle of late war props.
XP-47J
@@UkrainianPaulie The superbolt is an insane aircraft, but it never left prototype stage, and some of its figures are up for debate. The tigercat and seafury both hit production and saw some service.
The Sea Fury didn't enter service until 1947 so missed WW2 entirely but did see plenty of action during the Korean War.
How would you rate the P-38 Lightning?
@@spaceman081447 the P 38 and P 47 are two of my favs, in fact the jug gets well above things like the spit and mustang, I just love the pure malevolence of the Sea Fury and Tiger Cat, they just look dangerous, and could back it up.
The most beautiful aircraft produced by Grumman, IMHO.
Plane went from "Awww, how cute!" to "WOW!" in a mere two numbers XD
Clearly one of the most amazing looking twin-engine fighters ever build.
The F7F is an example of the proper way to configure a heavy twin-engine fighter, as opposed to the Bf-110 and Me-210/410 series which produced disappointing performance due to extraneous weight and drag. The superb Dh Hornet was another good example.
The wëhräböös are strangely quiet about how wonderful the Bf 110 and Me 2/410 wasn’t.
How would you rate the P-38 Lightning?
@@spaceman081447 The P-38 is another example of a proper configuration for a twin engine fighter in that It does not have a second crewmember and reward firing defensive guns. Unlike the Me 110/210/410 is was capable in combat against other fighters, and also proved to be effective as a fighter-bomber, indicating that the defensive guns and crewman of the German zerstroyers were superfluous. The Germans made a mistake in producing the BF 110 instead of the FW 187, and didn't correct that mistake until too late with the Do 335.
gort.......the de Havilland DH.98 was a masterful design of a fighter/bomber/night fighter etc.
@@johnarnold893 I have admired the Mosquito since I first saw 633 Squadron as a boy, and promptly built a plastic model with the night intruder camouflage. It was indeed a masterful design as a bomber, fighter-bomber, and night fighter. I don't consider it a match for single seat fighter in a dogfight, and neither did De Haviland, who designed the Hornet with a single seat and no bomb bay for that reason.
Thanks for the great content, and the recognition of "Corky" as one of the greatest civilian test pilots of all time.
This was one of the coolest piston powered planes ever. The fuselage, when viewed from straight on shows how narrow and small it was kept. It must have been a real hoot to fly with all that power. and that climb rate was just jamming!!
Best streamlined fuselage I ever saw ! The "Golden age" of propellor attack aircraft.
I met the son of one of the Grumman test pilot/designer who worked on the Tigercat. He had a lot of stories, which had all of us at the museum listening for a good couple of hours.
I really love that dark blue scheme the Navy used at that time.
I was at an outdoor car show many years ago near Paine Field when "Bad Kitty" flew over low and fast. I could not believe what I was seeing! I had no idea a flying example even existed. Had only seen it in an old book. Beautiful plane!
I got strafed by one used for a low altitude survey of a wildfire in NORCAL back in 1982, and ever since I wanted to fly that dragon of a plane, I mean as a grunt on the ground fighting a huge wildfire, and having this beast of a plane making a 400mph run at you using its cameras to see how you were coming along the fire line really gave us a moral boost I can hardly put into words, that said we all screamed to the sky, FIRECAT, hence its true name!
You got…strafed?
The very similar British Hornet twin engine fighter shared much the same fate. Excellent aircraft, just too late to help.
Hornet was deliberately delayed because the Mosquito was doing the job well enough and the war was winding down
F7F tigercat, one of the best aircraft ever built. love this aircraft.
I got to meet Bad Kitty at a Minter Field air show in the 90's. She was amazing on the ground, sounded like a Roaring Goddess, and was the most impressive plane in the air that day. I've been in love ever since...
As for nose art, by and large in WWII the Navy prohibited it. There was one short lived F6F unit (VF-27), but they too were ordered to remove the art, that being eyes and a cats mouth.
