Grumman F9F-8 (AF-9J) Cougar

Grumman F9F-8 (AF-9J) Cougar. . , At the end of World War II (1939-1945), jet-powered aircraft technology came to the forefront of fighter plane design. The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation developed a jet-powered fighter for the U.S. Navy, the straight-winged F9F Panther. The Panther was slower and less maneuverable than the Soviet-designed, swept-wing MiG-15, which was its main adversary during the Korean War (1950-1953). The Navy asked Grumman for a swept-wing modification of the F9F Panther. The result was the F9F-6 Cougar, soon followed by the much-improved F9F-8 version., The first Cougars were delivered in November 1951, but they never saw combat in Korea. The Cougar was far superior to the straight-winged Panther and was such a successful design that a total of 1,988 were built., The Cougar had a versatile design, and different versions were used for a variety of missions. An unarmed reconnaissance version had a specialized nose cone that replaced the 20mm cannons with cameras. Others were adapted to carry early versions of the Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. The last of the Cougar variants and advanced two-seat trainer version, remained in service until 1974. All versions had an inflight refueling probe that extended from the tip of the nose cone., This Cougar was built at Grumman's factory in Bethpage, New York, and delivered to the Navy in 1955. It served with fighter squadrons VF-111 and VF-94 at Moffatt Field in California. In 1957, it was transferred to Naval Air Training Center in Kingsville, Texas. The aircraft wears the colors of fighter squadron VF-61, the Jolly Rogers, which flew from Intrepid in 1956., This aircraft retired from active service in 1965 and was loaned to the town of Wall Township, New Jersey, where it was displayed at a children's playground called Airplane Park. The aircraft was restored by Museum staff in 2011, and many of the children that played on it, now adults, attended the roll-out ceremony. The park in Wall Township still bears the name Airplane Park.,

Length: 44 feet 5 inches (13.5 m) , Wingspan: 34 feet 6 inches (10.5 m) , Height: <12 feet 3 inches (3.7 m)br> Empty Weight: 11,866 pounds (5,382 kg) , Max Weight: 24,763 pounds (11,232) , Top Speed: 714 miles per hour (1,149 kph) , Ceiling: 42,000 feet (12,800 meters) , Crew: One , Armament: Four 20mm cannons, four AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles

, [Captions:] , In addition to the four AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, the Cougar carried external fuel tanks under the wings that extended its cruising range to 1,363 miles (2,193 km). All versions of the Cougar had an inflight refueling probe extending from the tip of the nose cone., The F9F-8P was an unarmed version of the Cougar. The "P" suffix was designated the aircraft's photographic mission. The elongated nose held 14 cameras with the ability to capture images forward, downward and to both sides. These cameras could continuously record a 10-mile wide area of terrain for up to five hours.