|
|
The Cougar was a swept-wing development of the earlier G-79 Panther. The fuselage was similar but the wings and tailplane were swept at 35°. First flown in prototype form on 20 September 1951, the initial production version was the F9F-6 armed with four 20 mm cannon and powered by a 32.25kN Pratt & Whitney J48-P-8 turbojet engine. The F9F-6P was an unarmed photographic-reconnaissance version with a longer nose to accommodate K-17 and tri-metrogon cameras. Next came the F9F-7, similar to the previous version except that it was powered by a 28.25kN Allison J33-A-16A engine.
The first production F9F-8 flew on 18 January 1954. Powered by J48-P-8 engine, it was a development of the F9F-6 with increased speed and range. Movable leading-edge slats were replaced by fixed cambered leading-edge extensions outboard of the wing fences. Total internal fuel capacity was increased by 530 litres. A photographic-reconnaissance version (the F9F-8P) flew for the first time on 21 August 1955 and had an extended nose for the cameras. The F9F-8 went out of production in 1957.
The final version of the Cougar was the F9F-8T two-seat fighter-trainer, first flown on 4 April 1956. Production of this version ended on the last day of 1959 after 399 had been built. Total production of the Cougar was 1,985 aircraft. Many F9F-8Ts were flown operationally in Vietnam.
 | A three-view drawing of F9F-8 Cougar (1278 x 926) |
| MODEL | TF-9J |
| ENGINE | 1 x Pratt & Whitney J48-P-8A turbo-jet, 32.0kN |
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 9344 kg | 20600 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 10.52 m | 34 ft 6 in |
| Length | 13.54 m | 44 ft 5 in |
| Height | 3.73 m | 12 ft 3 in |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Ceiling | 15240 m | 50000 ft |
| Range | 966 km | 600 miles |
| ARMAMENT | 2 x 20mm cannon, 907kg of weapons on external hardpoints |
| Silver, silver_92111(@)yahoo.co.uk.com, 14.07.2008 Got my wings flying the plane in Beeville, TX. Got a lot of time in photo version and the dual seat one too. One of my memorable takeoffs was in this plane. I had to wait until about 0200 to takeoff at El Paso due to the high runway temperature. I managed to get it in the air but spent the next minute or so flying down the slope of the terrian with my hand on the fuel dump switches to see in I was ever going to start climbing. Not a lot of power in that engine, but it flew well for its time. It would go a pretty long way at 40,000 feet. Never made it back from OKC or DAL, but going east with some tail wind was not a problem. My first squadron had three of the duals and about nine photo types in NKX when I got there. Flew the two seat plane a lot during my first half of my career. The plane was a brick and that's why the company got its name the Grumman Iron Works. Don't remember an over stress on the F9. Had to play it cool to get it over the number from about 40,000 feet in a good dive. Pretty reliable though. Other than shearing off start dogs at AFB's and some radio problems, it did well for itself. It was used as an instrument trained in VF-126 until replaced by the TA4 version which also made a better laser marker in VN too. Had to wrap your cross country bag over the guns in the nose on cross countries. We had one F9 photo det out when I arrived at NKX in 1959. Loved the two seat version and saw a lot of the US in it. Not many in NKX can say that for a Crusader jock. Made a good radar target for the F8 radar training since the F8 was so hard to see on fighter radar. | | Marv Garrison, mtgarrison2(@)cox.net, 02.04.2008 The two seated version of this ole bird (TF9J) provided me with 40 combat missions in 1966-1967 as a TACA (Tactical Air Commander, Airborne) with Marine Aircraft Group-11. Same number of take-offs and landings. | | ML Kiskis, Countrywheels(@)hotmail.com, 06.10.2007 I would like to know the measurments of the engine noise at full power and at 60% power. Or where could I find this out. Thank you for you help. |
|
Do you have any comments about this aircraft ?
|
| |