Huh, always wondered about that. I wonder what the official reason was.
Navy brass was the most uptight stuffed shirts on the planet.
Always have been.
@@warbuzzard7167 your comment made me laugh, and brought back memories of my Dad, he was in the Fleet Air Arm in WW2. He always said the trouble with he Royal Navy was they all thought that Nelson was still alive, and didn't understand the air arm, and begrudge the fact the days of battleships was over. which echo your comment.
Thanks for posting! I’m a fan of Grumman and mainly WWII in general. I’ll admit I didn’t really know much about the F7F, so I definitely learned something today!
She is never happy until she finds something to be unhappy about; then, she is overjoyed.
I'll have to come back to watch the full video and leave a proper comment, just clicked it as it popped up in my feed and I had to say this. This will always be the most beautiful piston engine aircraft built, hands down. Even more so than my beloved P-38.
finally! a decent video on f7f. it was surely the most aesthetically pleasing bird to come out of grumman but thats a pretty low bar. lol most pleasing twin of the war jmho marines made darn good use of them during the korean "police action". new sub, thx!
They have a Tigercat at The National Museum of WWII Aviation in Colorado Springs, CO, a fairly small but EXCELLENT WWII aviation museum that I would HIGHLY recommend to any aviation enthusiast. The Museum sits on the Colorado Springs Airport annex property. They have some absolutely AMAZING aircraft and even more importantly, aviation memorabilia such as priceless memorabilia including German Pilot Hans Ulrich Rudel's medals and uniform badges. Rudel was a famous Stuka Dive Bomber pilot and was the only pilot in German history to receive the Golden Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, which is now on display at the museum, along with Rudel's uniform and other memorabilia. They have an airplane actually flown by Charles Lindbergh himself on display, early in Lindbergh's career as an early air mail pilot. They have General Billy Mitchell's actual uniform on display, a P-38 lightning (fully flight worthy and actually flying at the Pikes Peak Regional Airshow this weekend in fact, one of only a few flight worthy P-38's in the world). But the cream of the crop in the museum's display of aircraft has to be the Grumman Tigercat painted in dark navy WWII blue livery, like the Corsair's famous paint job, and it is an absolutely gorgeous aircraft to see in person, even if just on a static display. I'm not sure if the museum brings out the Tigercat to fly anymore, but they may. I'm pretty sure many of their aircraft (maybe all of them) are in flight worthy condition. I got really lucky last month when I was at the Museum on a private tour. The tour guide took us over to the restoration and mechanic shop and low and behold, the P-38 was sitting in their being tuned up for the Pikes Peak Air Show. I got a nice close up walk around and detailed history of the aircraft by the docent presenting the tour as everyone else had already left and I was the last one there just talking about the different aircraft in the restoration center. I pointed out that the P-38 was my all time favorite warbird and he gave me all sorts of detailed information about the P-38, some of which even I didn't know. If you ever get to Colorado Springs, CO and you are an aviation enthusiast. IT IS A MUST DO MUSEUM! It's only about $20 to get in per person and well, well worth it. They have a nice little gift shop in the front lobby as well with some really nice model kits on all sorts of airplanes as well as a lot of books, clothing, posters, and general merchandise for purchase related to all the planes they have.
Steve Hinton flew the National Museum of WWII Aviation's Tigercat in a flight demonstration of the Tigercat this past weekend in Colorado Springs, CO Saturday and Sunday at the Pikes Peak Regional Airshow. He also flew their P-38 and was doing all sorts of cool maneuvers alongside of a modern day F-22 Raptor on Sunday with the P-38 Lighting and the F-22 flying alongside each other for much of the routine on Sunday! It was an awesome demo of two very rare aircraft which are rarely seen in flight. The F-22 demonstration was proof that there are very few modern day military aircraft that can even come close to the capabilities of the F-22, let alone the Lockheed F-35 Lightning II.
