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The
Grumman F9F - Panther
Grumman's
first XF9F-2 first flew on 24 November 1947. With a
full fuel and weapons load, the "Panther's" maximum
take off weight was 19,500 pounds. Top speed was
525 mph. The aircraft's wingspan and length were
both almost exactly 38 feet. Armament consisted of
four 20 MM cannon, six air to ground rockets, and
two 500 lb. Bombs.
F9F's
delivered more ordnance against enemy ground
targets than any other jet aircraft flown during
the Korean Conflict. The 715 F9F's flown in Korea
flew a total of 78,000 sorties, averaging about 110
missions apiece. One even scored a Mig-15
kill.
The F9F-2
went on the become the US Navy's "Blue Angel"
demonstration team's first jet. Later versions of
the F9F received a swept wing. The resulting
superior performing aircraft was renamed the
"Cougar." F9F series production ended in 1958 with
the F9F-8T jet trainer. The last F9F's in service
ended their days as drone targets in the 1970's.
For more Panther info click on Panther
+.
Your
contributions would be greatly appreciated. You
can contribute photos for posting, and/or needed
comments that can be added to these pages. If you
have photos or images, you can send them via email
or (if you don't have a scanner) via snail-mail.
We'll do the scanning and send your pictures back
quickly. JPG format is preferred if you do your own
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just fine. Send us your photos and your E-Mail
comments. Please Email us for the snailmail
address..
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Send
us any F9 photos with VMF-235 livery. As
you can readily see, we have few photos
from this era of our
history.
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Post
CarQual publicity photo 24 July 1953. L to
R: Col Neefus, C. Bright (CO) and Tom
Burnam.
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Courtesy
of Howard Black
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To
Be Added
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