FREE F9F PANTHER/COUGAR: FIRST JET OF THE GRUMMAN CATS PDF

Brad Elward | 160 pages | 01 Oct 2010 | Specialty Press | 9781580071451 | English | North Branch, Panthers at Sea | Military Aviation | Air & Space Magazine

The U. Navy was late to the revolution. The Grumman F9F Panther/Cougar: First Jet of the Grumman Cats Air Force used the jet-powered Gloster Meteor against buzz bombs in Julyand the Luftwaffe was well under way; in July of that year, its Me was already shooting down Allied fighters. But air forces have long runways on which to land fast, unproved airplanes. For the Navy, with its peculiar habit of landing aircraft on ships, the transition to jet aircraft was more hazardous and therefore slower. But the Panther played a significant role in ushering the Navy into the jet age. The Panther never achieved the iconic MiG-killer status of the glamorous swept-wing F Sabre; it earned a different reputation. While it performed the dangerous grunt work of ground attack, it became known as a tough bird that brought its pilots home, including three Korean War pilots who either were, or would become, celebrated American heroes: Boston Red Sox slugger Ted Williams and future astronauts and Neil Armstrong. According to Corwin A. So Karanik traveled to England, where Frank Whittle in had built and tested the first engine. There, Karanik found his Panther powerplant: the Rolls-Royce Nene, a 5,pound-thrust, centrifugal-flow turbojet that was more powerful than anything the Americans had, and had also proven very reliable. He died in Soon after takeoff, Meyer executed a few stalls and found the Panther well behaved. At 33, feet the engine flamed out and, despite many attempts, would not restart. Finally, at 3, feet, Meyer abandoned efforts to restart and set up for a belly landing in a potato field. Miraculously, on short final, the engine restarted by itself, and Meyer managed to pull up and land safely at Bethpage. The engine was still firmly attached to the forward and running normally. The pilot, believing he had simply missed the cable, applied full power for a go-around. Alerted by radio to his predicament, the pilot aborted the tailless takeoff. Subsequently, Grumman strengthened the tail attach joint. The Panther entered the fleet inand landings continued to present problems. The Panther had a bad hook dashpot [a hydraulic cylinder that dampens movement]. The hook would bounce up and down across the deck. On one of my barrier encounters, the canopy came off its hinges and hit me on the shoulder. Pilots assigned to Panther cockpits were a mix of World War II veterans, with hundreds of hours of prop time, and those who went straight from flight training to the jet. We got our planes directly from Bethpage. For Stinemates, who would eventually fly the F7U Cutlass, one of the most challenging—and deadly—Navy fighters ever built, the initial jet training program was minimal, to say the least. After takeoff, Stinemates found the Panther very pleasing to fly. He spent about 20 minutes getting to know the aircraft, stalling it and putting it through basic maneuvers. And he discovered that the hallowed advent of the jet age brought a welcome, but pedestrian, benefit. You know what the humidity is like there, and our nylon flightsuits were just wringing wet. Royce Williams, who began his career in open-cockpit biplanes and worked in the plastics industry after retiring from the Navy in although he was briefly recalled intransitioned to the Panther from the brutally powerful F8F Bearcat. It was more advanced. Everything seemed like a step up. In an attempt to provide a better transition for propeller-trained pilots, the Navy eventually offered more training for its prospective jet pilots and bought Lockheed Fs from the Air Force. I flew the first Panther, Grumman F9F Panther/Cougar: First Jet of the Grumman Cats had 5, pounds of thrust and the [license-built] British Nene engine, and then we got a new version that had about more pounds of thrust. After flying Vought Corsairs, Smith, who would go on to log time at United Airlines flying everything from the DC-3 to the Boeingwas unwillingly assigned to a squadron that flew TBMs, hulking World War II torpedo bombers modified for electronic countermeasures missions. What else was a year-old supposed to do? The Korean War began in Juneand almost immediately the Panther was in combat. On November 18,the Panther had its greatest moment of glory. Under cold, overcast skies, a flight of four F9F-5s launched from the USS Oriskany on a combat air patrol near Chongjin, which was sufficiently close to the Soviet Union that the Panthers were needed to protect Task Force 77, which consisted of 25 ships, including three carriers and