When I was a kid growing up in Tacoma Washington I spent some weekends in Seattle visiting my grandfather. One day he had to see a young pilot working in a shack at the end of Boeing field. He parked his Piper Cub next to that shack. That was cool in it's self. Parked a few feet away from his Cub was J2F Duck. I thought that it was the coolest plane and still do. Thanks for this video. God Bless
That Duck was a versatile little airplane and rendered useful service even during WW2. I don’t know if the F3F was used during the war. The F4F/GM2 was a great plane but was at a distinct disadvantage against the Zero early in the war until they formed and adopted a maneuvere called a Thatch Weave . Great planes all and thanks for the video.
The F3Fs were retired from frontline service just before Pearl Harbor but were retained for coastal duties and training…they didn’t see enemy action, but were there anyway for training pilots
Now THAT is something you don't see every day. It's kinda a shame knowing that some of the people there don't know how great pre-WWII aircraft were, and especially since the descendants of aircraft like the F3F (the F4F, for example) kinda overshadow their predecessors in their service records. I'm hearing a lot of blunt commentary from the one chick on the loudspeaker. You can kinda tell who is new to the party when you've learned a thigh or two, y'know? I must inquire though: is the F3F featured in this show still flying for show? If so, where is this show, and how do I get in??
it’s three generations of the same airframe there, a gradual development of planes in 10 years with each helping the war effort even if obsolete and that F3F shown is flyable, it’s fully restored and has the documentation to fly…
That F4F is actually a general motors FM-2......When Grumman started making their F6F Hellcats, they didn't have room to also keep making the Wildcats, so General motors started making the FM-2, with a different engine, and only 4 machine guns, instead of 6. The FM-2 had a larger tail than the F4F-4.
The F3F is numbered incorrectly. I should be 7 F 1. The emblem on the nose is from the USS Wasp CV 7. With the full red band n the cowl and fuselage that is #1. The squadron skipper. Ty M. SMC, USN, Ret.
Is it really more efficient to have a massive single float body like that under an otherwise apparently orthodox fuselage? My impression is that it'd surely be much heavier than building a flying boat body and moving the engine into the upper wing or a nacelle. Why did they design it like that? Was weight and manoeuvrability not a concern for that aircraft?
