| Grumman F4F Wildcat
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Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat of VF-41, circa early 1942.
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| Description
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| Role | Carrier fighter
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| Crew | One
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| First Flight | September 2, 1937
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| Entered Service | 1940
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| Manufacturer | Grumman
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| Dimensions
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| Length | 28 ft 9 in | 8.8 m
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| Wingspan | 38 ft 0 in | 11.6 m
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| Height | 9 ft 2.5 in | 2.8 m
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| Wing area | 260 ft² | 24.2 m²
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| Weights
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| Empty | 5,760 lb | 2,610 kg
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| Loaded | lb | kg
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| Maximum takeoff | 7,950 lb | 3,610 kg
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| Powerplant
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| Engine | Pratt & Whitney R-1830-86 double-row radial
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| Power | 1,200 hp | 895 kW
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| Performance
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| Maximum speed | 320 mph | 515 km/h
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| Combat range | 770 miles | 1,240 km
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| Ferry range | miles | km
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| Service ceiling | 39,500 ft | 12,000 m
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| Rate of climb | 1,950 ft/min | 594 m/min
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| Wing loading | lb/ft² | kg/m²
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| Power/Mass | hp/lb | kW/kg
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| Armament
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| Guns | 6 × 0.5 in (12.7 mm) Browning machine guns
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| Bombs | Two 100 lb (45 kg) bombs
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The Grumman F4F Wildcat was the standard carrier-based fighter of the United States Navy for the first year and a half of World War II. An improved version built by General Motors (the General Motors FM Wildcat) remained in service throughout the war, on escort carriers where newer, larger and heavier fighters could not be used.
The Wildcat was outperformed by the Mitsubishi Zero (its major opponent in the Pacific war) but held its own by out-surviving it (the Grumman airframe could take much more damage than its lightweight, unarmored Japanese rival) and out-gunning it.
The original Grumman F4F-1 design was a biplane, which when proving inferior to rival designs was recast as the monoplane F4F-2. This was still not competitive with the Brewster F2A Buffalo which won initial US Navy orders, but when the F4F was fitted with a more powerful engine, the Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp, it showed its true merits and became the F4F-3. US Navy orders followed as did some (with Wright Cyclone engines) from France; these ended up with the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm after the fall of France. In British service initially these were known as the Martlet I, but later this name was discontinued and the US name of "Wildcat" used.
A new version, the F4F-4, entered service in 1942 with six guns and folding wings, allowing more to be crammed on a carrier; this was the definitive version and the one that saw the most combat service in the early war years including the Battle of Midway.
Grumman production ceased in early 1943 to make way for the newer F6F Hellcat, but General Motors continued producing them for both US Navy and Fleet Air Arm use. At first they produced the identical FM-1 model but then switched to the improved FM-2 (based on Grumman's F4F-8 prototype) with a more powerful engine and a taller tail to cope with the torque. In all, 7,251 Wildcats were built.
