F8F Fearcat
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2015 2:28 pm
hope this come out where you can download video--enjoy Ron
1946 Blue Angels - F8F-2 Bearcat
An airplane with a wing span three feet less than the Wildcat and just about
as long with a massive 2,100 HP engine.
Nothing could touch a Bearcat and they were on the carriers sailing to Japan
when Japan surrendered in 1945. A top speed of 447 MPH. A ceiling over 41,000 ft.
Production climb rate was better than 6,000 fpm, the best of any piston-engine fighter.
The Bearcat could out turn any allied fighter and even would turn with an
A6M5 Type 52 Zero. With its fast speed, great acceleration and high climb rate, the
Bearcat was the definitive answer to the Japanese Kamikaze threat.
The Bearcat remained as the Navy frontline fighter into 1952. Why? Because
it out-flew and-out fought the early F-1 Phantom and Banshee jets. Only the Saber Jet,
in its J4 Fury version, could finally catch the Bearcat. Even so, a lightened version of
the F-8-F held the time to climb record from the ground to 10,000 ft. until the
mid-sixties. The Bearcat went from a standing start on the runway to 10,000 ft. in 90
seconds. This rush to altitude was faster than the F-104, the F-100, the
F-102 and all the other early supersonic fighters could manage.
The F8F Bearcat--the last of the big radial engine fighter aircraft!
From brake release, the Bearcat could climb to 10,000 feet faster than the
F-4 Phantom. It took a "stripped down version" of the F-4 Phantom to finally match the Bearcat
climb rate and then by just a few seconds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnMZQATbenM
1946 Blue Angels - F8F-2 Bearcat
An airplane with a wing span three feet less than the Wildcat and just about
as long with a massive 2,100 HP engine.
Nothing could touch a Bearcat and they were on the carriers sailing to Japan
when Japan surrendered in 1945. A top speed of 447 MPH. A ceiling over 41,000 ft.
Production climb rate was better than 6,000 fpm, the best of any piston-engine fighter.
The Bearcat could out turn any allied fighter and even would turn with an
A6M5 Type 52 Zero. With its fast speed, great acceleration and high climb rate, the
Bearcat was the definitive answer to the Japanese Kamikaze threat.
The Bearcat remained as the Navy frontline fighter into 1952. Why? Because
it out-flew and-out fought the early F-1 Phantom and Banshee jets. Only the Saber Jet,
in its J4 Fury version, could finally catch the Bearcat. Even so, a lightened version of
the F-8-F held the time to climb record from the ground to 10,000 ft. until the
mid-sixties. The Bearcat went from a standing start on the runway to 10,000 ft. in 90
seconds. This rush to altitude was faster than the F-104, the F-100, the
F-102 and all the other early supersonic fighters could manage.
The F8F Bearcat--the last of the big radial engine fighter aircraft!
From brake release, the Bearcat could climb to 10,000 feet faster than the
F-4 Phantom. It took a "stripped down version" of the F-4 Phantom to finally match the Bearcat
climb rate and then by just a few seconds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnMZQATbenM
