Grumman F11F (F-11) Tiger

Grumman F11F (F-11) Tiger. . , The design of the single-seat Tiger incorporated the Area Rule to reduce transonic and super-sonic drag. Its Coke bottle-shaped fuselage was narrower at the wings and tail, a concept developed by Richard Whitcomb of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the predecessor of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Tiger featured a thin wing, fuselage-side intakes, a low-mounted tailplane, and an afterburning engine. The latter enabled the F11F to fly at 753 mph (1,112 kph). Tigers could reach altitudes of 42,000 feet (12,800 meters)., The Tiger production line was short-lived, with only 201 planes built from 1957-1958. The first 42 Tigers were produced with a short nose, while later planes like the one displayed here had a long nose. Squadron VF-33 flew Tigers off the Intrepid from 1958 through 1960., The Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy’s flight demonstration team, flew Tigers from 1957-68. This plane served as Blue Angel 5 during the early 1960s. It is on loan from the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida., Did you know that during the test flight in September 1956, an F-11Tiger pilot crossed paths with his own cannon rounds during a dive, damaging the plane? The pilot survived in a crash landing.