 |
| U.S. Marine Corps Grumman F4F-4 Wildcats of Marine Fighting Squadron VMF-121 at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. |
 |
| F6F-3 Hellcats aboard USS Yorktown (CV-10), 31 August 1943 |
 |
Grumman F7F Tigercat, Chino, California
(Source) |
 |
| VF-111 F8Fs aboard USS Valley Forge |
 |
| U.S. Navy Grumman F9F-2 Panther (BuNo 122567) in flight. |
 |
| Grumman F9F-8 Cougar (BuNo 141092) of Fighter Squadron 61 (VF-61) "Jolly Rogers" is positioned on the port catapult of the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (CVA-11), 20 April 1956. |
 |
| U.S. Navy Grumman F11F-1 Tiger fighter (BuNo 141803) of attack squadron VA-43 Challengers, circa 1960. |
 |
| U.S. Navy F-14B Tomcat prepares to make an arrested landing on board the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) as the ship conducts flight operations in the Persian Gulf on Nov. 24, 1997. |
Those were all American cats, which can fly, there is at least one European cat which is flight capable...
 |
| French Air Force Jaguar A/E Fighter-Bomber aircraft flies a refueling mission over the Adriatic Sea, in support of Operation JOINT FORGE. |
There are European cats which cannot fly, but are still dangerous and should be approached with caution. Some of these are vary rare because of over hunting in the mid 1940s.
 |
A Tiger I deployed to supplement the Afrika Korps operating in Tunisia, January 1943.
(Source) |
 |
King Tigers on the move in France, June 1944
(Source) |
 |
Panther on the Western Front.
(Source) |
There is at least one big cat which can still be seen roaming Germany...
 |
| German Army Leopard II tank, assigned to 104th Panzer Battalion, scans the battlefield at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center during Saber Junction 2012 in Hohenfels, Germany, Oct. 25. |
Yeah, I like cats.
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
Oooooo.... the extended cat family....much stalking....much pouncing! Always thought the words "Grumman Iron Works" the best turn of the phrase. Good thing you shown the Leopard II, at the rate the German Army is going that cat is fast becoming extinct.
ReplyDeleteAt the rate the German military in general is going...
DeleteNo subs fit for sea, they just had an SM-2 malfunction upon launch on the Sachsen...
That loud whirring sound you hear near Potsdam is Frederick the Great spinning in his grave.
And their planes can't fly because of bio-fuel ruining them.
DeleteDummkopfs!
Rommel, Guderian, Richtofen, Donitz are also acting like rotary devices.
And they still don't get the fact we're not going to pay to protect them.
Amazing, innit?
DeleteWell Hello Kitties.
ReplyDeleteI think I strained a face muscle smiling at the big cat photos.
And the sounds of big radials were running through my head.
Nice post!
Thanks John.
DeleteWhat, no rotors? I'm not seeing any Lynx or Puma helicopters. LOL
ReplyDeleteOMG, yeah, no love for the rotorheads today. I hadn't thought of that.
DeleteI might have to rectify that in the near future.
Well, speaking of Pumas I guess you could always throw up pics of track shoes and athletic gear instead. :)
DeleteHahaha!
DeleteAh yes, the best of the bunch... The BEARcat.
ReplyDeleteThought you'd like that.
DeleteCan't imagine why...
;)
Some cats come home...
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy3nsRvhgSE
I've seen that before, sweet.
DeleteIt's likely I've posted it here before, but I figure there are always new folks coming on board. My hair is mostly grey now, and the old pilot sitting in the cockpit makes me think of my dad.
DeleteI think that's exactly where I saw it before.
Delete:)
Nice post and some great pictures Sarge. Sad to see the German military continuing their downward trend. I was thinking that tank warfare in North Africa had to be an arduous experience.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ron.
DeleteFrom my reading, nothing in North Africa was particularly easy. But being in a tank? In that heat? No, thanks.
Think you could have saved a few electrons in that last sentence, Sarge. But being in a tank? No, thanks. TFIFY
DeleteWell, if the tank has had the Juvat-mod (i.e. turret blown off) they'd be a little cooler... (Kinda like a convertible.)
