![]() While the F7F was initially also known as the Grumman Tomcat, this name was abandoned, because it was considered at the time to have excessively sexual overtones (from the 1970s, the name Tomcat became commonly associated with, and officially used by the Navy for, another Grumman design, the F-14 twin-jet carrier-based interceptor). The initial production series was, therefore, used only from land bases by the USMC, as night fighters with APS-6 radar. ![]() This speed and firepower was bought at the cost of heavy weight and a high landing speed, but what caused the aircraft to fail carrier suitability trials was poor directional stability with only one engine operational, as well as problems with the tailhook design. ![]() Captain Fred Trapnell, one of the premier USN test pilots of the era, stated: "It's the best damn fighter I've ever flown." The F7F was to be heavily-armed - four 20 mm cannon and four 50 caliber ( 0.50 in 12.7 mm) machine guns, as well as underwing and under-fuselage hardpoints for bombs and torpedoes. Performance of the prototype and initial production aircraft met expectations the F7F was one of the fastest piston-engine fighters, with a top speed significantly greater than single-engine USN aircraft - 71 mph faster than a Grumman F6F Hellcat at sea level. An F7F-3N of VMF(N)-513 at Wonsan, Korea, in 1952.
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