You totally missed the Grumman XP-50 (G-41) which contributed to the F7F (G-51) design. 10:14 Tomcat still was a maverick name.
I see what you did there
Always sounded like a bit of a goose egg to me.
was also going to mention the XP-50. When ya line up the XF5F, XP-50, and F7F you can see Grummans advancement from design to design.
The XP-50 was a direct development of the XF5F. Largely an XF5F with a long nose and a tricycle landing gear.
You did a great job on this video. Thanks for making it.
The F-14 Tomcat was named for Vice Admiral Tom Connoly.
Refreshing seeing videos without AI voices keep up the great work!
To be fair, the po-2 also has a record of 2 jet kiils so transitively the F7F is pretty good
And the NA-16 Wirraway shot down a A6M2 Zero - sometimes simply being there works…
@@allangibson8494 top speed of one being a quarter of the stall speed of the other definitely helps lol
I know the Po-2 has a confirmed kill on a Lockheed F-94 Starfire, but what was the second jet?
@@AlexDeese f9f iirc
Imagine what they'll say about the F-22 a hundred years from now, the most advanced fighter of the period only has a single combat kill: a high altitude balloon.
The famous Marion Carl gushed about how much he loved the F7F in his autobiography.
Thanks for this great video. I never knew about this aircraft, or the F5F. I appreciate your research and presentation about this arguably greatest fighter of WW2. Thanks again!
I love naval fighters
I love night fighters
I love Boaty McBoatfaces
The F7F Tigercat is by far my favorite aircraft ever.
The F5F was made famous as the aircraft mounts of the comic book Black Hawks.
I've always loved WWII aircraft, and had never heard of these things, so meeting one unexpectedly at a museum was a real experience!
Disappointing that the obvious comparison with the De Havilland Hornet was not addressed. Captain Eric Winkle Brown wrote very highly of both machines but described the Hornet as his favourite piston engined machine.
Great video though.
The Hornet had better performance too.
Beautiful Dark Blue Color ❤
The F7F is, to my eyes, the most beautiful aircraft ever to exist.
With 32 cylinders of Pratt & Whitney's finest*, the Tigercat may have also made the most beautiful sound, on its way to becoming one of the fastest piston engined aircraft ever.
There's much to love here.
Nice kitty.
Pretty kitty.
Thank you for giving us this moment.
*2 x R2800
Sudden flash of memory: this was my very first model that I built. Wish I remembered who the kit was from. Revell, probably.This was early 70s.
Most likely Monogram. I also built one as a kid around 1970, and was highly impressed with the sleek design and monster engines!
@@petesheppard1709 Shows how bad my memory is: did Monogram exist then? 😄 If yes, then quite possible! This was before my parent would let me muck with model paint, yet it was that deep Navy/Marines blues, so must have been the mold.
@@michaelhoffmann2891I was building Monogram kits back in the mid-60s. The first one was a 1/4" (1/48 scale) SBD. There are RUclips channels dedicated to the old scale model companies. Pick a name and search; they can be real nostalgia trips! 😎
1966 Monogram, according to SM
And in true Revell Fashion, they re-released the kit "only" 30 years later, probably with a lying "NEW!" sticker on the box, like they always do.
Grumman could have achieved great things in 1946 or '47 by exchanging the R-2800s for a pair of Allison J-35s, and seeping back the wings and tailplanes by about 15 degrees. By those modifications, they would have essentially created a navalized Me-262 with longer range, better performance, and far better reliability. Without the need for prop clearance, the Allisons could have been installed much closer to the centerline, allowing a greater length of the wings to fold, thus improving deck handling. Or they could have been faired into the fuselage like on the Northrop F-89, thus improving agility and reducing drag.
On second thought, my idea may be just so much bullsh*t. In jet-powered F7F, where does that very nice wide-track landing gear retract? In the real design, there was plenty of space behind the Pratt & Whitney radials. Not so in a jet.