DeleteFun, gross-out fact for the day. In the desert campaigns, Brits used their water ration three ways, to drink, to cook and to clean. The waste products of both ingestion and cleaning went into the radiators.
DeleteAnd who said History wasn't fun?
One did not waste water in North Africa.
DeleteAlso the M18 Hellcat, which was put to good use killing those overrated German bolt-buckets.
ReplyDeleteThat's right, the M18. Sumbitch was pretty fast for an armored vehicle.
DeleteCry "Havoc!", and let slip the cats of war!
ReplyDelete(You know, once they nap, use the litterbox, take a bath, have some food, and take another nap. Any hour now... Come to think of it, why name your fearsome weapons after creatures that sleep 18 hours a day?)
Hahaha!
DeletePowerpack was on rails (in the engine compartment) so it made it possible to replace, in the field, in about an hour or so, from a crate to in the vehicle. Tank was pretty damned fast in so many ways (just needed a better gun.)
DeleteI didn't know that about the engine, pretty cool. (Pretty modern!)
DeleteMy cat (who is 16 years old) might sleep 18 hours a day, but the other 6 hours he is pretty rammy around here...zooming up and down the stairs like he was shot out of a cannon, stalking or lying in wait for the mouse/chipmunk to come waltzing by to be pounced upon...so maybe the folks who named the tanks/planes/choppers had cats also?
DeleteCats are really good ambush predators. So yeah, naming stuff after cats makes purrfect sense.
Delete;)
Is that a license plate on that Leopard II?
ReplyDeleteSure looks like one.
DeleteMy step-dad was a Naval Aviator during the Korean War. He was assigned to a FASRON (Fleet Air Support Squadron) in Japan and flew damaged (but flyable) aircraft back to Japan for repairs. He flew most of the Navy's fighter types at the time. I once asked him if he had ever flown the F7F and he replied that he had once, but it was the Admiral's favorite so not many got to use it.
ReplyDeleteThe Hellcats in the picture must be standing alert. Engines not turning with pilots in the cockpit and sailors sleeping in the shade underneath the wings of both aircraft.
The Tigercat is one of my favorites.
DeleteGood call on the Hellcats. I'm marveling at how close to the deck the belly tank is.
Interesting fact about the Bearcat was it was a high performance fighter designed specifically for the smaller flattops, as in "How can we make the F6F into a smaller package without loosing any performance." Grumman really came through with it, too bad it came about so late in the war.
ReplyDeleteAnd the F6F Hellcat, F4U Corsair and P47 Thunderbolt all used the same basic engine. Neat, huh?
And here I thought you were going to have pictures of your attention-seeking house lions. Fooled me.
The Nuke pinged me earlier today, chastised me for "false advertising."
DeleteThe house lions are no doubt on strike as they didn't get the attention they feel is their due.
About the R-2800...
ReplyDelete"During durability testing of the C series R-2800 by Republic, it was decided to find out at what manifold pressure and carburetor temperature caused detonation. The technicians at Republic ran the engine at extreme boost pressures that produced 3,600 hp! But wait, it gets even more amazing. They ran it at 3,600 hp for 250 hours, without any failure! This was with common 100 octane avgas. No special fuels were used. Granted, the engines were largely used up, but survived without a single component failure. Try this with Rolls Royce Merlin or Allison V-1710 and see what happens."
From here---
http://www.cradleofaviation.org/history/history/aircraft/p-47_thunderbolt_aviation_darwinism.html
That was some nice radial engine there. Love the sound of those things blatting during startup. Right before they do the whole deep-throated roar at power that just tells you something down range is going to die.
DeleteNice article!
DeleteBeans - you too?
DeleteYup, loves me some military radial engine noise.
Really good read, my wife and I were in DC some years ago and the Air & Space museum was highlighting a P-47.
DeleteI didn't realize just how big it was unto I got close.
Yup, really good size.
DeleteI like the sounds of all plane engines. But those old time big assed radials are just... wonderful.
