The last time I saw a Bearcat fly was when Frank Bormann brought his personal Bearcat the Airshow at Davis Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona about 11 years ago. He did a low pass over the crowd…magnificent sight. Have a great day!
@@teller121 I am not sure of his age at the time…but the announcer called out Bormann since he had lived in Tucson before joining the military. I wish that I had known his plane was parked by the runway, but spent my time looking at SR71 and touring thru several cargo and 747 that carried the Shuttle..That Magnesium belt around the stress points on that aircraft was mind boggling. Have a great day!
Bearcat could outclimb many of the first jets, and it was Neil Armstrong’s favorite of all the types he flew. When that list includes the X-15 and a Saturn V, that’s a great machine.
USA was well up into the Century Series Jet fighters before it got anything that was quicker from brakes locked to 10,000 feet. I think it was the 106 that finally beat the Bearcat's 90 seconds. BTW: Lyle Shelton's racing Bearcat called "Rare Bear" was converted to Curtis Wright R-3350 power. It goes to 10K AGL in only SIXTY seconds . . . quicker than the Phantom II jet !
@@mchume65 Two of the .50 cals also. Let's face the Bearcat is a DC6 engine empennage (French for "enclosure") with a plexiglass bubble wings an a tail.
@patrickshaw8595 Corkey Fornof- that flew the Bede jet in Octopussy - was trained in the Bearcat, among other warbirds- by his father Bill,an F9F Panther ace in Korea... They had a pair of matching Bearcats and flew airshows with them ; Bill's Cat hit a pinpoint thermal at 350 knots during a performance at Quonset Point, RI ,in 1971- Corkey said ," Grumman and the FAA made a big thing and pretty thorough investigation of it" after the spar failed leading to the loss of a wing( Bill never even had time to open the canopy and was killed).... the verdict was that the thermal put the whole weight of the plane on about three feet of the spar at around -7G. The original design called for breakaway wingtips(don't remember why or what for) but they proved extremely problematic so the wings were redesigned without them.
I had seen one of these coming into Camarillo one fine sunny day. It landed after having turned on a dime with flaps and landing gear down. It did a 180 just like that from 1,000' in the sky.
The first deployment of Bearcats were actualy only days away from theatre when Japan surrendered. Had the surrender been a couple of weeks later, Bearcats would have seen action. Great shame in away. Along with the Hawker Sea Fury, these were by far the best performing piston fighters. Sea Fury saw action in Korea claiming a MiG 15 kill. French Bearcats saw action in Indo China (Vietnam).
I just saw another TH-cam "What if" thingy about a Corsair Vs. an F6F Hellcat. Some how this Freakin Beast was left out of that conversation. Strikes me as Odd. never made it to War but what a Lady!
Correct very temperamental, I was lucky to see the start up of a Corsair at an air show once. The R-2800 is used in several WW2 fighter aircraft when it is not temperamental on starting it is a smooth engine
Doug - F4 u was also a great ground attack plane, F8f was designed as an interceptor only, built to climb and catch Jap fighters! That's why F4 u's were used in Korea! P 47 was also great for ground attack but not used in Korea, possibly because more complex and expensive, high fuel consumption? Jets were preferred for aerial action. Bearcats were used by Blue Angels, anyway great plane, one of my favorites. Saw one fly with P51B at airshow, very impressive, acceleration was unreal!
@@davidbell1619Early Spitfires and Hurricanes did, but only the ones with the 2 blades props. They were probably constant speed variable pitch by the time they flew against the LW.
Can you imagine being on the flight deck of a carrier with a couple dozen of these things with their engines running?
The Bearcat was all frickin' business. And gorgeous to boot.
The most gorgeous prop plane ever created! IMHO
Not even close. the P51 Mustang and the Spitfire are infinitely better looking IMHO.
@@BB1951
Agreed, hands down!
Certainly the most pugnacious and therefore as masculine as a bald eagle.
North American P-51D and Lockheed constellation are the 2 most beautiful prop planes ever created. Bearcat hands down climbs better.
The last time I saw a Bearcat fly was when Frank Bormann brought his personal Bearcat the Airshow at Davis
Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona about 11 years ago. He did a low pass over the crowd…magnificent sight.
Have a great day!
At 84 years of age?!
@@teller121 I am not sure of his age at the time…but the announcer called out Bormann since he had lived in Tucson before joining the military. I wish that I had known his plane was parked by the runway, but spent my time looking at SR71 and touring thru several cargo and 747 that carried the Shuttle..That Magnesium belt around the stress points on that aircraft was mind boggling.
Have a great day!
Was lucky enough to see one fly at a Duxford air show many years ago. What a magnificent sight and sound!
