Grumman F8F Bearcat RC plane

Wingspan: 934mm (36.8")
Length:717mm
Wing area: 16,74 dm²
Flying Weight: 374 g (foam density 28-30kg/m³ )
Wing loading: 22,34 g/dm²
Materials: XPS extruded polystyrene foam (Depron, Styrofoam etc.) 5mm frame and ribs, 3mm - skin, balsa longerons 4x4 (444/447mm length top/bottom), PLA-LW for "plywood" parts, UHU Por glue
Motor: SunnySky X2305 KV1450 (25g),
Propeller: 1047 (8g);
ESC: SunnySky X 18A (9g),
Servos:EMAX ES9052MD (5,5g) (5,5g x 6)
LiHV battery: 850mAh 2S 7.6V (36g); 650 mAh 2S 7.6V (34g);1100mah 2S 7.6V (46 g)
Stainless Steel Spring Wire 2 mm
Wheels 50mm (2")
Tail wheel 19mm
Neodymium magnets 3x5mm
Horizontal stabilizer carbon tube 500x3x2mm(238 mm)
Carbon control rods: 500x2x1mm349/390 mm
Wing plastic screws M4x40
Steel screws: M2.5x8(countersink), M2x8, M2x6 mm for 3D printed retracts (video)

Laser cut files

To automatically arrange parts on your working area, use automatic nesting software.

If you don't have a laser cutter or your diode laser doesn't cut white or blue polystyrene foam, you can cut the foam details by hand with a knife using printed paper templates (A3 paper size PDF is included).

Download PDF, STL, 3MF and DXF files (€8)
Download free example

3D printed parts

Nose cap, wheel compartments - eSun PLA-LW; retracts, elevator halves connectors, canopy frame - PolyMax PLA; others “plywood” parts- Polymaker PLA-LW). 3MF files with all settings (Prusa Slicer) included.

Center of gravity (CG): main spar (4x4mm balsa) is located on 29% of mean aerodynamic chord (MAC)

Grumman F8F Bearcat history

In 1943, at a time when Grumman was producing Hellcats in large numbers for the US Navy, test pilot Bob Hall was sent to Great Britain to test a captured Fw 190. He was captivated by the light, agile aircraft's characteristics and expressed his enthusiasm to the company's founder and president, Leroy Grumman. He soon personally began design work on a new fighter aircraft, which was to be equipped with the NACA 230 series airfoil tested on the Hellcat and powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine.

The first prototype of the XF8F-1 flew on 21 August 1944 and, after minor defects were fixed and a successful flight test, it was approved for service in the Naval Air Service under the name Bearcat, a nod to the earlier Wildcats and Hellcats. The total order was for 2,000 aircraft. Most of them were to be completed by November 1945, when the invasion of Japan was planned, so Grumman entrusted the license production to General Motors and Eastern Aircraft. After the defeat of Japan, the order was significantly reduced, but Bearcats continued to be built.

The production F8F-1 with four 12.7 mm Colt-Browning machine guns was sufficient against the lightly armored Japanese aircraft, but after training battles with the P-47, P-51 and F4U, all twelve participating pilots agreed that the Bearcat was the best fighter aircraft for operations at altitudes up to 25,000 feet (about 7,600 m), but that it had weak armament. The command of the reorganized Navy also requested the installation of 20 mm M3 cannons, and so the F8F-1B version was created, built from March 1946 to January 1948 in the amount of 224 pieces. It was distinguished primarily by the cannon barrels protruding from the wing and teardrop-shaped protrusions on the covers of their magazines. At the same time, 12 F8F-1N night fighters were also built with GR-1 autopilot, radio altimeter, Mk.20 sight and anti-glare exhaust cover. They carried an AN/APS-19 radar in a housing on the bomb rack under the right wing.

