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From: jfb@usgp1.ih.att.com (Joe Baugher)
Subject: Grumman F-9 Panther/Cougar (3 of 13)
Message-ID: <CxF377.7xw@ssbunews.ih.att.com>
Summary: F9F-3, Allison engine
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Date: Sun, 9 Oct 1994 17:57:07 GMT
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The F9F-3 was developed in parallel with the F9F-2.  It differed from 
the F9F-2 in being powered by the Allison J33 turbojet, which was 
approximately the same size as the J42 but was somewhat less powerful.  
The J33 had been planned as a second-source powerplant for the Panther 
in case the program to produce the Nene under license in the USA as 
the J42 proved unsuccessful.  The first flight of the XF9F-3 (BuNo 
122476) took place on August 16, 1948.  It was powered by a 4600 
lb.s.t.  Allison J33-A-8 jet engine.  

54 J33-powered F9F-3s were delivered to the Navy by Grumman between 
August 1948 and November 1949.  They came off the production line in 
parallel with the J-42-powered F9F-2.  Because of initially slow 
deliveries of J42 engines for the F9F-2, the F9F-3 was actually the 
first Panther version to enter service with the Navy, when F9F-3s 
replaced the FJ-1 Furies of VF-51 in May of 1949.  

However, the J33 turned out in service to perform less well than the 
J42.  In October 1949 virtually all F9F-3s were re-engined with 5750 
lb.s.t. Pratt & Whitney J42 turbojets, and thereby became 
indistinguishable from the F9F-2.  No further F9F-3s would be built, 
and further Navy contracts would be for the F9F-2 version.  

In the summer of 1950, a re-engined F9F-3 (BuNo 122562) was fitted 
with an experimental electro-hydraulically driven Emerson Aero X17A 
roll-traverse turret housing four 0.50-inch machine guns.  The guns 
could be directed at any angle from directly forward to 20 degrees 
aft, and the gun mount could be rolled the full 360 degrees in either 
direction.  The turret could roll at a rate of 100 degrees per second, 
and the guns could be traversed at up to 200 degrees per second.  
Although the tests with the turret went fairly well, delays in the 
development of the associated radar and fire control system led to the 
project being cancelled in early 1954.  

Serials of F9F-3:

122476 		Grumman XF9F-3 Panther 
122560/122562 	Grumman F9F-3 Panther 
122564/122566 	Grumman F9F-3 Panther 
122568 		Grumman F9F-3 Panther 
122571 		Grumman F9F-3 Panther 
122573/122585 	Grumman F9F-3 Panther 
123020/123043 	Grumman F9F-3 Panther 
123068/123076 	Grumman F9F-3 Panther 

Sources:

    United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911,  Gordon Swanborough and
    Peter M. Bowers, Naval Institute Press, 1990.

    The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.

    Grumman Aircraft Since 1929, Rene J. Francillon, Naval Institute
    Press, 1989.

    American Combat Planes, 3rd Enlarged Edition, Ray Wagner,
    Doubleday, 1982.


Joe Baugher			  **************************************
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