The Grumman F7F Tigercat is a heavy fighter aircraft that served with the United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) from late in World War II until 1954. It was the first twin-engine fighter to be deployed by the USN. While the Tigercat was delivered too late to see combat in World War II, it saw action as a night fighter and attack aircraft during the Korean War.

F7F Tigercat
An F7F-3P preserved in United States Marine Corps markings in flight
Role	Heavy fighter Type of aircraft
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Grumman
First flight	2 November 1943
Introduction	1944
Retired	1954
Primary users	United States Navy United States Marine Corps
Produced	1943–1946
Number built	364
Developed into	Grumman XTSF

Designed initially for service on Midway-class aircraft carriers, early production F7Fs were land-based variants. The type was too large to operate from older and smaller carriers, and only a late variant (F7F-4N) was certified for carrier service.

Design & development

Based on the earlier Grumman XP-50 that was eventually canceled, the company developed the XP-65 (Model 51) further for a future "convoy fighter" concept. In 1943, work on the XP-65 was terminated in favor of the design that would eventually become the F7F.[1] The contract for the prototype XF7F-1 was signed on 30 June 1941. Grumman's aim was to produce a fighter that outperformed and outgunned all existing fighter aircraft, and that had an auxiliary ground attack capability.[2]

Performance of the prototype and initial production aircraft met expectations; the F7F was one of the fastest piston-engine fighters, with a top speed significantly greater than single-engine USN aircraft — 71 mph faster than a Grumman F6F Hellcat at sea level.[3] Captain Fred Trapnell, one of the premier USN test pilots of the era, stated: "It's the best damn fighter I've ever flown."[4] The F7F was to be heavily-armed — four 20 mm cannon and four 50 caliber (0.50 in; 12.7 mm) machine guns, as well as underwing and under-fuselage hardpoints for bombs and torpedoes. This speed and firepower was bought at the cost of heavy weight and a high landing speed, but what caused the aircraft to fail carrier suitability trials was poor directional stability with only one engine operational, as well as problems with the tailhook design.[5] The initial production series was, therefore, used only from land bases by the USMC, as night fighters with APS-6 radar.[6]

While the F7F was initially also known as the Grumman Tomcat, this name was abandoned, because it was considered at the time to have excessively sexual overtones;[7] (from the 1970s, the name Tomcat became commonly associated with, and officially used by the Navy for, another Grumman design, the F-14 twin-jet carrier-based interceptor). The first production variant was the single-seat F7F-1N aircraft; after the 34th production aircraft, a second seat for a radar operator was added and these aircraft were designated F7F-2N.

A second production version, the F7F-3, was modified to correct the issues that caused the aircraft to fail carrier acceptance, and this version was again trialled on the USS Shangri-La. A wing failure on a heavy landing caused the failure of this carrier qualification as well. F7F-3 aircraft were produced in day fighter, night fighter, and photo-reconnaissance versions.[8]

The final production version, the F7F-4N, was extensively rebuilt for additional strength and stability, and did pass carrier qualification, but only 12 were built.[8]

Operational history

Marine Corps night fighter squadron VMF(N)-513 flying F7F-3N Tigercats saw action in the early stages of the Korean War, flying night interdiction and fighter missions and shooting down two Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes.[9] This was the only combat use of the aircraft.

Most F7F-2Ns were modified to control drones for combat training, and these gained bubble canopies over the rear cockpit for the drone controller. An F7F-2D used for pilot transitioning also had a rear sliding, bubble canopy.[10]

In 1945, two Tigercats, serial numbers TT346 and TT349, were evaluated, but rejected by the British Royal Navy in favour of a naval version of the de Havilland Hornet.[11]

Variants

XP-65

Proposed United States Army Air Forces pursuit fighter.

XF7F-1

Prototype aircraft, two built.

F7F-1 Tigercat

Twin-engine fighter-bomber aircraft, powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-2800-22W radial piston engines. First production version, 34 built.

F7F-1N Tigercat

Single-seat night fighter aircraft, fitted with an APS-6 radar.

XF7F-2N

Night-fighter prototype, one built.

F7F-2N Tigercat

Two-seat night fighter, 65 built.

F7F-2D

Small numbers of F7F-2Ns converted into drone control aircraft. The aircraft were fitted with a Grumman F8F Bearcat windshield behind the cockpit.

