F8F Bearcat Starts and Takes Off
YouTube / High Flight
One Of A Kind!
This Grumman F8F Bearcat’s engine sound will brighten up your mood!
Built in 1948, this Bearcat features a redesigned engine cowling, taller fin and rudder, and is powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800-30W radial piston engine.
She wears the markings of an F8F-2 Bearcat, ‘201-B’, flown by Lt. Commander Caldwell, the Air Group Commander of VF-19 on board USS Boxer in 1947.
It was one of the best-handling piston-engine fighters ever built, able to outperform many early jets.
Its capability for aerobatic performance is illustrated by its selection as the second demonstration aircraft for the navy’s elite Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron in 1946.
So far, only 21 Bearcats have survived – 15 of which are currently airworthy. However, this Bearcat is the only airworthy F8F-2P variant and the only airworthy Bearcat in the UK and Europe.
