Grumman FF
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The Grumman FF was a 1930s biplane fighter aircraft operated by the United States Navy. It was the first Navy fighter with retractable landing gear.
The FF-1 was Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation's first aircraft design for the US Navy. The prototype XFF-1 (A8878) was built to a contract placed on April 22, 1931, and made its first flight towards the end of that year. A 2-seater, it was powered initially by a 575 hp Wright R-1820 Cyclone radial engine, and when this was exchanged for a 750 hp Cyclone the XFF-1 reached a top speed of 201mph (323 km/h) during testing, faster than any US Navy fighter in service at the time. A production order ensued for twenty-seven FF-1s, delivery of which began to Fighter Squadron VF-SB (USS Lexington) in June, 1933. In service the FF-1 became familiarly known, almost inevitably, as the "Fifi." Meanwhile Grumman had completed a second prototype (A8940) to 2-seat scout configuration as the XSF-1, from which thirty-three production SF-2s were subsequently ordered. They differed from the FF-1 principally in having revised internal equipment and in being powered by R-1820-84 Cyclones instead of the R-1820-78 model installed in the fighter version. Delivery of SF-1s started in March, 1934, and they served, also aboard the Lexington, with Scout Squadron VS-3B. One XSF-2 was also completed, this having a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Wasp engine in place of the Cyclone. Both the FF-1 and SF-1 were withdrawn from first-line US Navy squadrons by the end of 1936 and reallocated to reserve units, most of the FF-1s still being in service late in 1940. Later, when fitted with dual controls, the FF-1 was redesignated FF-2 and was used for instructional duties.
The Canadian Car & Foundry Co acquired a manufacturing licence for the FF-1, of which it completed a total of fifty-seven, some of them assembled from US-built components. Fifteen entered service with No 118 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940, with the name Goblin I. Prior to this a single example was delivered to Nicaragua, and, allegedly, one to Japan; the remaining forty were ostensibly purchased by the Turkish government but were in fact received by the Spanish Republican Air Force in 1937.
Specifications (FF-1)
Operators
- Canada, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Spain, United States Navy,
References
Munson, Kenneth. ''US War Birds|From World War 1 to Vietnam. (New Orchards Edition Ltd).Related content
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