World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe Grumman Wildcat was the standard carrier-based fighter of the US Navy at the start of the Pacific War. After the US's entrance into the Pacific War, Wildcat pilots quickly found that their fighters were easily out-maneuvered by their Japanese counterparts, the Zero fighter. However, with heavier armor, self-sealing fuel tanks, and greater firepower, Wildcats held their own. Beginning in early 1943, the new Hellcat fighters began to replace Wildcats. Nevertheless, General Motors picked up the design (and later revised it by adding a more powerful engine) and continued to build Wildcats primarily for escort carriers.

ww2dbaseA few Wildcats also served in the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. These fighters were of early production dates originally ordered by France, but later transferred ownership to Britain after the French surrender.

ww2dbaseDuring the model's lifetime, 7,251 fighters were built.

F4F Wildcat Timeline

SPECIFICATIONS

Grumman F4F

Machinery	1 Pratt & Whitney R-1830-86 double-row radial engine rated at 1,200 hp
Armament	6x0.5in Browning machine guns, 2x100lb bombs
Span	11.60 m
Length	8.76 m
Height	2.81 m
Wing Area	24.20 m²
Weight, Empty	2,610 kg
Weight, Maximum	3,610 kg
Speed, Maximum	515 km/h
Rate of Climb	9.90 m/s
Service Ceiling	12,000 m
Range, Normal	1,240 km

General Motors FM-2

Machinery	1 Wright R-1820-56WA rated at 1,350 hp
Span	11.60 m
Length	8.80 m
Height	3.00 m
Wing Area	24.10 m²
Weight, Empty	2,470 kg
Weight, Loaded	3,395 kg
Weight, Maximum	3,751 kg
Speed, Maximum	534 km/h
Speed, Cruising	264 km/h
Service Ceiling	10,576 m
Range, Normal	1,449 km

Photographs

Visitor Submitted Comments

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3.  Alan Chanter says:
30 Oct 2007 03:55:23 PM

The Martlet I gained the distinction of becoming the first U.S. built aircraft in British service to shoot down a German aircraft. This happened on December 25, 1940 when two Martlets Is of No.804 Squadron patrolling Scarpa Flow intercepted and destroyed a Junkers Ju-88.

6.  David Stubblebine says:
29 Mar 2015 12:32:19 PM

To Anonymous #’s 4 & 5 re: F6F-3 BuNo 42782: 1. You realize you are leaving your messages on the F4F page and not the F6F page? 2. Do you know what the carrier was during the aircraft’s CQL accident? 3. The CASU-6 clue is probably not going to get you close to the pilot’s name. The nature of the damage described in the CASU-6 crash is so extensive that the aircraft most likely went through an aircraft pool before showing up on the opposite coast. You may get a better response from the regular readers at http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/. Your question is the kind of stuff those guys often do pretty well with.