Lewis Air Legends Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat "14"

Lewis Air Legends, of San Antonio, Texas, is the owner of this beautifully restored Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat (BuNo 122619), which is available for airshows, flybys, film.

Many features of the Bearcat's design were inspired by a captured Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter that had been handed over to the Grumman facilities. The Bearcat's primary missions were to outperform highly maneuverable late-model Japanese fighter aircraft.

The F8F prototypes were ordered in November 1943 and first flew on 21 August 1944, a mere nine months later. The first production aircraft was delivered in February 1945 and the first squadron was operational by 21 May.

During the second half of 1945, US Navy Bearcat units were being trained and on there way across the Pacific to join the war against the Japanese Imperial Empire. Advanced units had reached Hawaii when the war came to an end so the F8F never saw combat with the US Military. The pressing need for the new fighter was its excellent climb rate, which was twice that of the Grumman Hellcat that was flying from the carriers at the time. To increase the performance from the F6F Hellcat, using the same basic engine, Grumman simply made the fuselage smaller and lighter, and changed the three-bladed prop to a four-bladed. The Bearcat was nearly six feet shorter with six feet less wingspan. With a gross weight of just over 9,100 pounds, of which 3,000 was the 2,100 HP engine, the F8F set and still holds the record for a piston powered aircraft for climb to time from brakes off to 10,000 feet with a time of 96 seconds.

A total of 1,266 Bearcats of all types. As many as 24 US Navy squadrons were equipped with Bearcats in the late 1940's. Pilots loved the plane for its speed and maneuverability. One pilot compared the Bearcat to a Harley-Davidson, but they were soon made obsolescent by the
F9F Panther jet.

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