F6F Vs. F4U

[bkbandit]

bozon i read u loud and clear. I just like to go fast, i love catching la7s that think there geting away scot free after a pork or vulch run. If i really cared about uber'ness i prob wouldnt look at hellcat one bit, u have to "work" to get kills:lol unlike the certain spits that shall remain nameless.

[F4UDOA]

>Civilized Mode On<

Widewing,

I just purchased Corkey Meyers book of his Flight Journal articles over the years from Amazon. They are not anything that hasn't been put out before so I was a little dissapointed by the content but I also purchased "Flying to the Limit" by Peter Caygill a British test pilot who gives another interesting perspective.

In any case Corkey's F7F article (And his F8F article) are already avaiable on the web at one of my favorite sites "findarticles.com" so you can see the exact verbage used.

The first experimental XF7F-1 Tigercat had the 2,000hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800-10B engine. This was the Hellcat's standard production engine, and it continued Grumman's policy of not installing an untried engine in a new aircraft. The Tigercat, which was 71mph faster than the Hellcat and had twice its rate of climb, easily met the Navy's requirements of 451mph at 21,000 feet.

Here is the link to the entire story so due dilligence can be done.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3897/is_200208/ai_n9120620/pg_1


Here is Corkey's second quote comparing the F6F to the F8F. Notice how low he states the Hellcats climb rate to be?? 2150FPM??

By early 1945, the F8F had entered the fleet. Immediately, pilots found it was indeed a great shot in the arm to have such startling performance because, as we had anticipated, the Japanese had introduced several airplanes with much improved performance over the Zeros. The timing of getting the Bearcat to the fleet was perfect. Not only was it an exciting airplane to fly (one could even see the Focke-Wulf heritage), but it was also 47 knots faster than the Hellcat, without water injection, and took off in 200 feet of carrier-deck space compared to the Hellcat's 325-feet requirement. It had an amazing rate of climb of 5,340 feet per minute, which was more than twice the Hellcat's! It had the fastest rate of climb of any propeller-driven fighter in the War. Its rate of climb endeared it to the Navy pilots because getting on top of the enemy had been the criteria of aerial combat success ever since WW I. You can imagine that Navy aviators also heartily enjoyed that the F8F could easily outperform any and all Army Air Force fighters at the time!

Again here is the full link

F8F article

[MiloMorai]

(one could even see the Focke-Wulf heritage)

Brings back memories of another thread.

[Debonair]

Originally posted by Stoney74
There was an F7F at the races last year.  It was a stock/restored plane, and finished 4th or 5th in the Unlimited Gold, if I recall correctly.  A very impressive aircraft to say the least.  I don't know if he's coming back this year, but I'll let you know after Sunday.  I wonder if there are enough airframes left out there to actually do a hot-rod F7F?

that on is 17th on the list of qualifiers this year, Big Bossman just a pinch under 387 MPH at what i'd guess was a density alt of about 7500' (5000' + 2500 cause Reno in summer is hot)

[Stoney74]

Watched Big Bossman fly today.  He run's the Unlimited Silver, not gold.  And, while he qualified much better, finished last today in the heat race.  But man, that plane is the best sounding thing on the field.  Not one, but two R-2800...