F4F-3

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Rank VI USSR | Premium | Golden Eagles
Su-25K Pack
This page is about the American naval fighter F4F-3. For other versions, see F4F (Family).
F4F-3
f4f-3.png
GarageImage F4F-3.jpg
360://https://wiki.warthunder.com/images/5/56/Cockpit_f4f-3.jpg
F4F-3
Research:9 200 Specs-Card-Exp.png
Purchase:16 000 Specs-Card-Lion.png
Show in game

Description

The Grumman F4F Wildcat was the US Navy's backbone against the Japanese A6M2 and A6M3 Zero in the early stages of the Pacific War. The aircraft was praised for its survivability and reliability, but in most cases, regular pilots could not out-dogfight the skilled Japanese pilots in their Zero fighters. The F4F-3 was a single-engine all-metal plane with midwing construction, armed with four 12.7 mm M-2 Browning machine guns. Because of its lack of manoeuvrability, the F4F-3 lost to the Japanese fighter in close dogfights, so pilots prefer to avoid such situations by diving out of battle, taking advantage of their aircraft's higher speed. It was also used by Britain under the name Martlet II and Martlet III.

It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27. The Wildcat is a beast when piloted well. Its strengths lie in its firepower and diving ability, but it also has the ability to outmanoeuvre most aircraft in War Thunder. This gives you numerous options when dogfighting. The F4F-3 Wildcat is a good all-around fighter, though its top speed and rate of climb are lacking. It is good to go head-on with opponents from other nations as their aircraft won't be able to withstand the damage that the Wildcat can deal, and the good protection for your pilot added to the overall resilience of the aircraft gives it some pretty impressive defence.

General info

Flight performance

Arrestor gear
Accelerates braking by grabbing the brake cable on the deck of the aircraft carrier
Max speed
at 5 800 m518 km/h
Turn time18 s
Max altitude12 000 m
EnginePratt & Whitney R-1830-86
TypeRadial
Cooling systemAir
Take-off weight4 t

In the air, the Wildcat performs pretty well, with roll rate and turn time being adequate for most engagements. However, on the ground (not on a carrier), it does not perform as well. The acceleration, even when fully upgraded, is subpar on the ground. When taking off, you will find yourself still struggling to take off when most of your teammates are already in the air.

Characteristics Max Speed
(km/h at 5,800 m)
Max altitude
(metres)
Turn time
(seconds)
Rate of climb
(metres/second)
Take-off run
(metres)
AB RB AB RB AB RB
Stock 499 482 12000 19.9 20.7 12.7 12.7 210
Upgraded 540 518 18.0 18.9 18.0 15.1

Details

Features
Combat flaps Take-off flaps Landing flaps Air brakes Arrestor gear
X
Limits
Wings (km/h) Gear (km/h) Flaps (km/h) Max Static G
Combat Take-off Landing + -
826 320 420 420 420 ~14 ~5
Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons Rudder Elevators Radiator
< 300 < 330 < 350 > 335

Survivability and armour

Crew1 person
Speed of destruction
Structural0 km/h
Gear320 km/h
  • 6.35 mm steel- behind pilot's body
  • 8 mm steel - behind pilot's head
  • 38 mm bulletproof glass - armoured windscreen

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference
AB467 → 627 Sl icon.png
RB934 → 1 255 Sl icon.png
SB1 362 → 1 830 Sl icon.png
Total cost of modifications8 400 Rp icon.png
9 390 Sl icon.png
Talisman cost640 Ge icon.png
Crew training4 500 Sl icon.png
Experts16 000 Sl icon.png
Aces180 Ge icon.png
Research Aces190 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
30 / 80 / 150 % Sl icon.png
118 / 118 / 118 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Flight performance Survivability Weaponry
Mods aerodinamic fuse.png
Fuselage repair
Research:
560 Rp icon.png
Cost:
630 Sl icon.png
85 Ge icon.png
Mods radiator.png
Radiator
Research:
560 Rp icon.png
Cost:
630 Sl icon.png
85 Ge icon.png
Mods armor frame.png
Airframe
Research:
630 Rp icon.png
Cost:
710 Sl icon.png
95 Ge icon.png
Mods compressor.png
Compressor
Research:
630 Rp icon.png
Cost:
710 Sl icon.png
95 Ge icon.png
Mods aerodinamic wing.png
Wings repair
Research:
700 Rp icon.png
Cost:
790 Sl icon.png
105 Ge icon.png
Mods new engine.png
Engine
Research:
700 Rp icon.png
Cost:
790 Sl icon.png
105 Ge icon.png
Mods armor cover.png
Cover
Research:
910 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 000 Sl icon.png
140 Ge icon.png
Mods metanol.png
Engine injection
Research:
910 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 000 Sl icon.png
140 Ge icon.png
Mods engine extinguisher.png
EFS
Research:
910 Rp icon.png
Cost:
1 000 Sl icon.png
140 Ge icon.png
Mods ammo.png
bmg50_belt_pack
Research:
560 Rp icon.png
Cost:
630 Sl icon.png
85 Ge icon.png
Mod arrow 1.png
Mods pilon bomb.png
Mk.41
Research:
630 Rp icon.png
Cost:
710 Sl icon.png
95 Ge icon.png
Mods weapon.png
bmg50_new_gun
Research:
700 Rp icon.png
Cost:
790 Sl icon.png
105 Ge icon.png

