Evolution of the Grumman F4F Wildcat - Foreign Variants (British Martlet)
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- čas přidán 29. 06. 2024
- Here we go over the long awaited foreign variants of the WWII fighter, the Grumman F4F Wildcat. Enjoy the video! Please let me know what planes you would like to see me cover next, be sure to comment, like and subscribe.
Sources:
F4F Wildcat in Action - Aircraft No. 84 by Don Linn
www.armouredcarriers.com/grum...
www.airvectors.net/avwcat.html
Credited Photos:
Fred Taylor - www.flickr.com/photos/8538383...
Alan Wilson - www.flickr.com/photos/6500115...
Dai Ngo - Facebook
I realized there is an audio error at 5:10. For the Martlet MK II, 10 were built before the folding wing became part of the contract. These 10 were called non-standard MK II until they were converted like the rest of the standard 90 folding wing models. 100 Mk II would be built
This is a good video, well researched and presented and very interesting. At Greg's Airplanes channel he said the F4F was the unsung hero of the war, similar to your presentation. You're in good company. Much thanks, I appreciate yours videos.
Thanks Marten, I appreciate your comment! Greg has some great work, I’ve learned a lot from him. Be sure to check out my other videos if you haven’t already!
Lundstrom (sp?) has two First Team books on the first year of carrier air war in the Pacific, and somewhere in there says he tallied up all confirmed losses on each side, carrier fighter battles only, and the Wildcat and Zero came out almost matched, something like 93-94. The Wildcat was a fantastic plane for its time, and did great service off the escort carriers in both oceans.
Wow very cool! When I was a kid we got this Xbox game call 'Heroes of the the Pacific' and my brother fell in the love with the F4F Wildcat. One of the alt camos was a British one so that was a neat level of detail. I had no idea they were so wide spread during the war. I bet my brother would like this video very much, I'll send it to him now! Thanks!
I’m sure he would enjoy it!
Operating from Escort Carriers, they were used very effectively against German U-Boats, usually paired up with a Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber. When a U-Boat was sighted the Wildcat would come in first strafing the sub to suppress it's anti aircraft fire. The Avenger would come in right behind the Wildcat and drop bombs or depth charges.
This makes a lot of sense. Thanks for this comment.
Thanks for the detailed video!
The Martlet/Wildcat was never the most elegant of fighters but it was rugged and effective, and absolutely vital to the Fleet Air Arm, especially given its hugely favourable deck landing characteristics compared to British types designed as land based aircraft.
Thanks for the comment, I learned a lot about the FAA Wildcats during my research, I only really knew about the USN/USMC Wildcat histories. Be sure to check out my other vids!
An aircraft that served the allies very well. Thank you for the informative video.
No problem! Be on the look out for new content and check out my others if you haven’t already
Martlets were useful to the British because Fairey Fulmars, Blackburn Skuas and Gloster Gladiators were too slow. Spitfires and Hurricanes were not ideal for deck landing, because their undercarriages were not so strong, and the long noses made seeing the deck difficult when landing.
Awsome! As a canuck I've always wondered about the martlet
This is a good video. Most people don't get their facts right, but you did.
Thank you! It’s tough to get everything right and I know these aren’t perfect but accuracy is something I strive for. Be sure to check out some of my other videos
Excellent and very appreciated. You have lots of photos I haven't seen before. I await your next video. Thanks.
Simply outstanding, sir! I've always been a Wildcat fan, and this video is a gold mine of information and photos. I look forward to more!! 😎
Oh, and to make it a bit simpler, you don't need speak the 'dash' in the old US Navy aircraft designation system. Instead of saying, for example, "F4F DASH 3", it's common practice to simply say "F4Fthree"
LIKED and SUBBED!!
I’ve updated my scripts to exclude the “dash” in the future. The Wildcats were always my favorite plane of the war, be sure to check out my video on its older brother the Hellcat if you haven’t already!
Very good, thanks.
Great video. Very detailed. There was a real problem with sabotage apparently with early UK destined machines. It was the best fighter the FAA had until the Corsair and Hellcats arrived. The navalised hurricane and spits having a few issues. Operation Pedestal saw Martlets finest hour.
Thanks! I appreciate the kind words, be sure to check out my other videos so far
Hello have just seen the wildcat part 2 video an I can only say that this is your best video yet 5 stars you did a great job trying to tell the history in royal navy service keep up the good work.
Thank Vincent! I appreciate that!
Colour museum photos of the Martlet are from the Fleet Air Arm museum, Yeovilton, Somerset, UK
That’s correct! I spoke to a few photographers and they were gracious enough to let me use their photos of the last remaining MK I in the UK
Highly rated by Captain Brown.
He actually flew them operationally off an escort carrier early in the war.
I’m really enjoying your work so far, please keep it up! I think this channel has a lot of potential, there are a lot of us aviation nerds out there.
Thank you! Currently finalizing a video about the SBD Dauntless, be on the look out!
@@svgproductions72 will do!
Nice video!
