The last biplane fighter served for about 3 years in the Navy in a limited 30 unit squadron. It was a good contender against the Zero. Too bad it was replaced before Pearl Harbor Day.



A few years back I saw the tail end of an old movie, 1940 or so, about flight test with a plane like that. I'm pretty sure it was
shot at NAS North Island (San Diego). In the end, the hero died of hypoxia.

I never even got to see the title. Does anyone know the movie? Alex, where are you?

rdr

What about this plane which is in the Pearl Harbor Museum on Ford Island (always stay on topic Michael)

Here is a good article about the Grumman F3F Fighter.

http://www.mucheswarbirds.com/F3Fart.html

Vill it verk

Micheal, that one looks like an N2S, the Navy version of the Boeing Stearman PT-17.

Ricks, I was fortunate enough to get a good look at a freshly restored F3F about fifteen years ago. The Confederate Air Force used to come to St. Paul, MN every year. One year, while everybody else was gawking at the B-17, and the Mustangs I sat and chatted with the pilot of the F3F. Since I was a fledgling aviator and very interested in biplanes, he let me hop in the cockpit.

OK smarties...

Not as old, but definately what became limited production, and was a originally a part of the flight wing on the 'Lex'. What is it?

awww d'uh...somehow the title went along with it..oh well....no fun

George,
I would say it is a F2A-3 Buffalo, circa 1942.

George , Google Brewster Buffalo

they are rebuilding one @ the Pensacola Naval Air Museum

Here is one of the same era that is still being flown in the Maryland area. The brakes and gas gauge are the same as a Model A Ford. The gas tank only holds 24 gallons and it uses 11 gallons an hour at cruise, so there are no long flights. The runway is a grass strip. any hard braking will dump it on its nose.

John,

Thanks for the info on the Buffalo at Pensacola!

I was a bit behind the times as I don't check on Buffaloes much, and the last time I knew they were reported totally extinct. They were the first monplanes specifically designed for aircraft carrier use and they had more than their fair share of mechanical issues than the later developed Grumanns had. Navy kept a squadron of land based ones, at Midway and at Hawaii, but all the others wound up being exported. Reportedly, the Finns had a 40::1 kill ratio over the Soviets in aerial combat using the Buffaloes...[even though the rear wheel was a standard issue tractor wheel!]

My Dad was the development engineer for the instrumentation on all of Brewsters aircraft whether developed at Queens, Newark, or Johnsville. He was exempted from active duty in WW2 as long as he maintained naval reserve status. When the Navy took over and literally nationalised Brewster, they took over Dad too!

That part was probably pretty good for me as he actually met my Mom during the setting up of NAMU days in Philadelphia and when he went back to Johnsville, a perky little stenographer managed to get a transfer to Johnsville and one day in the hall, he saw this gal, and said "Don't I know you?" [what a line, eh] and the rest was pretty well cast in stone from then on!

Here's mine after a week of trying to post a pic.

Ok, I found the movie I was searching for:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dive_Bomber_(film)

It has Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy, and Alexis Smith.

"Dive Bomber is a 1941 American propaganda film directed by Michael Curtiz. [1] It is notable for both its Technicolor photography of pre-World War II United States Navy aircraft and as a historical document of the US in 1941[2], including the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, one of the best known World War II US warships..."

"The vivid cinematography prompted the tagline: The stunning spectacle of color rides with you into the heavens![5] Dive Bomber was nominated for an Oscar for Best Color Cinematography at the 14th Academy Awards in 1942. The movie is dedicated to the flight surgeons of the US armed forces "in recognition of their heroic efforts to solve the immensely difficult problems of aviation medicine."

I'm gonna' put it on our netflix list.

rdr

Bob,
Bucker Jungmann?

I have to disagree with the notion the F3F was in any way comparable to the Japanese A6M2 (initial production version) or the improved and more common A6M5 ("Model 52") version of the Zero.

The original Zero was 60KT faster than the old F3F. The Zero also has superior armament with two machine guns and two cannon, the old Grumman having only two machine guns. The Zero's cannons were able to take out the old biplanes from a much longer range.

Interestingly the Zero's performance was not necessarily the most important factor in combat. Early in the war the Japanese downed a greater ratio of aircraft than the USA in virtually every meeting. However, the pilots of US built fighters were much more likely to survive due to better armor and better ability of the aircraft to continue flying after being hit. As a result, Japan was losing more pilots per encounter even when the USA lost more planes.

