The story of the Grumman F4F Wildcat, actually built in larger numbers by the Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors than by Grummn, has always fascinated me. Here's a plane that is clearly a 1930s aircraft, with roots in the earlier Grumman biplanes, and landing gear that made it clear that Leroy Grumman used to work for Grover Loening. Yet it not only remained in use throughout WWII, the up-engined FM-2 introduced in 1943 acually accounted for more than half of all Wildcats built. When the Wildcat had become obsolete as a front line naval fighter, it remained useful operating from small escort carriers as an anti-submarine, anti-ship and ground attack aircraft and as a fighter in a pinch. The Wildcat brings to mind U.S. Navy in the Pacific War against the Japanese, but British Wildcats (called Martlets early in the war) were widely used by the Fleet Air Arm and still shooting down 109s and sinking U-Boats in spring of 1945!
So, I think it would be great fun to do a semi-scale Wildcat. I made a case for it several years ago -- see https://www.homebuiltairplanes.com/...as/12896-proposed-f4f-project.html#post135600 -- and I still think it's worth doing. Let's run a few numbers using the FM-2, which is no small aircraft as you can see:
100%
Span 38'
Length 28' 11"
Wing area 6.8 sq ft
Wing loading 31.8 lb/sq ft
Empty weight 5448 lb
Gross weight 8271 lb
Powerplant 1,350 hp Wright Cyclone
Power loading 8.3 lb/hp
75% (3/4) LSA
Span 28' 6"
Length 21' 8"
Wing area 146.25 sq ft
Wing loading 8.2 lb/sq ft
Gross weight 1000 lb
Powerplant 115 hp TBD (Verner Scarlett 7Hi 117 hp?)
Power loading 8.7 lb/hp
62.5% (5/8) Microlight
Span 23' 9"
Length 18'
Wing area 101.5 sq ft
Wing loading 6.8 lb/sq ft
Gross weight 694 lb
Powerplant 80 hp TBD (Verner Scarlett 5Si 83 hp?)
Power loading 8.7 lb/hp
Thoughts? Scale Bird Scott, this thread needs you!
http://www.airvectors.net/avwcat.html
So, I think it would be great fun to do a semi-scale Wildcat. I made a case for it several years ago -- see https://www.homebuiltairplanes.com/...as/12896-proposed-f4f-project.html#post135600 -- and I still think it's worth doing. Let's run a few numbers using the FM-2, which is no small aircraft as you can see:
100%
Span 38'
Length 28' 11"
Wing area 6.8 sq ft
Wing loading 31.8 lb/sq ft
Empty weight 5448 lb
Gross weight 8271 lb
Powerplant 1,350 hp Wright Cyclone
Power loading 8.3 lb/hp
75% (3/4) LSA
Span 28' 6"
Length 21' 8"
Wing area 146.25 sq ft
Wing loading 8.2 lb/sq ft
Gross weight 1000 lb
Powerplant 115 hp TBD (Verner Scarlett 7Hi 117 hp?)
Power loading 8.7 lb/hp
62.5% (5/8) Microlight
Span 23' 9"
Length 18'
Wing area 101.5 sq ft
Wing loading 6.8 lb/sq ft
Gross weight 694 lb
Powerplant 80 hp TBD (Verner Scarlett 5Si 83 hp?)
Power loading 8.7 lb/hp
Thoughts? Scale Bird Scott, this thread needs you!
http://www.airvectors.net/avwcat.html
