US Grumman F4F ''Tigercat'' Heavy Fighter Plane

By Crusader1307

Cited as being the ''first''  Heavy Fighter that entered into Production for The United States Navy, Grumman's F4F ''Tiger Cat'' was a ''massive Twin Engined Fighter Plane specifically designed for deployment by America's larger Aircraft Carriers. Introduced late into World War II, The ''Tigercat'' was also adopted by The United States Marine Corps. The large Fighter actually did NOT see operational Combat Service in The War, but did see an unusual encounter before The Class was decommissioned. It was during the early phases of The Korean War (1950-1953), when several ''Tigercats'' shot down several North Korean Bi-Planes (of Soviet WWII design). The Class (which could only be used by larger Classes of Aircraft Carriers, would (as many would), be replaced in favor of Jet Technology (early 1950s). Most were attempted for sale to Great Britain as Trainers, but this Contract failed. of the 360 Models that survived The Korean Conflict, all would be sold to Fire Services in The United States as modified Fire suppression Platforms. All were discontinued for Service in this mode by 1984.

The F4F ''Tigercat'' was crewed by (2). They were 45-feet in length with a 50-foot Wingspan. Power came from a Twin Pratt & Whitney 18-cylinder Air Cooled Engines capable of producing 2,100-HP. Rated speed was to 470-mph, with an Operational Ceiling of 40,000-feet. Armament included (4) 20mm Auto-Cannon and (4) .50 Caliber Machine Guns. Ordnance included the ability to deploy (2) 1,000-lb. Bombs, (8) Missiles, and the capability to deploy (1) 18-inch Torpedo.