F9F Panther
| F9F Panther | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| An F9F-2 of VF-21 aboard USS Midway in 1952 | |
| Role | Fighter-bomber |
| Manufacturer | Grumman |
| First flight | 21 November 1947 |
| Retired | 1958, U.S. Navy 1969, Argentina |
| Primary users |
United States Navy United States Marine Corps Argentine Navy |
| Number built | 1,382 |
| Developed into | Grumman F-9 Cougar |
The Grumman F9F Panther was the manufacturer's first jet fighter and one of the United States Navy's first successful carrier-based jet fighters. A single-engined, straight-winged day fighter, it was fitted with an armament of four 20 mm (0.79 in) cannons and could carry a wide assortment of air-to-ground munitions.
The Panther was used extensively by the U.S. Navy and the United States Marine Corps in the Korean War. It was also the first jet aircraft used by the Blue Angels flight team, being used by them from 1949 through to late 1954. The aircraft was exported to Argentina and was the first jet used by the Argentine Naval Aviation.
Total F9F production was 1,382. The design evolved into the swept wing Grumman F-9 Cougar.
Development studies at the Grumman company for jet-powered fighter aircraft began near the end of World War II as the first jet engines emerged. In a competition for a jet-powered night fighter for the United States navy, the Douglas XF3D-1 was selected over Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation's G-75 two-seat, four-Westinghouse J30-powered design, with Douglas being issued a contract on 3 April 1946. The U.S. Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) also issued a contract to Grumman for two Model G-75 experimental aircraft on 11 April 1946, being given the Navy designation XF9F-1, in case the Skyknight ran into problems.
Grumman soon realized the G-75 was a losing design but had been working on a completely different, single-engine day fighter known as the Grumman G-79. Due to some interesting bureaucracy, BuAer did not cancel the G-75 (XF9F-1) contract but changed the wording to include three entirely different G-79 prototypes. The G-79 became the Grumman F9F Panther.
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