The Grumman XF4F-3S Wildcatfish: Cats never did like water

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
09/05/2018 at 12:35 • Filed to: wingspan, Planelopnik, planes you've (probably) never heard of

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From the Planes You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of Department of Wingspan , we bring you the Grumman XF4F-3S Wildcatfish.

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The sole Grumman XF4F-3S Wildcatfish takes off from the waters near Norfolk Naval Air Station in 1943. Note the added auxiliary fins on the tailplane for added stability. Later, a ventral fin was also added beneath the tail. (US Navy)

As Allied forces island-hopped their way across the Pacific Ocean, the Navy feared the campaign might move faster than the SeaBee’s could build new runways on captured islands. The Grumman XF4F-3S Wildcatfish, a Wildcat fighter with added floats, was inspired by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , nicknamed Rufe , which was essentially an A6M2 Zero with floats of its own. The idea was that these floatplane fighters could operate from remote Pacific island bases without the need for clearing the jungle and building an airstrip, or from islands that were simply too small for an airfield.

A fish out of water: The Grumman Wildcatfish parked on shore. Note the added ventral fin beneath the tail for added stability. (US Navy)

To create the Wildcatfish, the Navy had the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! fashion a pair of pontoons and affix them to an existing F4F-3 Wildcat. However, the regular Wildcat already lagged behind the Zero in performance, and the addition of giant floats only further reduced the fighter’s speed and handling. The Wildcatfish took its maiden flight in February 1943, and though it might have been a worthy idea, the Navy was clearing islands and building airstrips so quickly that the Wildcatfish was never really needed, and only a single airframe was modified. Still, Wildcatfish may well be one of the coolest airplane names to come out of the war, or at least one of the quirkiest.

(Ray Wagner Collection, San Diego Air and Space Museum)

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Connecting Flights

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For more stories about aviation, aviation history, aviators and airplane oddities, visit !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

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DISCUSSION (11)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn
09/05/2018 at 12:49

Those float wheels are of an interesting design. They’ve been removed in the first pic, so I don’t know if they retracted or not - they very well could have retracted by rotating around their lengthwise “pin”.

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
09/05/2018 at 12:50

No idea. The company that built them specialized in such things.

Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn
09/05/2018 at 13:00

That is so weird. It looks like a garage project done by a Grumman engineer in his free time.

ttyymmnn > Chariotoflove
09/05/2018 at 13:04

It certainly caught my attention first time I saw it.

user314 > ttyymmnn
09/05/2018 at 13:28

Fighters with floats (either added later or originally part of the design) never did seem to work out that well, did they?

ttyymmnn > user314
09/05/2018 at 13:36

Nope. Too much drag.

wafflesnfalafel > ttyymmnn
09/05/2018 at 13:44

S eems like those pontoons are way bigger than they needed to be? (Contributing to the general need for additional tail surfaces?) Super cool - never heard of it before now.

AfromanGTO > ttyymmnn
09/05/2018 at 14:10

That’s awesome! The Wildcatfish looks cool! Plus a Rufe reference. You know how to write a great article! :)

ttyymmnn > wafflesnfalafel
09/05/2018 at 14:52

I’m sure there is a lot of science going into the size of the pontoons, center of gravity, all that. There’s also this. Pretty big floats for a big plane, but of a similar proportion.

Kinja'd!!!

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > wafflesnfalafel
09/05/2018 at 21:57

Kinja'd!!!

The bulk of the front of the pontoon isn’t so much for floating, but so that the front of the ponto on planes over the water. During take off this allows the plane to increase speed, unitl the wings generate enough lift for the plane to fly.

Kinja'd!!!

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > wafflesnfalafel
09/05/2018 at 21:59

Also additional tail surfaces are becuase unlike a smooth runway, waves and chop will be bouncing the plane all over the place.