Tigercat F7F

Another post from my trip back in January to the Kalamazoo Air Zoo Museum. On June 30 1941 the Navy ordered the F7F Tiger Cat. The Tigercat was one of the boldest designs in the history of the combat aircraft. It was the first twin-engined fighter to enter production for service on board aircraft carriers and the first Navy fighter to have a nose wheel undercarriage. The single seat twin-engine configuration was chosen to achieve the highest performance and the heaviest armament attempted in a Navy fighter. The Tigercat entered service to late to take an active combat role in WW2. They did however, service as photo reconnaissance aircraft during the later months of the war. The terrific fire power available in the Tigercat made it valuable attack aircraft and they did see some action in Korea in the attack role.

Tigercats were proving themselves during a time that jet aircraft were becoming popular and their production was limited to 362 total units. You can read more about this great aircraft here.