Grumman F9F Cougar

The Grumman F9F Cougar was a carrier-borne jet fighter, which was in service with the US Navy from 1952 to 1974. It was among the first fighters to be armed with guided air-to-air missiles. It was also Grumman's first swept-wing combat aircraft. A total of 1988 aircraft were built between 1951 and 1960. This jet fighter never went to war as it was introduced too late for the Korean conflict, and, when the Vietnam War began, it was too slow and obsolete.

The Grumman F9F Cougar was developed from the F9F Panther, which was its straight-wing predecessor. As a matter of fact, it was the latest upgrade of the Panther, whose straight wings were replaced with swept wings. The prototype, the XF9F-6, first flew on September 20, 1951 and, after more than a year of flight trials, it was introduced into service on December 15, 1952, as the F9F-6 version, which had much better performance than the Panther at high speed due to its swept wings. It was powered by one Pratt & Whitney J48-P-6 jet engine. The F9F-6P was its photo-reconnaissance variant. The F9F-8 was the final development of the whole F9F series.

Below, a photograph of the final version of F9F in flight, armed with two AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles.

Technical Description

The Grumman F9F Cougar was a single-seat, single-engine monoplane. It was fitted with swept mid-wing and an all-metal fuselage. Air for its Pratt & Whitney J48 engine was provided through a pair of triangular air intakes located in wing roots. The cockpit canopy allowed the pilot to have a good visibility; in the two-seat trainer variant, the cockpit was much larger and more comfortable. A simple ranging radar was fitted into an undernose bulge in fuselage.

The wings had a sweepback of 35 degrees and it could be folded for storage in aircraft carrier. The F9F-6 and F9F-7 had wing leading edge slats, which were deleted in the F9F-8. This latter version also had larger wings and larger wingroots. Two additional 150-gallon tanks could be carried under the wings. The operational fighter Cougar had four 20-mm cannons set up in nose of aircraft. The last version was also armed with guided air-to-air missiles.

Specifications (F9F-8)

Type: carrier-borne jet fighter

Length: 13.54 m (44 ft)

Wing Span: 10.52 m (34 ft)

Wing Area: 31.31 m2 (337 sq. ft)

Height: 3.37 m (12 ft)

Power Plant: one Pratt & Whitney J48-P-8A jet engine, producing 7,148 lb of thrust)

Maxium Speed: 1,135 km/h (704 mph) - Mach 0.919

Range: 1,610 km (998 miles)

Ceiling: 15,240 m (50,000 ft)

Armament: four 20-mm M-2 cannons; two AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles; 1,816 kg of bombs.

Below, a F9F-8, id 141073, from VF-112  in flight in 1962, flying over the Pacific.

One Blue Angels' F9F-8, with wings folded, in the mid 1960s. It was marked with blue and gold.

Below, one F9F Cougar flying above a straight-wing Panther.

Below, the XF9F-6 in flight in February 1952.