Before there were cats

Flight Journal, Jun 1998 by Tillman, Barrett

Factory engineers returned to work, making necessary airframe changes, and the second prototype was flown on May 9. On May 13, it was delivered to NAS Anacostia near Washington, D.C., for demonstration to Navy officials and, the following Monday, former racer Lee Gehlbach began spin tests. It was a bad way to start the week: falling into a flat spin, Gehlbach could not recover, so he rang up the for-sale sign and bailed out

Two crashes of a prototype in less than 60 days, with one fatality, should have been more than enough reason to cancel the new fighter. But Grumman had a third XF3F-1 ready within a month and, in July, the Navy again led off its orders with 54 production models. First to receive F3Fs was the same squadron, VF-5B, as had inaugurated the old FF-1s. In April 1936, Fighting Five-B took 19 airplanes aboard USS Ranger (CV-4), while Enterprise's VF-6 followed two months later. The full "dash one" contract was filled by mid-September, and the Marines, squadron VF4M, accepted three F3Fs at San Diego in January 1937.

Meanwhile, the chunky profile of the F3F became even chunkier as its powerplant was upgraded to the Wright R-1820-22 in the F3F-2. The early version of the versatile Cyclone, the "dash 22," produced 950hp and required a three-blade propeller to make use of the extra power. The single-row Wright radial was larger in diameter, however, and demanded a blunt cowl that wiped away the original streamlined silhouette of the narrower, twin-row R1535. Still, the 81 F3F-2s had significant performance advantages over the earlier airplanes. Total F3F production was 162 with 27 "dash threes." These were virtually identical to the twos, the only notable difference being a modification to the wing leading edges.

As far as pilots were concerned, visibility and landings were the major problems with the rotund F3E Sitting 10 feet behind that blunt nose, looking forward through a maze of cabane struts and bracing wires, the view was badly obstructed. Visibility was further reduced with the canopy closed, so most pilots preferred to fly with the hatch open whenever possible. In the three-point attitude, the view forward was virtually nil-even worse than in most conventional-gear aircraft-and pilots usually came aboard in a gradual left-hand turn to see the landing signal officer.

The F3F's fearsome reputation for tricky landings on pavement was not just another aviation myth; it was gospel. Ground loops were the inevitable result of a lapse of attention or improper technique, largely due to the plane's shortness coupled with a narrow gear and relatively high center of gravity. Two things, however, have to be borne in mind. First, the F3F was a carrier aircraft intended to be flown by professionals. Arrested landings on carriers involved almost none of the problems contingent upon putting the F3F down on a runway, although they certainly demanded their own special skills.

Second, takeoffs could also involve a bit of drama, since 31 turns of a hand crank were necessary to retract the landing gear. In a formation takeoff, the problems were compounded, and most pilots cranked furiously after the wheels left the runway, then turned their attention back to forming on the leader while temporarily lodging a knee under the crank handle. Once climbing out, the gear could be retracted the rest of the way.