DeleteWon't argue with that.
DeleteYou also missed out on the:
ReplyDeleteJagdtiger
Jadgpanther
USS Tiger Shark (WWII Fleet Sub, from the movie "Below")
SSN Tigerfish (from "Ice Station Zebra")
Cougar (a 6 wheeled IFV from Canada)
Cougar (a 4 wheeled MRAP from USA)
Puma (a 4 forward, 2 rearward AFV from Italy)
Puma (a tracked IFV from Germany replacing the venerable Marder AFV/IFV)
I could do more, but Mrs. Andrew is giving me glaring looks.
Oh, I could have done a lot more, also of WWII German origin -
DeletePzKw II Ausf. L "Luchs"
SdKfz 234 "Puma"
... for starters.
Didn't miss, just didn't post, there is a difference.
;)
The SdKfz 234/2 Puma is one of my favorite armored cars. V-12 diesel engine, 8-wheel drive, 8-wheel steering, with 7 forward gears and 7 reverse gears. The radio operator, facing backwards in the hull, had a duplicate set of driving controls and could see out over the rear deck. That meant that the Puma could get out of trouble as fast as it got into it without having to turn around and expose its very weak rear armor to the enemy. Up to 55 mph forwards or backwards, and the 50mm L60 could take care of light armor (the Soviets still used lots of light T-60 and T-70 tanks in the recon role until late in the war).
DeleteThere are days I'd like it for the DFW commute, but I'd need a crew to do it with. It'd need upgrading with a turbo-diesel and modern transmission to hit 85 mph forwards or backwards, but with modern tech (high-res video) might be able to make do with 1 driver for both forwards and backwards, and a mini-gun armament could make short work of tail-gaters and other a**holes, while the drive/suspension should easily allow jumping the curb and driving on the median or margin to get around traffic jams. Nice daydreams while stuck in traffic, or being cut off by Masshole transplant tax refugees.
DeleteThe Germans had some nice reconnaissance vehicles, but yeah, the Puma was the coolest of the lot.
DeleteMasshole transplant tax refugees
DeleteI feel your pain.
"Real Airplanes Have Round Engines" as one of my friends used to say.
ReplyDeleteI never knew why they always walked the props through a couple of turns before they fired one up until I met somebody that rebuilds radial engines.
They're set up pretty "loose", and oil will pool in the lower cylinders. If you don't gently turn them over a few times by hand, they might very well suffer hydraulic lock when you 'hit the key' to start one up...
I did not know that, what an awesome bit of aviation trivia!
DeleteAs the saying goes, if you walk out to your aircraft and the radial has been leaking a lot of oil, you've got a problem. If it's not leaked any oil, you've got a huge problem (it's all gone). :)
DeleteTrue dat.
DeleteIf you like Grumman cats you'll like these videos
ReplyDelete- Victor
Flight of the Grumman Cats- F8F Bearcat, F7F Tigercat, F6F Hellcat, F4F Wildcat, F-14 Tomcat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8N21othZTY
Flight of the Twin Engine Cats-F7F Tigercat and the F-14 Tomcat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK7xqWnDwyA
Nice!
DeleteTwo cats for the price of one....
ReplyDeletehttp://i1.wp.com/www.argunners.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/A-German-Tiger-I-tank-on-its-side-in-a-ditch-north-of-Rome-and-an-American-lorry-in-the-background-driving-past..jpg?fit=770%2C507
"Obergefreiter Toonces CAN drive, Herr Leutnant--just not very well...."
Hahaha!
DeleteTough Kitty, Cold Kitty, Big Machine Machine of Doom, Deadly Kitty, Panzer Kitty, Boom! Boom! Boom!
DeleteHahaha!
DeleteThanks OAFS, your photos had me purring.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post.
Paul L. Quandt
Glad you liked 'em Paul.
DeleteYeah but you got 2 of Lockheed's finest waiting to turn onto active in the background of the Wildcats on Guadalcanal. 8*)
ReplyDeleteYup, pair of 38s.
Delete