This Day in Aviation History

October 18th, 1933
First flight of the Grumman F2F, a Grumman’s first single-seat, enclosed-cockpit aircraft.

The Grumman F2F was a single-engine, biplane fighter aircraft with retractable undercarriage, serving as the standard fighter for the United States Navy between 1936 and 1940. It was designed for both carrier- and land-based operations.

Grumman’s success with the two-seat FF-1, which was significantly faster than even the single-seat fighters of its time, resulted in a contract for the single-seat XF2F-1. Armed with two .30 caliber (7.62 mm) machine guns above the cowl, the new design also incorporated watertight compartments to reduce weight and improve survivability in the event of a water landing. The prototype first flew on 18 October 1933, equipped with the experimental 625 hp (466 kW) XR-1534-44 Twin Wasp Junior radial engine, and reached a top speed of 229 mph (369 km/h) at 8,400 ft (2,600 m) – 22 mph (35 km/h) faster than the FF-1 at the same altitude. Maneuverability also proved superior to the earlier two-seat aircraft….

Source:
Wikipedia, Grumman F2F: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_F2F

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