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A shortage of two-stage superchargers led to the development of the F4F-3A, which was basically the F4F-3 but with a 1,200 hp (890 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1830-90 radial engine with a more primitive single-stage two-speed supercharger. The F4F-3A, which was capable of 312 mph (502 km/h) at 16,000 ft (4,900 m), was used side by side with the F4F-3 ...
U.S. Navy Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat, BuNo 25974, [154] '30', of VF-2, on a routine training exercise off of USS Enterprise en route to Makin Atoll, piloted by Ensign (later Lieutenant) Byron Milton Johnson of Potter, Nebraska, suffers engine problems, makes emergency landing, catches 3 wire on his third attempt, slams into deck and ends up with ...
[4] [5] Early problems with carrier landings and logistics led to it being eclipsed as the dominant carrier-based fighter by the Grumman F6F Hellcat, powered by the same Double Wasp engine first flown on the Corsair's initial prototype in 1940. [6] The Corsair's early deployment was to land-based squadrons of the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy.
The squadron reverted to the previous designation of VF-9M on 1 August 1930. [3] In 1937, after a stint aboard the USS Saratoga (CV-3) under the command of then Captain Bull Halsey, VF-9M was again redesignated, becoming VMF-1 on July 1, 1937. In 1938, the squadron turned in its Boeing F4B-4s for brand new Grumman F3F-2s. [3]
Thach carried out the first test of the tactic in combat during the Battle of Midway in June 1942, when a squadron of Zeroes attacked his flight of four Wildcats. Thach's wingman, Ensign R. A. M. Dibb, was attacked by a Japanese pilot and turned towards Thach, who dove under his wingman and fired at the incoming enemy aircraft's belly until its engine ignited.
The Navy found that the added weight of the F2A-3 also aggravated the problem of landing gear failure during carrier landings. However, the −40 two-speed [20] supercharged Cyclone engine in the F2A-3 was an excellent "cruising" engine, and as such the F2A-3 had some value and saw initial service on the carriers Saratoga and Lexington.
In 1943, Grumman was introducing the F6F Hellcat, powered by the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine, which provided 2,000 horsepower (1,500 kW). The R-2800 was the most powerful American engine, so it would be retained for the G-58. This meant that improved performance would have to come from a lighter airframe.
Grumman had been working on a successor to the F4F Wildcat since 1938, and the contract for the prototype XF6F-1 was signed on 30 June 1941. The aircraft was originally designed to use the Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone two-row, 14-cylinder radial engine of 1,700 hp (1,300 kW) (the same engine used with Grumman's then- new torpedo bomber under ...