F7F-3 Tigercat

Single-seat fighter-bomber aircraft, powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-2800-34W radial piston engines and featuring an enlarged tailfin for improved stability at high altitudes, 189 built.

F7F-3N Tigercat

Two-seat night fighter aircraft, 60 built.

F7F-3E Tigercat

Small numbers of F7F-3s were converted into electronic warfare aircraft.

F7F-3P Tigercat

Small numbers of F7F-3s were converted into photo-reconnaissance aircraft.

F7F-4N Tigercat

Two-seat night-fighter aircraft, fitted with a tailhook and other naval equipment, 12 built.

Operators

 United States

• United States Marine Corps
• United States Navy

Surviving aircraft

Beginning in 1949, F7Fs were flown to the then-U.S. Navy storage facility at Naval Air Station Litchfield Park, Arizona.[12] Although the vast majority of the airframes were eventually scrapped, a number of examples were purchased as surplus. The surviving Tigercats were primarily used as water bombers to fight wildfires in the 1960s and 1970s and Sis-Q Flying Services of Santa Rosa, California, operated an F7F-3N tanker in this role until retirement in the late 1980s.

Airworthy

F7F-3

• 80374: based at the National Museum of World War II Aviation in Colorado Springs, Colorado.[13][14]
• 80375: based at the National Museum of World War II Aviation in Colorado Springs, Colorado.[15][16]
• 80390: based at Lewis Air Legends in San Antonio, Texas.[17][18]
• 80411: based at Palm Springs Air Museum in Palm Springs, California.[19][20]
• 80425: privately owned in Seattle, Washington.[21]
• 80483: privately owned in Houston, Texas.[22]
• 80503: based at Lewis Air Legends in San Antonio, Texas.[23][24]
• 80532: privately owned in Bentonville, Arkansas.[25]

On display

F7F-3

• 80373: National Naval Aviation Museum in Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.[26]
• 80382: Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California.[27]
• 80410: Pima Air & Space Museum, adjacent to Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, in Tucson, Arizona.[28]

Under restoration or in storage

F7F-3

• 80404: in storage at the Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida.[29]

Specifications (F7F-4N Tigercat)

Data from Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II[30]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 45 ft 4 in (13.82 m)
• Wingspan: 51 ft 6 in (15.70 m)
• Height: 16 ft 7 in (5.05 m)
• Wing area: 455 sq ft (42.3 m²)
• Airfoil: root: NACA 23015; tip: NACA 23012[31]
• Empty weight: 16,270 lb (7,380 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 25,720 lb (11,666 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-34W Double Wasp 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 2,100 hp (1,600 kW) each
• Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed fully-feathering propellers

Performance

• Maximum speed: 460 mph (740 km/h, 400 kn)
• Range: 1,200 mi (1,900 km, 1,000 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 40,400 ft (12,300 m)
• Rate of climb: 4,530 ft/min (23.0 m/s)

Armament

• Guns:
  
  • 4 × 20 mm (0.79 in) AN/M3 cannon (200 rpg, wing roots)
  • 4 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine gun (400 rpg, in nose) (normal fighter versions only; replaced by radar unit in the -3N nightfighter)
• Bombs:
  
  • 2 × 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs, or
  • 8 x 127mm unguided rockets under wings and
  • 1 x 150 gallon fuel or napalm tank under fuselage, or
  • 1 × torpedo under fuselage (day fighter only)

Avionics

• AN/APS-19 radar

See also

Related development

• Grumman XTSF

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• de Havilland Hornet
• FMA I.Ae. 30 Ñancú
• Focke-Wulf Ta 154
• Kawasaki Ki-102
• Mitsubishi Ki-83
• Northrop P-61 Black Widow
• Rikugun Ki-93

Related lists

• List of aircraft of World War II
• List of military aircraft of the United States
• List of United States Navy aircraft designations (pre-1962)

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Grumman F7F Tigercat.

• Manual: (1949) AN 01-85FA-1 Pilot's Handbook for Navy Model F7F-1N, F7F-2N, F7F-3, F7F-3N, F7F-4N Airplanes
• Naval Aviation Museum: F7F History & Pictures
• F7F Tigercat "Big Bossman" air Racer
• F7F Tigercat Flight Demonstration by Clay Lacy

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