@@enscroggs nice idea 💡. Like how you think...... The Navy was working to adopt the FJ1 Fury late '46- '48. A twin engine Fury would have been desired except for the fuel required could make it a chunky Garfield 😺.
Even keeping the wings straight, you could've picked up another 100mph.
Haha your comment at the end is hilarious
This AC gets so little coverage, this video was great! You should cover the time that Corky shot himself down. He unloaded rounds (in a Cougar of F11F Tiger I think) with the nose up and flew down range under the ballistic arc of his own bullets. Would love a detailed breakdown of that incident.
I've never really been a fan of naval aircraft whether it was this country or other countries during World War 2. But I have to tell you, it was some relatively obscure history and I liked it.
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.
Japan surrendered the DAY the F7F showed up in theatre, coincidence? I think not! F7F the real reason Japan surrendered confirmed.
Also the line in the video "God forbid people think of cat coutis when they see a murder machine" is one of the funniest lines I have heard in a RUclips video.
A dam good plane that seemed to succeed at almost everything asked of it. High top speed and an amazing climb rate, plenty of guns, agile and could carry bombs. I think if it arrived in the Pacific theatre 12-18 months earlier, it would have given the Japanese a VERY nasty surprise.
"God forbid anyone think about cat coitus, when they see the murder machine", class.
I remember an old WW2 flight sim that featured F7F's among those you could fly in missions.
In between the incredible horsepower of the engines and the awesome firepower it carried, it was the ultimate boom and zoom fighter to play.
Kinda sad you didn’t mention Grummans XF5F-1 and XP-50 as intermediate steps in evolution to the F7F. Great video nonetheless
I consider myself lucky to have seen Big Bossman race at Reno. Fantastic aircraft to watch.
It may not have done much but it was damn cool and a shame they quit making them.
The Tigercat was also the Navy's first twin engined carrier fighter.
Every sixty seconds you spend angry, upset or mad, is a full minute of happiness you will never get back.
Surplus F7Fs were purchased in the 1960s and 70s to be used as fire bombers to fight wildfires in California. There were still a few operating into the 1980s.
F7F is just beautiful
I built a model of the F7F when I was a kid. Absolutely beautiful plane.
I have an R/C version of it and it flies beautifully. Fast yet docile. Grease the landings ,every time.
Excellent review of a plane that I had previously only known from the Azur Lane game. The F7F is an ER Fighter that can be purchased and equipped on CV ships. I had idly purchased one, installed it on an Eagle Union carrier (Intrepid) and was astonished by how it tore through Siren aircraft when it launched. Now I know why! Regarding the Tomcat naming kerfuffle, it is noteworthy that at the time, the Hays Office in Hollywood forbade the use of slang terms "tom cat" and "alley cat" to refer to promiscuous men and women respectively in films. Apparently someone in the Navy shared the same sentiments regarding appropriate names for fighter planes.
There is a comic book series that started during WWII that used the F5F Skyrocket. This was Blackhawk. Don’t get confused, as there became second Blackhawk series with super powers. This first series evolved around a Polish pilot that escapes from Poland after flying a PZL P.50 Jastrzab (Hawk) prototype fighter aircraft that he painted all black against the NAZIS. He then forms a volunteer squadron of men and flee the Skyrockets against the Nazis in many adventures, but no super powers. The series ran for over 50 years.
I would love to find those comics. They made some interesting comics of that type. I think "The Nam" was the only one I was aware of, but it covered a number of topics, even the controversial ones, like "fragging", draftees going nuts, drug use etc.
@@T_bone Amazon has an anthology listed. I don’t have that one, but Archive #1 which they also have
So we have yet another phenomenal, double-engined late war fighter that came out to be one of the finest handling super props ever designed, beloved even by test pilots, that didn’t get the chance to see much action. Sounds exactly like DH 103 De Havilland Hornet.
The F7F went on to have a pretty good career as a water bomber in the Western US.
