F7f-3 Tigercat was probably the most powerful high performance twin-engined fighter of World War II.
As the US Navy required a heavily armed twin-engined carrier fighter, Grumman completed the XF7F-1 prototype in 1941.
It took off for its maiden flight on November 3, 1943.
It was amazingly maneuverable for an aircraft with a loaded weight of nearly eleven tons,
but the Navy felt that the XF7F-1 Tigercat was "too hot and too heavy" for carrier duty.
Powered by two 2,100 h.p. Pratt & Whitney R-2800-22W engines, the Tigercat was built in
single and two-seat versions.
Later modifications equipped some F7F-3Ps with cameras for photo reconnaissance and mapping.
The F7F-3P BuNo 80425 was restored for THE FIGHTER COLLECTION at Duxford by Steve Hinton´s Fighter Rebuilders at Chino, California.
It returned to the air and flew to the UK in June 1996 where it had its first air display at The Flying Legends Airshow on July 13, 1996 at Duxford.
The Fighter Collections F7F-3P is the only airworthy Tigercat in Europe.
Worldwide only 12 are still flying.
SPECIFICATIONSLength: 45' 4"
Height: 16' 7"
Wingspan: 51' 6"
Wingarea: 455 Sq Ft
Empty Weight: 16270 lbs
Gross Weight: 25720 lbs
Powerplant: (2)Pratt & Whitney R-2800-22W
Horsepower: 2100(each)
Fuel: 375 gals
Armaments: four .50cal mg with 300 rpg and four 20mm cannon with 200 rpg
PerformanceRange: 1000 miles
Cruise Speed: 192 kts
(222 mph)Max Speed: 378 kts
(435 mph)at 20,600 ft
Climb: 4530 ft/min
Ceiling: 40700 ft
FLIGHT CHARACTERISTICS:Everyone who flew the Tigercat remarked on its impressive rate of climb even at steep angles, where it easily moved out at 150 knots. It had so much power that designer Gordon Israel once recalled - when travelling in a Convair 240 twin-engined airliner equipped with the exact same engines - that flying the F7F, he was alone, while in the 240 he was accompanied by 45 others.
Internal fuel was carried in three tanks: 60 gallons forward in the nose, a reserve tank of 83 gallons aft of the pilot, and a main tank of 210 gallons behind it. When fuel was consumed as per manual: processing from main, to nose and reserve tank, it was almost impossible to stall the aircraft, as the center of gravity moved forward with the expediture of gasoline.
But the Tigercat did have its vices.
As long as the engines were running, you hardly had to touch the trim tabs. With its large vertical tail out of the slipstream, directional stability was exemplary, but without power, the Tigercat dropped like a stone, descending at 3,500 ft. per minute, with no glide capability at all.
The F7F accelerated so quickly that it passed the critical takeoff, gear-up zone between
80 and 140 knots, in less than 10 seconds. In a dive, particularly from high altitude,
it built up speed so rapidly at full power that it entered the lethal compressibility area within moments. Nevertheless, stall warnings were given well before the aircraft stopped flying, and a simple nose-down attitude served to recover quickly.
On the approach, with power, the F7F was rock-steady, even in heavy crosswind. The Tigercat normally required full nose-up trim on approach as the elevator was not very effective at an approach speed of 95 mph.
At high speed the ailerons were heavy, but its power-boosted rudder could also lead to problems. Without it, the rudder responded lethargically at speed above 400 knots and was almost immovable, but its boost was so strong in that speed range, that sudden inputs or flagrant misuse could easily lead to structural failure, and did. Below 350 knots, the hydraulic power boost which provided 30 percent feedback was smooth and light. (Source: AIRPOWER Magazine, Sept. 1996, Vol.26 No.5)
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"Find your enemy and shoot him down - everything else is unimportant"-WW1 German ACE Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen
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