LiveStream BROADCAST! Curtiss-Wright SB2C Helldiver, Friday, July 25, 2025 10 am

Описание: Warbirds in Review is brought to you by Scotts Miracle-Gro,
Fagen Fighters WWII Museum, Warbirds of America, and the following media partners.
Breitling
Airmotive Specialties, Inc.

Grumman’s first Navy planes, the F2F and F3F, had no nicknames. The F4F, initially nickname-free, was called the Martlet by the British Navy in 1940 and adopted as the Wildcat by the U.S. Navy in 1941, marking the beginning of the Grumman Cats line. The F4F Wildcat was the primary fighter for the U.S. Navy and Marines early in WW II, employing tactics such as the ‘Thach Weave’ against Japan’s Mitsubishi Zero. The F6F Hellcat, called “the Wildcat’s big brother,” improved from the Wildcat, effectively countering Zeros, and became the primary WWII Navy and Marine fighter, shooting down over 5,000 aircraft. The F7F Tigercat, the first twin-engine fighter, arrived too late for WWII but served in Korea and was praised by test pilot Captain Fred Trapnell. The F8F Bearcat, introduced in 1945, was designed for high climb rates with a lightweight fuselage and bubble canopy. It saw action in the 1950s with French and South Vietnamese forces, serving as a primary Navy and Marine fighter.
Grumman built a legacy of rugged, successful fighters; in 1942, Vice Admiral McCain compared Grumman to sterling silver, and the company was known as “the Grumman Iron Works” for its dependable aircraft.