Taking one of the baddest birds on the planet for a spin AND a week off work? Sounds worth it to me
Imagine you’re just chilling in your slow little bi-plane watching the scenery as your co-pilot takes recognizance photos and out of fricking nowhere a great winged beast triple your size roars past you at quadruple your speed, flips a quick u-turn, and guns you down with a quick burst from its cannons that somehow contains enough lead to vaporize an elephant
The most beautiful plane to emerge from the Grumman Iron Works. Looks to be doing 400mph just sitting on the ground. ❤👍💯
1944 Navy: We object to the name 'Tomcat'
1974 Navy: Oh, we like the name 'Tomcat ' a lot
What a difference 30 years make...😉
There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.
Well done video. I learned a lot. Good plane but without a war to seriously fly and fight in.
Second most beautiful combat aircraft* ever designed, after the Hustler.
I will die on this hill.
*Edited due to the undeniable superiority of the Dragon Rapide and Staggerwing.
I completely agree. Convair made some damn good looking triangles!
@@AlexDeese The only triangle sexier than a Convair triangle is a Cool Ranch Dorito triangle.
(Thank you so much for that laugh! It hit me right in the geeks.)
@@AlexDeese Please see my edited original comment. I think you'll appreciate it.
Keeping Convair on a roll, there is the F-16.
@glenwoodriverresidentsgrou136 Pretty. But not even remotely close. 😉
tomcat was used in a honor of the Navy Admiral who went b4 congress to cite a litany of good reasons for the navy to ditch the F111 program as it was viewed as an unsuitable platform, the Admirals first name was in fact Thomas, and Ward Carrol USN retired spoke about this on his channel that covered that part of the tomcats development, his call sign in real life was Mooch.
One of my favorite planes of all time. I need a few for my SkyFleet.
The name "Tom Cat" was assigned to the F14 to honor Adm Tom Connolly who saved the Navy from the F111 and secured the F14 contract for Grumman.
Beautiful plane. Always loved the look of it.
Tough bird. There was a story about nightflying a t-cat in korea, and running into one of the cables the norks strung across the valley. The marine snagged one, finished the bombing mission, and returned to base, landing in the dark. Dragging half a mile of wound-up cable with two 1,000 lb concrete blocks.
The Marine Corps fielded 2- Squadrons with the Grumman F7F-3N’s & 5N’s in Korea to great affect in Night Interdiction, Close Air Support, Night Bomber Escort and Reconnaissance missions, VMF(N)-513 “Flying Nighmares” (Which was a mixed/Composite Squadron of F4U-5N’s Corsairs, F3D-2 Skyknights & F7F-3N & 5N’s) and VMF(AW)-542 “Tigers” (AW=All Weather) which was F7F-5N’s & F3D-2 Skyknights). Both Squadrons where heavily used during the battle of Chosen Reservoir. Research those squadrons and you’ll be amazed at what you find out… They were commonly armed with 2x 500lbs & 8-10x 3” HVARS on CAS & Night Interdiction missions.
I love this aircraft, one of the best and most beautiful aircraft ever built.
The pictures you have are the XP-50.
A very good looking aircraft.
Remember the movie the Aviator, when Howard Hughes explains how many defense projects were paid for but then not needed because the war ended.
Here on the central coast of California we used to have a Tigercat as a Firefighting aircraft.
We reach near perfection... then gets superseded. Steam, internal combustion, CRTs, lovers etc.
Tigercat 483 was one of the ones that was based in Britain for a few years (i never imagined that happening when i was a kid!)
Thanks for this one, I remembered it, however I did not know what it did.