As the war continued the Japanese finally added armor and fuel tank fire suppression measures to the Zero, but it was too late by then, very few experienced pilots were alive and US aircraft were far more advanced.

Mr. Gruber, beautiful airplane. This was a Stearman owned by a friend, now deceased. He let me fly almost as much as I wanted, he also had a T-6, same deal. He had gone partners with a fellow who passed away, then my friend got them, then he passed away, so I lost my entree into the old exotic airplanes, pity.

All,

Hate to say it, but that's not an F-3F on the lead photo, its a Grumman FF-1 - immediate antecedant of the F-3F.

I would agree with Royce, neither the FF-1 nor F-3F were a match for the Zero. The F-4F Wildcat that was the principal naval fighter when Pearl Harbor occurred had a hard time with the Zero until proper tactics were worked out - like don't get into a turning dogfight. P-40s found that out too.

Bob - I echo Eric's question, looks like a Bucker Jungmann with a whopping big radial on it (almost looks like an R-1820). Torque on the that baby must be something else....

I believe the Penasacola Buffalo was one of the machines exported to Finland originally. I've heard the huge kill ratio claimed over the Russians as well, but its never been confirmed and seems pretty implausible - Russian equipment on that front wasn't their top of the line, but still the Polikarpov I-153's and I-16's could handle the Buffalo performance wise. No way the poor old things could handle even the early Yak's and Lagg's though.

Lots of exciting restorations of stuff pulled off the Russian steppes going on.

My biplane is mostly Starduster Too.
Beefed up here and there to take the 245 HP Jacobs.
I couldn't afford a Stearman and got ahold of three of these engines so I built this plane around the engine.
Has lots of torque all right.
Climbs like hell and cruises faster than I expected...130 or so.

Gruman F3F in flight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os19XiWGDjs

Sincerely
Jim Weir

Probably the most successful biplane of WW2 was the Fairey Swordfish credited with disabling the Bismark. Here are some pictures and information http://www.aviationartprints.com/new_page_2.htm

Probably the most successful biplane of WW2 was the Fairey Swordfish. Here are some pictures and stories
http://www.aviationartprints.com/new_page_2.htm

I doubt that the Grumman F3F could do 480 miles an hour as claimed with that fabric wing. No, not even straight down. That model was called the "Darling of the Navy"

Maybe 280 KTS indicated in level flight for the F3F top speed. Zero could nail an F3F using cannons from two miles away without fear of being hit.

Swordfish was probably one of the better known biplanes of WWII with the Bizmark action and attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto, but not sure it was the most successful. Other's vying for that title would probably be the Fiat CR-42, Polikarpov I-153, and Gloster Gladiator. The stories of the Gladiator's defending Malta are pretty amazing.

Beautiful flyable Swordfish at the Royal Naval Air Station in Yeovilton.

I was at Kermit Weeks' Fantasy of Flight Museum near Lakeland, FL several years back. We had stepped out back when we saw a plane on short final. F4F Wildcat. I had seen plenty in museums but never in flight and certainly never had one taxi right up to where I was standing. We spoke with the pilot for a few minutes. Seems Kermit Weeks had just bought the plane and was bringing it there for display.

This was during the week of Sun n Fun. I don't recall if it was the same year, but I also saw a Ford Tri-motor land there. They were flying folks back and forth between there and the Fly-In at Lakeland. I had seen the Tri-motor at Lakeland but not as close up as at the museum.

A number of years ago the Grumman "Cat" flight did a flyby and missing man pullup at the Willow Grove NAS - Wildcat, Hellcat, Tigercat, Bearcat, Panther, Tiger, Tomcat. The Wildcat was going as fast as he could go, and the Tomcat had everything hanging out trying to go as slow as he could go. Second pass the Tomcat slotted back to the rear, cleaned up at midfield, hit afterburner and did the missing man.

Jaw dropping......

One other story to relate. I was visiting the Royal Air Museum at Duxford a couple years ago while in the UK on business. Happenned to be the day alot of things were flying in for their big airshow. Beautiful formation work by a Mustang, Spitfire, and Corsair; arrival of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flights Lancaster, Spitfire, and Hurricane; and arrival of a Hawker Hunter and Vampire from Sweden. Hunter landed OK and taxied off, then the Vampire. All of a sudden there was a gut wrenching skreetch and a shower of sparks from the Vampire -- blown tire on landing. Fortunately it skidded into the grass without any more excitement. We were then treated to the sight of Duxford's period correct WWII fire equipment rushing onto the field including an Austin K2 ambulance and K6 foam truck. Quite a day....