I read an interview with a former Bearcat pilot. He thought a Bearcat made a Mustang look like a Hurricane and a Corsair look like a Brewster Buffalo.
how true .
Neal Armstrongs favorite plane
Doubtful.
Sea Fury has entered the chat . . .
The Bearcat held the time-to- climb record for piston fighters for quite a while- sea level to 10,000 agl in 90 seconds ( at or exceeding 4000 fpm).
I read somewhere that it's about a 1000 lbs. lighter that the Hellcat. They omitted the hydraulics for the folding wings among other things.
Bearcat could outclimb many of the first jets, and it was Neil Armstrong’s favorite of all the types he flew. When that list includes the X-15 and a Saturn V, that’s a great machine.
USA was well up into the Century Series Jet fighters before it got anything that was quicker from brakes locked to 10,000 feet. I think it was the 106 that finally beat the Bearcat's 90 seconds.
BTW: Lyle Shelton's racing Bearcat called "Rare Bear" was converted to Curtis Wright R-3350 power.
It goes to 10K AGL in only SIXTY seconds . . . quicker than the Phantom II jet !
@@mchume65 Two of the .50 cals also. Let's face the Bearcat is a DC6 engine empennage (French for "enclosure") with a plexiglass bubble wings an a tail.
@patrickshaw8595 Corkey Fornof- that flew the Bede jet in Octopussy - was trained in the Bearcat, among other warbirds- by his father Bill,an F9F Panther ace in Korea... They had a pair of matching Bearcats and flew airshows with them ; Bill's Cat hit a pinpoint thermal at 350 knots during a performance at Quonset Point, RI ,in 1971- Corkey said ," Grumman and the FAA made a big thing and pretty thorough investigation of it" after the spar failed leading to the loss of a wing( Bill never even had time to open the canopy and was killed).... the verdict was that the thermal put the whole weight of the plane on about three feet of the spar at around -7G. The original design called for breakaway wingtips(don't remember why or what for) but they proved extremely problematic so the wings were redesigned without them.
I had seen one of these coming into Camarillo one fine sunny day. It landed after having turned on a dime with flaps and landing gear down. It did a 180 just like that from 1,000' in the sky.
The Southern California Wing of the Commemorative Air Force has one. They are based at the Camarillo Airport.
I believe this one is based at the Chino Planes of Fame Museum.
Never fails to make my hair stand on end. There's nothing like it.
Awesome
Another unsung hero of WW2. Great sound of the radial
Bearcats did not see service in ww2
Maybe it was unsung because it never saw combat, it left the experimental stage right when the war ended
Probobly the best fighter of WW2 that really didn't see much action.
It actually saw exactly 0 action in WWII saddly.
The first deployment of Bearcats were actualy only days away from theatre when Japan surrendered. Had the surrender been a couple of weeks later, Bearcats would have seen action. Great shame in away. Along with the Hawker Sea Fury, these were by far the best performing piston fighters. Sea Fury saw action in Korea claiming a MiG 15 kill. French Bearcats saw action in Indo China (Vietnam).
Squadrons were converting to the type when Japan finally surrendered.
for reasons.
Sounds nasty! Not smooth but NASTY! I love it!
I just saw another TH-cam "What if" thingy about a Corsair Vs. an F6F Hellcat. Some how this Freakin Beast was left out of that conversation. Strikes me as Odd. never made it to War but what a Lady!
R-2800s can be a little cold blooded and temperamental.
Correct very temperamental, I was lucky to see the start up of a Corsair at an air show once. The R-2800 is used in several WW2 fighter aircraft when it is not temperamental on starting it is a smooth engine
If the bearcat was so Superior, then why did they choose the F4U to continue production over the F8f?
Doug - F4 u was also a great ground attack plane, F8f was designed as an interceptor only, built to climb and catch Jap fighters! That's why F4 u's were used in Korea! P 47 was also great for ground attack but not used in Korea, possibly because more complex and expensive, high fuel consumption? Jets were preferred for aerial action. Bearcats were used by Blue Angels, anyway great plane, one of my favorites. Saw one fly with P51B at airshow, very impressive, acceleration was unreal!
F8F Bombload: 1,000 lb.
F4U Bombload: 4,000 lb.
❤❤
Fixed or variable pitch prop?
No fighter had a fixed prop.
@@davidbell1619Early Spitfires and Hurricanes did, but only the ones with the 2 blades props. They were probably constant speed variable pitch by the time they flew against the LW.
*The P-47N was an impressive Warbird*
💞Wow🤍🤍🤍💛💛💛🤍💛
no wonder it was despised by pilots.
Bad frame rate
Great fighter slightly too late to see combat in 45, successor to the Hellcat 5 champion of thr WW2 carrier forces. Bearcat superior still.