The added weight/slight decrease in maneuverability that came with adding a second engine in dual prop fighters just seems to be an insurmountable problem for engineers in every country during every period of the war. Ironically, their failure as a concept is what led Germany to pursue jet aircraft technology so heavily. They were in dire need of an interceptor aircraft that could climb quickly, carry enough fire power to bring down bombers, AND stand a chance against any escorting spitfires/P-51s. The twin engine Bf-110s they were using to intercept bombers were sitting ducks, and somewhere along the line of trying to engineer an improved dual-engine interceptor, they began experimenting with alternative engine/propulsion methods. That's where the Me-262 comes from and consequently why it has TWO jet engines instead of just one behind the cockpit or fuselage. In a way, the failure of dual prop fighter designs subsequently led to the overall antiquation of propeller propulsion technology in aviation.
Might want to mention that, in the Southern US, the term "tomcatting" referred to a certain activity of male HUMANS.
🎉 I'm so happy that you used metric units as well! Thanks a lot from a Brazilian subscriber, been a sub since 1k subs, and the quality of your videos has significantly improved.
If you are accepting ideas for videos, I'd suggest you check out Brazilian airplane industry, we have a long history of airplane development (since the Wright Brothers time)
One has to be careful when quoting Wikipedia for comparison of specifications such as gross weight. The number quoted in the video as gross weight is actually listed in Wiki as max takeoff weight, and no gross weight is listed. The Dh Mosquito on the other hand is listed with a max takeoff weight of 25,000 pounds, but also lists a lighter gross weight of 18,100 pounds.
I have never seen an explanation of exactly what these terms mean in Wikipedia, and have come to assume that gross weight means the design gross weight for which performance specifications are quoted, and max takeoff weight would be what was then called "overload" weight and what we today call a restricted weight or war emergency weight. The airplane can fly at overload weight but with degraded performance, and perhaps reduced limits for G and landing vertical velocity. If anybody has more precise understanding of these terms as used by Wikipedia please let me know.
British do tend to record different things to America so inevitably places like Wikipedia can only put what they have. This has happened even with identical planes in service with both in records.
@@seriousmaran9414 Wiki lists both gross weight and max takeoff weight for the Lancaster. Then for the Hawker Tempest is lists only gross weight, while for the Mosquito it lists only max takeoff weight. Makes it hard to know what one is looking at.
@@gort8203 you also have different versions, some of which have weights that double over time. Not all are documented.
The narrow fuselage also makes me think of the first Cobra gun ships.
"You Hoosier you, I could drive down there to Kansas with my....." What's up Rick ?
@@jeffreymcdonald8267 Not much. Every time I get on the computer that drunk Hoosier Frank Garrett calls me up. I’m about to head down to Sugar Creek and deal with him.
@@lostinpa-dadenduro7555 Take Mopar Man with ya.
@@jeffreymcdonald8267 I’m sure Mopar Man can’t get Frank to see reason. 😂
Tomcat had a negative social connotation. Some Naval brass were prudes.
Don't forget the CORSAIR fighters, and the first black ace in Korea, there is a recent movie about him!
So "That Did...Basically Nothing" was due to timing and not it's performance. Most any late war piston engine according to you are the same.
The Gruman F3F biplane fighter was also a WWII fighter but was retired before the Pacific War began.
The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.
Sir, well, Sir, Tomcat is the perfect name, when he pounces on you, you will know you are...umm, coitused...sir!
A life spent making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.
It is good that the "pearl clutchers" turned down the "Tomcat" name. Because their actions the name was available for the most iconic naval jet fighter ever made.
The big problem was size. An aircraft carrier could carry either 2 Tigercats or 3 Hellcats.
The Tigercat would have been a great aircraft for intercepting kamikazee
Grumman is most well-known to me for the AA-1!!
There is an example of an F7F at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola Florida…
Two side-notes: 1) A development of the F5F was submitted to the USAAC as the XP-50; The XP-50 resembles the F5F, but the nose was etended past the wing. It lost the competition to Lockheeds XP-49, itself an upgrade of the P-38 Lightning;
2) The F7F was also submitted to the USAAC as the XP-65. Apparently, events after Pearl Harbour caused the USAAC to cancel the contract.