In 1947, the development of the P & W R-2800-30W engine with continuous compressor control was completed, which was to power the Bearcats already during the war. Its installation in serial aircraft resulted in the F8F-2 version, differing mainly in a different engine cowling and a 30 cm higher SOP. By May 1949, a total of 282 aircraft of this version and 13 F8F-2N night fighters had been built. Seventeen F8F-2P Bearcats had K-17 or K-18 cameras installed in the fuselage; to maintain flight weight, they carried only a pair of M3 cannons.

A total of 1,263 Bearcats of all versions were built. The first to receive operational status was VF-19 on CVL-27 USS Langley in August 1945, but it did not see action in World War II. Bearcats then served in the US Navy and USMC until the advent of jet aircraft. The last reserve units exchanged Bearcats for jet aircraft in 1955, and the airworthy machines were sold to privateers.

Over a hundred Bearcats with modified fuel systems and metric instruments were used by the French at land airfields in Indochina until 1954. The rest ended their service in the South Vietnamese Air Force in 1959, and the last of the Thai Bearcats a year later.

Civilian Bearcats entered the FAI records as the fastest piston-engined aircraft. On August 16, 1969, Lockheed test pilot Darryl Greenmayer, in a modified F8F-2 (serial number 121646) with the registration number N1111Ľ, reached a speed of 483.041 miles per hour (777.35 km/h) at Andrews Air Force Base, breaking the thirty-year-old record set by Fritz Wendel in the Me-208V1. The Bearcat with the serial P & W R-2800 engine, called Conquest I, was extensively modified: He lengthened the rear fuselage, replaced the spacious cabin with a miniature "head case", hid the non-functional flaps under a new cover and shortened the wing tips. The propeller was taken from the Skyraider A1-E, the propeller cone from the P-51H. The record lasted until June 30, 1983, when it was surpassed by Frank Taylor in a modified Mustang Red Baron with a performance of 832.12 km/h. In the years 1973, 75, 88 and 89, Lyle Shelton won the famous Reno air competition with the F8F-2 named Rare Bear, with which he also reached a speed of 528.32 miles per hour (850.23 km/h) on August 21, 1989 (exactly 45 years after the prototype took off). This again won the world record speed record for the Bearcat and confirmed its qualities in another category, when it reached a height of 3000 m in 91.9 seconds.

Grumman F8F Bearcat drawings

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION:
The Grumman F8F Bearcat was a single-seat, single-engine, mid-wing carrier-based fighter aircraft with retractable landing gear and an enclosed cabin.

The wing had a 5° 30' sweep and was fitted with a NACA 23019 airfoil at the roots and a NACA 23009 airfoil at the tips. A special feature of its all-metal cantilever structure with a main and auxiliary spar were the "safety" ends (outer ends of the wing with a length of 1016 mm), which the pilot could separate, including parts of the ailerons, in a difficult situation by exceeding the critical speed in flight, thereby reducing the aircraft's span and increasing its speed. Later, the safety ends were separated pyrotechnically, and from 1950 they were only fixed.

In the wing roots there were air intakes for the compressor and oil cooler, in the left half of the wing there was an AN-N6A photo machine gun. The large all-metal flaps could be deflected by 40°, the canvas-covered ailerons with balancing surfaces in the range of +23°, -13.5°.

The fuselage of the all-metal cantilever shell structure was built almost without partitions: A lightweight frame welded from steel hoops of a U-shaped cross-section and thin steel longitudinal members was covered with sheet metal. The retractable cabin cover was molded from 6.35 mm thick organic glass, the pilot was protected by armor placed behind the seat and by a steel reinforcement behind the headrest in case of a rollover. Bearcats were equipped with hinges for catapult launch, but as one of the few deck-mounted aircraft, they hardly needed them, since even with a slight headwind, the length of the deck was enough for takeoff.

The tail surfaces were covered with canvas and equipped with balancing surfaces. The angle of adjustment of the VOP was +5°, the SOP was offset by 1.5° to the left. Rudder deflections in the range of 31° to the right and 24° to the left.