the famed battleship USS Missouri. As the flight leader and his wingman returned to the ship, circling until they could enter the next landing cycle, the other two Panthers, flown by Royce Williams and his wingman, David Rowlands, climbed in pursuit of the bogies. Breaking out of the overcast at 15, feet, Williams spotted seven MiGs, abreast, streaming contrails far above. As the Panthers were climbing through 26, feet, the MiGs split into two Grumman F9F Panther/Cougar: First Jet of the Grumman Cats in one, three in the other—and dove on them. In the ensuing melee, Williams would be credited with four kills, and after the shootdowns would bring his Panther back to the Oriskany stitched with holes from MiG cannon fire. Rowlands, whose guns were jammed, tried to harass the MiGs, and get good gun-camera film. How did the Panther manage to outfight the faster, higher-flying MiG? Undoubtedly, some of the credit goes to the better-trained U. But the Panther was a deceptively capable dogfighter. Air Force historian Richard Hallion. The pilot was superbly positioned, with great visibility. And Grumman F9F Panther/Cougar: First Jet of the Grumman Cats Panther had better guns. Baseball icon Ted Williams, a Marine reservist called to duty from the Red Sox inhad a very close call in Korea. A combat rookie, he once got too low on Grumman F9F Panther/Cougar: First Jet of the Grumman Cats ground-attack mission and was hit by small arms fire. Worried that an ejection would injure his kneecaps, Williams nursed the burning airplane 15 minutes back to a Marine base, where, trailing a foot plume of fire, he bellied the aircraft onto the runway at mph and slid 2, feet before stopping, engulfed in flames. Williams leapt from the cockpit Grumman F9F Panther/Cougar: First Jet of the Grumman Cats sprinted away unharmed. He went Grumman F9F Panther/Cougar: First Jet of the Grumman Cats to play seven more seasons with the Red Sox. Ted Williams often flew as wingman for his squadron operations officer, a clean-cut young fellow named John Glenn. Now 91, the first American in orbit still regularly flies his twin-engine Beech Baron. Fellow astronaut-to-be Neil Armstrong, who died last year, also benefitted from the sturdiness of the F9F. The mph impact sheared off six feet of the right wing, but Armstrong was able to maintain control long enough to reach friendly territory, where he ejected and was rescued. After the decommissioning of VF inwe began having a reunion every two years. I ended up staying in the next room with him at the hotel. He had a rental car, and he chauffeured me around for two days. All the famous men and kings throughout history had a dark side. After Kaps and Armstrong returned from their missions aboard the EssexGrumman F9F Panther/Cougar: First Jet of the Grumman Cats found Saturday Evening Post correspondent James Michener, notebook in hand, in the wardroom. By the time the Korean War ended, in Julythe Panther was on the verge of obsolescence. The Cougar joined the fleet less than two years later, but never saw combat in Korea. With the arrival of the Cougar, the Panther began to be retired from frontline Navy service. The Marines hung on to a few until late A total of 1, Panthers had been built. Many Panther pilots ended up flying Cougars; for most, it was their first swept-wing experience. One, rescued from a playground and restored to flying status inwas flown on the airshow circuit for 11 years by Philadelphia-based attorney Arthur Wolk, who won millions of dollars in court representing the victims of commercial aviation disasters, including the crash of a United Airlines DC in Sioux City, Iowa, and a string of mishaps attributed to rudder malfunction. And you really had to pay attention to the fuel. At times, you could literally watch the fuel gauge needles move. Wolk was able to nurse the airplane around for a landing, but due to an inoperative airspeed indicator, he landed hot and slid off the end of the runway, barely escaping with his life. Inafter a two-year, 25,hour restoration by the museum, the F9F-2B flew to the annual fly-in at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and won Grand Champion Warbird. Yet it introduced thousands of pilots to jet aviation, primped for the Navy as a shiny Blue Angel, and even had a second career with the Argentinian navy, for which it flew until the late s. It was a handsome little jet, stalwartly true to its Grumman cat lineage. Continue or Give a Gift. Daily Planet. Flight Today. History of Flight. Virtual Space. Subscribe Current Issue. Like this article? Comment on this Story. Last Name. First Name. Address 1. Address 2. Enter your email address. GRUMMAN F9F PANTHER/COUGAR. First Grumman Cat of the Jet Age.

