I don't know about you, but I like the roar of a big radial engine. Those big piston powered monsters of yesteryear just get my blood pumping. Especially if it is on my favorite U.S. Navy fighter aircraft of all-time...the F-8F Bearcat! This is one of those aircraft that is a true hot rod. The engineers at Grumman put the biggest engine into the small aircraft and ended up with fantastic. The Bearcat was fast for a propeller driven airplane. This bird could push about 470 mph on full emergency power. That would outrun any P-51 Mustang, F4U-5 Corsair, or P-47 Thunderbolt around. The Bear was 20 percent lighter and had a 30 percent better climb rate. In fact, the Bearcat could take off in as little as 115 feet and climb to 10,000 feet in 92 seconds. That beats any modern jet fighter on take off run length and almost matches their rate of climb to 10,000 feet. Not half bad for something the was engineered in the 1940's. Long live the Bearcat!
No comments:
Post a Comment