06
     Sep

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Grumman F4F/FM2 Wildcat               11x17 inch print

                                                       signed and dated by artist
F4F Wildcat

Like other aircraft in the U.S. arsenal at the beginning of World War II, the F4F was considered obsolete for its time.  The Navy and Marine Corps found this fighter rugged and dependable through 1943 until it began being replaced by the faster and much more powerful F6F Hellcat.
The Wildcat proved itself time and time again over the skies of the Pacific and also over Europe flying for Great Britain.  Although the Japanese Zero was faster, more maneuverable, and considerably lighter than its adversary, the Wildcat had the edge in combat if its virtues were used to its advantage.  In the hands of pilots who appreciated its merits, the powerful engine and a faster dive, the Wildcat came to be a powerful and well respected aerial weapon.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                                                                                           F4F's on USS Ranger




Grumman TBF/TBM Avenger

                                                                          11x17 inch print

                                                                 signed and dated by artist

TBF Avenger



                                                                                                                                                                                       TBF's



In 1939 the Navy began to modernize its existing fighter fleet of aircraft.  The torpedo bomber of the day, the TBD Devastator was obsolete by the time it went into combat.  A new aircraft had to be designed to replace the slow, short ranged TBD.  Prototypes of the TBF Avenger were flying at the time of the attack at Pearl Harbor in 1941. 

The first six TBFs produced were sent immediately to Torpedo Squadron Eight to participate in the battle of Midway.  The aircraft joined a squadron of TBD Devastators to attack the Japanese fleet at Midway on June 1st 1942.  Of the six TBFs that departed, only one, 8-T-1,(pictured) returned.  Out of the crew of four only two survived the battle damage inflicted by Japanese Zero aircraft.   All other Avengers did not return nor did any of the Devastators.  Needless to say, it had been a horrendous start for the promising aircraft.  

During the sixty day period between the battle of Midway and the beginning of the Guadalcanal campaign, all carrier based torpedo squadrons were re-equipped with TBFs.  At that time, the obsolete TBDs silently passed into history.  

By late January 1942, Grumman was producing sixty aircraft per month but priority was given to the new F6F Hellcat.  The production of the F4F and the TBF was to be contracted out to General Motors.  GM was able to produce 215 Avengers per month by November 1943.  By 1945, General Motors was producing  350 Avenger aircraft per month.  The Avengers that were manufactured by GM took the designation of TBM with the M standing for General Motors.  Grumman produced 2,291 Avengers while GM produced 7,546 by war's end.

 






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