Powerplant. The Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp twin-engine, eight-cylinder, air-cooled engine with a two-stage compressor and automatic pressure control was tilted at 4°33'. It had a power of 1565 kW at 2800 rpm and drove a four-bladed Aeroproducts H20C-156-5M5 propeller with a diameter of 3835 mm. A fuel tank with a capacity of 832 L was located in the fuselage under the pilot's cabin, an oil tank with a capacity of 64 L and a methanol tank with a capacity of 60 L by the engine. An additional fuel tank with a capacity of 568 L could be suspended under the fuselage, and two Mk.4 tanks with a capacity of 578 L each were suspended under the wings on Mk.51 pylons.
Landing gear. The large propeller was the reason why the long landing gear legs with hydraulic brakes and 6x26" wheels were retracted quite complicatedly — first the right, then the left, both at first "broken" in the hinges. The small spur wheel was supplemented by a retractable landing hook.

Armament. The F8F-1 and 1N carried four 12.7 mm machine guns with a supply of 1030 rounds, the F8F-1B and 2 four 20 mm M3 cannons with a supply of 826 rounds, the F8F-2P two 20 mm cannons with a supply of 450 rounds. It was possible to hang two bombs of 454, 227, 200 or 100 kg each under the wing; the French aircraft also carried three bombs of 50 kg each on both wing pylons. Other armament included two napalm tanks or four 127 mm HVAR rockets on Mk.9 pylons or a trigonometric camera pod under the fuselage.
Coloration. Most Bearcats served in the US Navy painted all surfaces in glossy navy blue with white insignia, markings and operational lettering. The Blue Angels aerobatic team aircraft bore prominent US NAVY lettering on the sides of the fuselage and underside of the wing, serial numbers 1 to 4 on the fins and the group name on the engine cowling, all in gold. The fifth aircraft of the group, with the name Beetle Bomb on the engine cowling and the number 0 on the fin, flew all yellow with black lettering.

Technical data and performance: Span 10.82 m, length 8.43 m, height in flight line 4.2 m, wing area 22.67 m2, VOP area 4.83 m2, empty aircraft weight 3300 kg, normal flight weight 4500 kg, maximum flight weight 5860 kg. Top speed at an altitude of 6000 m 630 km/h, top speed with methanol injection into the cylinders 690 km/h at an altitude of 5700 m, cruise speed 410 km/h, landing speed 150 km/h. Ascent time to 6000 m 8 min, with methanol injection 6 min; range 3700 km; reach 12,000 m.

The F8F-1 plane is a continuation of the famous "cat" family of Grumman fighter planes, which include the F4F Wildcat, F6F Hellcat, F7F Tigercat. Prototypes of the aircraft, designated XF8F-1, were flew on August 21, 1944. The US Navy Command placed an order for 2023 new aircraft, they began their service on May 21, 1945 in the VF -19 squadron of the US Navy. By 1948, 24 squadrons were equipped with them, and in 1949 another four. By May 1949, a total of 1,268 pieces of this aircraft were produced in various versions, including the F8F-2 with an elevated vertical stabilizer, the F8F -2N night fighter with a radar reservoir on the wing. A characteristic feature of the aircraft is the landing gear which, due to the use of the mid-wing and large diameter propeller (383 cm), has a large height and is folded in a specific way. The classic telescopic shin is movably attached to the forging. When hiding, the shin is somehow broken and only then pulled into the flap. Outside the US, the aircraft were operated by the United Kingdom, France, Finland and Siam. French planes participated in the intervention in Vietnam in 1951. A small series of aircraft was also produced under the designation G-58A Gulfhawk for the Naval Aviation Aerobatic Team. Despite the rather bulky fuselage and the engine drive in a star system (large frontal area), the specially prepared plane set a speed record of 776.67 km / h on August 16, 1969, breaking the previous record, from May 26, 1939, to Me209V1 and was 755.13 km / h.