The Grumman F4F Wildcat was the
frontline fighter of the US Navy at the beginning of WWII. What is
interesting is that the first 95 aircraft wer built and exported, five
went to Canada and 90 went to the British. The F4F Wildcat was the
first American made aircraft to shoot down a German aircraft. On
December 25, 1940, 2 "Martletts" from the Royal Navy's 804 squadron
shot down a Junker Ju-88 near Scapa Flow. In US Navy service, the
Wildcat performed well. Joe Foss is the leading Wildcat ace with 26
victories. Despite being inferior in multiple aspects to the Mitsubishi
Zero, the US Navy pilots were able to hold there own. Development of
the "Thach Weave" and other strategies paid off for this rugged
fighter.
General Motors also built the Grumman
F4F Wildcat while Grumman concentrated on building the new F6F Hellcat.
The is one of the General Motors built Wildcats (N5833). As a GM built
aircraft, it's designation was FM-2. It is painted in
Royal Navy markings. The Royal Navy called the F4F/FM-2 the Martlett.
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