The Grumman Bearcat, nicknamed the "Bear", was ordered in November 1943 as an interceptor and the prototype first flew on the 21st August 1944. The first production aircraft was delivered in February 1945 but never sore combat in WW2. The Grumman Bearcat served with the United States Marines, France, South Vietnam and Thailand's air-forces. French Bearcats were successful in French Indochina as fighter-bombers in the early 1950's and the speed record for a piston engined propeller driven aircraft (528 mph) has been held since 1990 by the highly modified and tuned Bearcat "Rare Bear". It is interesting to compare the Grumman F8F Bearcat with the Hawker Sea Fury FB-11, both aircraft designs were strongly influenced by captured Focke-Wulf FW 190's, and first flew within weeks of each other, they both entered service to late to see action in WW2 although both had been expected to see action in the Pacific campaign against Japan, both aircraft were the last piston engined fighters made by their respective companies, both were designed as interceptors but soon evolved into fighter bombers, their armament virtually identical! What was the difference in performance? The Sea Fury was slightly larger, lighter, more powerful and faster, the Bearcat had more range and a higher service ceiling, both aircraft are highly sought after by Pylon racers for obvious reasons although neither aircraft had the power or speed of the Spitfire Mk XVIII, the so-called super spitfire. Grumman F8F Bearcat Specifications: Crew: Pilot only Length: 28 ft 3 in (8.6 m) Wingspan: 35 ft 10 in (10.9 m) Height: 13 ft 10 in (4.2 m) Max takeoff weight: 12,947 lb (5,870 kg) Engine: Single Pratt & Whitney 2,100 hp (1,600 kW) R-2800-34W Double Wasp radial engine Maximum speed: 421 mph (680 km/h) Range: 1,105 miles (1,780 km) Service ceiling: 38,700 ft (11,800 m)
Armament: Four .50-caliber machine guns or four 20 mm cannons 2x 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs four 5 in unguided rocket projectiles
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