Thank you!
great summary! I had no idea of some of these variants- my books only briefly mention the french and british first model
Glad I can help!
The reversed throttle controls WERE NOT a pre-war arrangement, they were a FRENCH practice, and ONLY used by them.
Excellent video for the "Martlet" nice to hear the differences. I understand the French wanting to swap the .50 cals because they aren't French standard and most aircraft at this time would use far fewer than six x 7.5 mm MGs anyway so it was still outgunning most planes anyway... the British fighters with their 8 mgs aside of course
It was interesting to me how the French version had two guns in the cowling, I know the XF4F-2 had that same configuration but I thought that was the only version of the plane with this feature
The Wildcat saved the world. It was instrumental on escort carriers which were instrumental in the battle of the Atlantic as well as in the Pacific.
Sometimes people forget the extent of this planes importance!
@@svgproductions72 I would say completely oblivious.
The outer .50s in the F4F-4s were also disliked because the weight way out in the wing significantly slowed the roll rate, according to pilots.
4 was enough for any Japanese plane anyway
My first exposure to your channel. You've done better than some of the aviation channels that are on YT. Like some other commentators noted, slow down. It a tendency for most people to speak at a faster pace when public speaking. Force yourself to slow down.
Your details are good, again better than some others. If you were to redo the audio, I'd make a couple of changes. You're very specific about engine types but for the listener it's a bit confusing. Most people know those engines as either Twin Wasp or Cyclone. When using the specific model,I'd add the engine's name. R1830-XX Twin Wasp and R1820-XX Cyclone, just listing the model number (without the name) is a bit confusing.
While the Cyclone was manufactured by Curtis-Wright , most people don't know it that way. They know Curtis as an aircraft manufacturer and Wright as engine builder. When technically correct , describing a R1820 as a Curtis ( without the Wright) leads the viewer to believe that there was a third engine manufacturer involved. Again most viewers know them as Wright engines, rarely Curtis-Wright and almost never as just Curtis.
Again well done. Let's just tweek things a bit to make the next ones better.
Thanks Bruce I appreciate the constructive feedback! Good point on the engines, I’ll be sure to make it more clear moving forward
Well done SVG.
I love this plane. There's happening so much about this single model. Like the Hurricane it can be traced back to it's biplane sister, And it develope from so many "what if's" The plane look good and give the pilot confidence, it prove to be rugged, Handling was fair. The two worst attributes with it was that it did not climb that well, And that bloody Neanderthal landing gear that would ruin any scramble situation. on the other side, the engine stays on in a roll maneuver which the Spitfire and Hurricane didn't
It took 30 or 60 turs with the right hand to crank the gear up, If like in the pearl Harbor attack you had to raise the gear there would be an ocean of time for the Japanes fighter to pepper you.
"When you come to consider the case made by Lord Winster in relation to the Fleet Air Arm you have got to take into account the immense assistance that the Fleet Air Arm got from the American programme."
"Then there is the Martlet. As to the output of these firms, they were persuaded to give up some aircraft which were going in other directions in order that we might be supplied 808
with essential aircraft for the Fleet Air Arm."
Hansard Fleet Air Arm HL Deb 27 January 1943 page
the 10 French spare aircraft were destined to serve the Belgian Air Force, the Belgian order was combined with the French.
but the belgian were likely to replace the french guns with homebuilt FN browning 7.62mm machine guns.
I've been looking for accounts of FAA Wildcats, Hellcats and Corsairs in combat vs. German Me-109s and FW-190s. These clashes don't seem to have happened very often.
From what I’ve seen I don’t think the Martlets were in combat too much? I may be wrong
@@svgproductions72 They did get used quite a bit even after the Hellcats and Corsairs showed up, because they could operate off escort carriers. But their opposition seemed to be mostly FW200 Condors and Ju88s, the single engined fighters being of too short range. Eric Brown flew Martlets for a while and has written accounts of combat with Condors.
Great shoot SVG...
Have you checked out the great RN site, Armoured Carriers?
Hey there ! Yes I did, it was one of my sources, very interesting read!
The legendary Capt. Eric Brown shot down a Condor whilst serving aboard HMS Audacity in a Martlet. He preferred the Wildcat as a name.
He also particularly liked the automatically deploying flotation bags built into the wings which gave a pilot some time to escape from a ditched aircraft. Grumman was the leader in developing effective flotation bags though other companies, including Hawker, had made less effective attempts pre-war.
@@IntrospectorGeneral Captain (Fleet Air Arm) Eric Brown was highly complementary about all the good features on the Martlet (Wild Cat) - it makes one wonder what the British Naval Aircraft manufacturers were thinking of with their poor designs they put out?
I'd like to see something on the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley.
I’ve actually never heard of that one, I’d like to take a quick look, maybe it can make the (long) list!
Wow wildcats engaged by ME-109's.
Question, in 1944 why not an F6F? Good video, learn a lot from you. Thanks.
