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Grumman F7F Tigercat

The F7F was a fast twin-engined fighter, designed with a very slender fuselage and two radial powerful engines. Too late for WWII, it proved useful in a variety of roles, but was built in relatively small numbers. It was the first twin-engined shipboard aircraft to go in service, and its weight and speed at first restricted it land-based service with the USMC. Only the last version, F7F-4N, was considered fully acceptable for carrier use. Nightfighter versions of the F7F were in service with the USMC until 1952.

General characteristics F7F-1
Primary function	Fighter
Contractor	Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
Power plant	Two Pratt&Whitney R-2800-22W engines
Thrust	2x 2,072 HP		2x 1,545 kW
Wingspan	51.5 ft		15.7 m
Length	45.4 ft		13.85 m
Height	16.6 ft		5.06 m
Wingarea	455 sq ft		42.27 sq m
Weight	empty	15,957 lb	7,238 kg
	max.	23,656 lb	10,730 kg
Max. speed	427 mph		687 km/h
Ceiling	36,090 ft		11,000 m
Max. range	1,790 miles		2,880 km
Armament	4x 20 mm cannon, 4x 12.7 mm machine gun 300 rounds each), 2x 454 kg bombs or 6x rockets. Alternative under fuselage 1x 21inch torpedo.
First flight	December, 1943
Crew	One
Date deployed	1944
Number built	250

Jirka Wagner