F6F Bearcat

As I understand things, there was no technological impediment to the development of the F8F in place of the Hellcat and it was in many respects a Hellcat as designed by the LWF mafia. So what would be the impact if the Bearcat was developed and produced in place of the Hellcat (assuming for purposes of the POD that development timeline is identical to the Hellcat)?
 

CalBear

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A slightly longer lifespan for the two place dive bomber and a slightly shorter one for the Wildcat.

The F4F stuck around on the CVE until the end of the war because they were considerably smaller than the F6F or F4U and the Hellcat helped kill the divebomber since it could carry almost the same bomb load as the SBD or SB2C.

The Bearcat was designed to work off the baby carriers and had a max bomb load of only 1,000 lb.
 

Bearcat

Banned
I have to agree

Instead of hellcats in early '43, you have Bearcats in late '43 / early '44.

Not that that is a bad thind, mid you. As long as the bird is IOC before the central Pacific advance reaches the Marianas, it'll kill everything in the sky. It will also deal better with the Kamikaze with its acceleration and climb rate - it is a great interceptor.

As for bombing... well, the Corsair was a great fighter and a hell of a bomber. It would be sweet to have deckloads of F8Fs and F4Us by early '45...

Other fighters I would have liked to seen / know more about:

F5U Flying Flapjack.

F8B Boeing fighter (tip o' the hat to Calbear)
 
Other fighters I would have liked to seen / know more about:

F8B Boeing fighter (tip o' the hat to Calbear)
The F8B was to fighters what the AJ-1 was to piston bombers: it was a gigantic beast, projected to have 6x20mm:eek: in the wings
 
Knew a old Vet that Flew the BearCat and he and other members of his Sq would go around to Army Bases and lay there pay check down and bet P-51 poilts they could take off useing Half the Run way and they would do it from the narrow part oF the Runway ,:D
 

CalBear

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Only(!) 1,000lb. That shows how far warplanes advanced in three, four years. :cool:

Absolutely. The F2A topped out at two 100 pound bombs, while the Wildcat could manage two 250 pounders, and a couple years later 1000 pounds is an "only".:eek:

What is REALLY spooky is that by 1944 you had the AM Mauler (which once took off (from a land strip) with THREE torpedoes and better than 1,000 pound of bombs, the 1945 TBY designed to fly off the Midway class carriers with FOUR (!) torpedoes and the F7F Tigercat that could haul a torpedo around at a measley 425 MPH (the drag dropped top speed by 35 mph).
 

Bearcat

Banned
the 1945 TBY designed to fly off the Midway class carriers with FOUR (!) torpedoes and the F7F Tigercat that could haul a torpedo around at a measley 425 MPH (the drag dropped top speed by 35 mph).

That is just wicked. Of course, by then there weren't a whole lot of targets left, but still...
 

CalBear

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That is just wicked. Of course, by then there weren't a whole lot of targets left, but still...

Best (worst?) part of it was that by then the MK 13 torpedo had been improved to the point that it could be dropped at 410 KNOTS (472 MPH)and from has high as 2,700 feet. Only problems was the Navy didn't have anything that fast. :p

Any similarity to the pitiful weapon of 1942 was purely coincidental.
 
Best (worst?) part of it was that by then the MK 13 torpedo had been improved to the point that it could be dropped at 410 KNOTS (472 MPH)and from has high as 2,700 feet. Only problems was the Navy didn't have anything that fast. :p

Any similarity to the pitiful weapon of 1942 was purely coincidental.

Which makes you wonder how they knew it would survive...:p
Mind, I dont give you much chance of actualy hitting anything with a torpedo dropped that high....should scare a few fish, though!:D
 

CalBear

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Which makes you wonder how they knew it would survive...:p
Mind, I dont give you much chance of actualy hitting anything with a torpedo dropped that high....should scare a few fish, though!:D

According to the Navweps site there is at least one documented occasion where six torpedoes were dropped from between 5,000 & 7,000 feet and five were observed to be running "hot, straight, and normal".

Now, you make an attack with 24 TBY (4 torpedoes each) even from 2,700 feet, and you would have a decent chance of getting a hit, maybe even two. :p
 

Markus

Banned
Absolutely. The F2A topped out at two 100 pound bombs, while the Wildcat could manage two 250 pounders, and a couple years later 1000 pounds is an "only".:eek:

Minor note:
It seems only the FM-2 version from late 1943 could carry such a "heavy" bombload. My books say the F4F-3 and -4 could not drop anything bigger than two 100 pounders.
 
F4U?

Just to throw it in: the F4Us were capable of lifting 4000pds:eek: or 2x30cm (11.75") Tiny Tim rockets. (I've seen pix of that....) Even without tiptanks (mooted for a -4X), I understand she outranged the 'stang. Would've been nice if AAF had half a brain & bought 'em in '41...
 
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