The British did have Hellcats in their ranks, I’m actually working on the F6F video currently so I can get back to you on their history with the British. The Hellcat was the replacement fighter for the Wildcat/Martlet, and by 1944 these planes were primarily used on Escort carriers until the end of the war
Could you cover the spitfire variants in American service.
I’ll eventually get to British planes down the road, Spitfire and Hurricanes are on my list!
Do the P40. Lots of variant s there.lol. And foreign sales.
It’d be a pretty extensive video! I’ll see what I can do
Great presentation. Just curious. What did the Wildcats on escort carriers use for anti-submarine warfare weapons?
Don thank you! great question, let me get back to you on that, as I’m actually not 100% Sure on all weapons/tactics the anti-submarine escort carrier Wildcats used
I think the Wildcats mostly were using for strafing U-boats rather than bombing, keep the AA guns from shooting at the Avengers with the bombs and depth charges.
While on the topics of Buffalo/ Wildcat/Dauntless it may be interesting to some people to be informed about the little-known CAC Boomerang ?
I’ve always thought the Boomerang was such an interesting plane, I’d like to cover some more US planes first (F6F, F4U, TBD, TBF, P-40) and then move onto some British/Commonwealth aircraft. Great suggestion!
F4F 3A has a 2 speed supercharger not a 2 stage
P40 models, A20 & export light bombers.
P-40 is one I definitely would like to cover, that will be a pretty extensive video… I’m actually looking at some light bombers for the time being
Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber.
That’s actually what I plane doing next! trying to change it up from just a fighter lineup
Could you sort out which nation made the decision on no turbos on export P38's and why?
Sure thing, once I make my way to P38s I’m sure I’ll find it!
@@svgproductions72 Thanks
Many years ago I read that the turbochargers were embargoed by the US government, which seems doubtful as they were fitted to the Fortress I. A more credible explanation is that the British and French Lockheed Model 322s were ordered without turbochargers due to then-current teething troubles in their development, as they would otherwise have been highly desirable for the high-altitude combat prevailing in European skies. Indeed, the subsequent 1941 order for the Lightning II was to include turbocharged Allisons; however, due to the RAF's poor experiences with the initial test batch of Lightning Is, the entire Lightning order was cancelled. As the Lightning was an expensive aircraft and, prior to the Lend-Lease Act, Britain was paying hard cash for its US purchases, the Pritish Purchasing Commission probably felt that the money would be better spent on more single-engined fighters like the proven Curtiss Hawk 81/87 (P-40) and the promising North American NA-73X (P-51).
Yes the order was taken over by the British who paid off all french contracts after France fell.
"Provision is made for the mutual waiver of a number of claims by one Government against the other arising out of the prosecution of the war, including those in connection with the transfer to His Majesty's Government in June, 1940, of the Munition Contracts in course of execution in the United States of America for the account of the French Government. His Majesty's Government undertake to make available to the French Government free of cost goods and services to a total value of £45 million (180 million 1945 USD). These goods will include the property of His Majesty's Government produced or acquired for war purposes and will be used to a large extent to meet French civilian needs. The French Government undertake to refund to His Majesty's Government the dollar payments paid by His Majesty's Government in connection with the transfer of the French Munition Contracts in the United States of America in June, 1940."
Hansard ANGLO-FRENCH FINANCIAL AGREEMENT HC Deb 28 March 1945
so why cant i find any thing about how the martlet faired against the germans?
I never saw much before really researching the Martlet. If you take a look at my sources, they do a nice job providing an overview of the Martlet’s combat. I believe if you want specifics, we’d have to really dig deep in researching , but I don’t think the Martlet model saw as much air to air combat as one things.
Good material...but please speak a bit slower and focus on elocution. I had to repeat several sections to get all the verbiage. Also, please omit the music background track whilst speaking, it adds nothing and makes listening more awkward. Thanx!
Neil, thanks for the input and commenting! Still figuring out my stride making these, I’ll definitely use these notes when I record my next one coming soon
This so hot omg
Not sure what you mean by that exactly but I’ll take it as a compliment thanks !
I saw your F4F variants and thought this would be good research for my model BUT, even better you uploaded the Marlet which is the F4F version I'm modelling. I can not thank you enough for the material you've supplied. This is some great archival stuff. I've watched over and over. Thanks again!!!
No problem, glad it could help!
i had to watch a 1.5 a bit slow
it should have been named the Puffin ..........because it looks like one
Agreed, its a bit of an odd look, but for some reason I’ve always been a fan of the stout barrel shape !
Relating the early Martlet versions to the USN versions is a bit pointless. These aircraft were ordered and built to French, Belgian and British requirements totally independant of US developments.
Also the Greek Mk.IIIs were taken into British service from a ship in the Suez Canal, not Gibraltar.
Thank you for the comment! I agree that the early foreign developments were a different offshoot from USN planes. I know from Martlet III and on they are relatively similar. The series was split into two separate videos and I put similarities of the early USN planes and Martlets as a recap to help viewers see the comparisons if they haven’t seen the USN variants video.
@@svgproductions72 Remember, most English speakers on the internet aren't American.