Designed initially for service onMidway-class aircraft carriers, early production F7Fs were land-based variants. The type was too large to operate from older and smaller carriers, and only a late variant (F7F-4N) was certified for carrier service.
Based on the earlierGrumman XP-50 that was eventually canceled, the company developed theXP-65 (Model 51) further for a future "convoy fighter" concept. In 1943, work on the XP-65 was terminated in favor of the design that would eventually become the F7F.[1] The contract for the prototypeXF7F-1 was signed on 30 June 1941. Grumman's aim was to produce a fighter that outperformed and outgunned all existing fighter aircraft, and that had an auxiliary ground attack capability.[2]
An F7F-3N of VMF(N)-513 at Wonsan, Korea, in 1952.
Performance of the prototype and initial production aircraft met expectations; the F7F was one of the fastest piston-engine fighters, with a top speed significantly greater than single-engine USN aircraft — 71 mph faster than aGrumman F6F Hellcat at sea level.[3] CaptainFred Trapnell, one of the premier USN test pilots of the era, stated: "It's the best damn fighter I've ever flown."[4] The F7F was to be heavily-armed — four 20 mm cannon and four .50 caliber (0.50 in; 12.7 mm) machine guns, as well as underwing and under-fuselage hardpoints for bombs and torpedoes. This speed and firepower was bought at the cost of heavy weight and a high landing speed, but what caused the aircraft to fail carrier suitability trials was poor directional stability with only one engine operational, as well as problems with thetailhook design.[5] The initial production series was, therefore, used only from land bases by the USMC, as night fighters with APS-6 radar.[6]
While the F7F was initially also known as the Grumman Tomcat, this name was abandoned, because it was considered at the time to have excessively sexual overtones;[7] (from the 1970s, the name Tomcat became commonly associated with, and officially used by the Navy for, another Grumman design, theF-14 twin-jet carrier-based interceptor).The first production variant was the single-seatF7F-1N aircraft; after the 34th production aircraft, a second seat for a radar operator was added and these aircraft were designatedF7F-2N.
A second production version, theF7F-3, was modified to correct the issues that caused the aircraft to fail carrier acceptance, and this version was again trialled on theUSS Shangri-La. A wing failure on a heavy landing caused the failure of this carrier qualification as well. F7F-3 aircraft were produced in day fighter, night fighter, and photo-reconnaissance versions.[8]
The final production version, theF7F-4N, was extensively rebuilt for additional strength and stability, and did pass carrier qualification, but only 12 were built.[8]
The F7F Tigercat was produced too late to serve in its intended role in WWII; however, early F7F-1 models saw service in the Pacific Theatre before the end of the war. One Marine Corps photographic reconnaissance squadron equipped with the F7F,VMP-354, arrived in Guam in June 1945, and was quickly transferred toYontan Airfield in Okinawa in July 1945.[9] In July and August 1945, VMP-354 used the F7F to photograph potential invasion beaches forOperation Downfall in Southern Kyushu.[9]
Marine Corps night fighter squadronVMF(N)-513 flying F7F-3N Tigercats saw action in the early stages of the Korean War, flying night interdiction and fighter missions and shooting down twoPolikarpov Po-2 biplanes.[10] This was the only combat use of the aircraft.
Most F7F-2Ns were modified to control drones for combat training, and these gainedbubble canopies over the rear cockpit for the drone controller. An F7F-2D used for pilot transitioning also had a rear sliding, bubble canopy.[11]
Twin-engine fighter-bomber aircraft, powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-2800-22W radial piston engines. First production version, 34 built.
F7F-1N Tigercat
Single-seat night fighter aircraft, fitted with an APS-6 radar.
XF7F-2N
Night-fighter prototype, one built.
F7F-2N Tigercat
Two-seat night fighter, 65 built.
F7F-2D
Small numbers of F7F-2Ns converted into drone control aircraft. The aircraft were fitted with aGrumman F8F Bearcat windshield behind the cockpit.
F7F-3 Tigercat
Single-seat fighter-bomber aircraft, powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-2800-34W radial piston engines and featuring an enlarged tailfin for improved stability at high altitudes, 189 built.
F7F-3N Tigercat
Two-seat night fighter aircraft, 60 built.
F7F-3E Tigercat
Small numbers of F7F-3s were converted into electronic warfare aircraft.
F7F-3P Tigercat
Small numbers of F7F-3s were converted into photo-reconnaissance aircraft.
F7F-4N Tigercat
Two-seat night-fighter aircraft, fitted with a tailhook and other naval equipment, 12 built.
The Tigercat was designed to have a very small frontal area.F7F-3N Tigercat in use with belly tank in the fire-fighting role in 1988F7F Tigercat N747MXLa Patrona at 2014 Reno Air Races
Beginning in 1949, F7Fs were flown to the then-U.S. Navy storage facility atNaval Air Station Litchfield Park, Arizona.[13] Although the vast majority of the airframes were eventually scrapped, a number of examples were purchased as surplus. The surviving Tigercats were primarily used aswater bombers to fightwildfires in the 1960s and 1970s and Sis-Q Flying Services ofSanta Rosa, California, operated an F7F-3N tanker in this role until retirement in the late 1980s.
^abO'Brien, J. T. (2004).Top secret: an informal history of electronic warfare & photographic reconnaissance in Marine Corps aviation 1940-2000 (1st ed.). Anaheim, Calif: Equidata Pub. Co. pp. 64–69.ISBN978-0-9714185-3-0.
Bridgman, Leonard (ed.). "The Grumman Tigercat."Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London: Studio, 1946.ISBN1-85170-493-0.
Carlson, Ted. "Semper Fi Tigercat".Flight Journal, Volume 13, Issue 2, April 2008.
Carr, Orrin I. "Fire 'Cat!"Air Classics, Vol. 12, No. 9, Sept. 1976. Canoga Park, CA: Challenge Publications, pp. 38–47.
Dorr, Robert F. and David Donald.Fighters of the United States Air Force. London: Temple, 1990.ISBN0-600-55094-X.
Gault, Owen. "Grumman's Tiger Twins: The Skyrocket & Tigercat".Air Classics, Vol. 9, No. 8, Aug. 1973. Canoga Park, CA: Challenge Publications, pp. 22–27.
Green, William. "Grumman F7F-1 – F7F-3 Tigercat".War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Four: Fighters London: Macdonald & Co.(Publishers) Ltd., 1961, pp. 106–108.ISBN0-356-01448-7.
Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. "Grumman F7F Tigercat".WW2 Fact Files: US Navy and Marine Corps Fighters. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1976, pp. 57–61.ISBN0-356-08222-9.
Grossnick, Roy A. and William J. Armstrong.United States Naval Aviation: 1910–1995. Annapolis, MA: Naval Historical Center, 1997.ISBN0-16-049124-X.
Legg, David. "Tigercat on camera".Aircraft Illustrated, Volume 24, no. 1, January 1991.
Meyer, Corwin ("Corky") H. "F7F Tigercat: The Untold Story".Flight Journal, August 2002. Ridgefield, CT: AirAge Publications. pp. 48–56, 58.
Morgan, Eric B. "Grumman F7F Tigercat F.7/30".Twentyfirst Profile, Volume 1, No. 11. New Milton, Hants, UK: 21st Profile Ltd. ISSN 0961-8120.
Morgan, Eric B. "The Grumman Twins".Twentyfirst Profile, Volume 2, No. 15. New Milton, Hants, UK: 21st Profile Ltd. ISSN 0961-8120.
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