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Based on Grumman's earlier F9F Pantherthe Cougar replaced the Panther's straight wing with a more modern swept wing. Thrust was also increased. The Navy considered the Cougar an updated version of the Panther, despite having a different official name, and thus Cougars started off from F9F Rumors that the Soviet Union had produced a swept-wing fighter had circulated a year before the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG first appeared at air shows in Despite the level of activity taking place with swept-wing aircraft, the Navy was not initially focused on the development of such aircraft. This was largely because the Navy's focus at the time was defending the battle group against high speed, high altitude bombers with interceptors, as well as escorting medium-range carrier-based bombers in all weather conditions. Air-to-air combat was of less interest. Nonetheless, the Navy appreciated the importance of getting a capable carrier-based swept-wing jet fighter. Grumman was awarded a contract for the development of a swept-wing fighter jet in The arrival of the MiG, which easily outclassed straight-wing fighters in the air war over North Korea was a major factor. Prototypes were quickly produced by modifying Panthers, and the first XF9F-6 flew on 20 September The aircraft was still subsonic, but the critical Mach number was increased from 0. Instead of using conventional ailerons for roll control, the F9F-6 uses spoilers on the upper surfaces of the wing. Wing fences were soon added and the spoilers extended from the fences to the tips of the wing. The rudder pedals controlled the part of the rudder below the horizontal tail surface, while the upper portion of the rudder was controlled by a yaw damper. This allowed the Cougar to fly safely and easily without the upper portion of the tail. Initial production airframes was the F9F-6delivered from mid through July The Grumman F9F Panther/Cougar: First Jet of the Grumman Cats first flew on September 20,seven months after Grumman signed a contract with the Navy for swept-wing fighter. Most were fitted with a UHF homing antenna under the nose, and some were fitted with probes for inflight refuelling. Sixty were built as F9F-6P reconnaissance aircraft with cameras instead of the nose cannon. After withdrawal from active service, many F9F-6s were used as unmanned drones for combat training, designated F9F-6Dor as drone controllers, designated F9F-6K. A total of were built, but the J33 proved both less powerful and less reliable than the J Almost all were retrofitted with the J48 engine, and were thus indistinguishable from F9F-6s. These were redesignated F-9H in The Navy used two modified F9F-7s to conduct experiments landing on British-inspired flexible decks which did not require the use of . While the landing tests yielded positive results and proved that landing was clearly possible, the project was terminated in as it would have been difficult to move the aircraft around the carrier deck once they landed. It also required a highly skilled pilot to perform the landings and would Grumman F9F Panther/Cougar: First Jet of the Grumman Cats made it impossible to divert to a land base if necessary. Work on the F9F-8 began in April, with three goals: lower the airplane's stall speed, improve aircraft control at high angles of attack, and increase range. The airframe changes improved low-speed and high angle of attack flying, and gave more room for fuel tanks. It also was now capable of breaking the sound barrier in a steep dive. All four ammunition boxes were mounted above the guns, in contrast to the split location of most previous F9Fs including the Panther. Visibility, which was already very good was improved with the F9F Late production F9F-8 aircraft were Grumman F9F Panther/Cougar: First Jet of the Grumman Cats the ability to carry four AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air under the wings the first Navy aircraft to deploy with the missiles. Most earlier aircraft were later modified to carry Sidewinders. A number were given also nuclear bombing equipment. They were used for advanced training, weapons training, and carrier training, and served until In the redesignation, these were later called TF-9J. A total of F9F-8P s photo-reconnaissance were produced with an extensively modified nose carrying cameras. They were withdrawn after to reserve squadrons. The F9F was known to be highly maneuverable and easy to fly. The F9F Cougar was also a capable multi-role aircraft, which may explain why it was deployed less often than dedicated fighters. This was more likely attributable to the fact the F9F had an attack role that was being superseded by new jets such as A4D-1 Skyhawkrather than any deficiency as a Grumman F9F Panther/Cougar: First Jet of the Grumman Cats. More likely it was because it has a minimal capability as an attack aircraft, whereas the F9F-8 was good for that too, including nuclear weapon delivery. As a result, the FJ-3 was the designated day fighter by default on most deployments. The first F9F-6s were assigned to fleet squadron VF at the end of The Naval Reserves used them until the mids, but none of the single-seat versions were used in the Vietnam War. The TF-9J two-seat trainer had a long service with the U. It served as the Navy's advanced flight trainer for more than two decades. Brady setting the quickest time of 3 hours, 45 minutes and 30 seconds. This was the first time the distance Grumman F9F Panther/Cougar: First Jet of the Grumman Cats been covered in under four hours. The U. This was short lived however and the Navy subsequently took them for fleet use without using the planes in an air show. Two F9F-8T trainers were acquired inand served until The Cougar was the first jet to break the sound barrier in Argentina. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. US Navy carrier-based in service US Warplanes. Retrieved 16 April Archived from the original on Retrieved Christopher Chant Aviation and Military History. Retrieved 4 December Pax River Naval Air Museum. Retrieved 28 November Tommy H. Retrieved: 19 July Instituto Aeronaval. Retrieved: 12 January Retrieved: 15 January Nicoletti, John Grumman F9F Panther/Cougar: First Jet of the Grumman Cats Fontes, Linda eds. Anaheim Magazine. Anaheim, : City of Anaheim: 14— Archived from the original PDF on 3 April Retrieved 19 June Retrieved: 30 October Retrieved: 21 January Retrieved: 21 April Retrieved: 30 May Retrieved 29 March Angelucci, Enzo and Peter Bowers. The American Fighter. Sparkford, UK: Haynes, Elward, Brad. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, Kinzey, Bert. Fallbrook, California: Aero Publishers, Inc. Mersky, Grumman F9F Panther/Cougar: First Jet of the Grumman Cats. Aviation News magazineVol. Neubeck, Ken. F9F Cougar Walk Around. Swanborough, Gordon and Peter M. Aircraft since Annapolis, : Naval Institute Press, Winchester, Jim. American . Grumman and aircraft. B-2 Grumman F9F Panther/Cougar: First Jet of the Grumman Cats United States Navy fighter designations pre FT F2T.