Armaments

Offensive armament

Ammunition1 800 rounds
Fire rate750 shots/min
Main article: M2 Browning (12.7 mm)

The F4F-3 is armed with:

  • 4 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns, wing-mounted (450 rpg = 1,800 total)

Suspended armament

List of setups (1)
Setup 12 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bomb
Main article: AN-M30A1 (100 lb)

The F4F-3 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

  • Without load
  • 2 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs (200 lb total)

Usage in battles

The Wildcat is an easy plane to fly. It is very manoeuvrable and well-armed for its class. You can out turn pretty much all German and Soviet aircraft, but beware that you don't get into a turnfight with any of the Japanese planes and especially the British Spitfires. The Wildcat will lose a large amount of energy during a dogfight making it sluggish, and therefore an easy target for enemy planes with good energy retention, like the Yak-1.

The Wildcat will have a hard time downing planes simply because it has only 4 machine guns, you will often get matched with the Bf 109 E-3 and F-1 which have powerful cannons and a very good turn rate. The best way to use this plane is to BnZ since most of your opponents are less armoured and are slower. You can also out turn some of the Soviet aircraft, but you cannot simply dive away, as you may rip the wings off.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer Pitch Radiator Supercharger Turbocharger
Oil Water Type
Controllable Controllable
Auto control available
Controllable
Not auto controlled
Controllable
Not auto controlled
Separate Controllable
3 gears
Not controllable

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Good turn rate, especially when using combat flaps
  • Decent armament with loads of ammo, 4 wing-mounted .50 cal MGs with 450 rpg
  • Decent roll rate
  • Can carry bombs
  • Able to endure heavy punishment
  • Good pilot protection for its BR
  • Good dive speed and characteristic

Cons:

  • The F4F-3 is a rather sluggish climber, doing 15 degrees at most
  • Terrible at head-ons, due to the exposed engine being a target and the guns being wing-mounted
  • Most of the flammable components are stored in the front of the plane, near the pilot
  • Bad cockpit rear visibility (SB)
  • Engine and oil overheat quickly when using WEP

History

During the early years WW2, the United States' main fighter in its navy was the F4F Wildcat, one of the first monoplane navy fighters of its era. It served well in many battles, like the battle for Wake Island, and most notably in the battle of Guadalcanal. It was a very reliable aircraft, however, was constantly challenged by the infamous A6M2 and A6M3 Zero. However, most of the time skilled pilots like John Smith were able to out-dogfight more manoeuvrable fighters like the Zero and Oscar in those battles.


Archive of the in-game description

The first model, the XF4F-1, was a biplane, but to meet the demands of U.S. Navy's carrier-based monoplane competition, the Grumman Company changed the design, creating the XF4F-2 prototype. Due to a number of defects in the XF4F-2, a competing firm won instead with the Brewster F2A Buffalo. However, the F4F had potential and was sent back for revision. The next model was superior to the Buffalo, and the other new versions of the Buffalo did not satisfy the requirements of the fleet, so in August of 1939, Grumman received an order for the first series of F4F-3 Wildcats.

The F4F-3 was a single-engine all-metal plane with midwing construction, armed with four 12.7 mm M-2 Browning machine guns. Because of its lack of manoeuvrability, the F4F-3 lost to the Japanese fighter in close dogfights, so pilots prefer to avoid such situations by diving out of battle, taking advantage of their aircraft's higher speed.

The Wildcat had only one major drawback - the landing gear extension system. In order to release or retract the landing gear, the pilot had to crank a mechanical hoist handle 29 times, which was difficult given the need to direct the aircraft and start climbing after takeoff.

The Wildcat was exported to Greece, Britain and Canada.

All in all, 7251 F4Fs (including all variants) were constructed, including 285 F4F-3s.


Media

Skins
Images
Videos

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

  • reference to the series of the aircraft;
  • links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

  • topic on the official game forum;
  • other literature.


Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
Aircraft 
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F4F Wildcat  F4F-3 · F4F-4
XF5F Skyrocket  XF5F · XP-50
F6F Hellcat  F6F-5 · F6F-5N
F7F Tigercat  F7F-1 · F7F-3
F8F Bearcat  F8F-1 · F8F-1B
Jet Fighters 
F9F Panther/Cougar  F9F-2 · F9F-5 · F9F-8
F-11 Tiger  F11F-1
F-14 Tomcat  F-14A Early · F-14B
Jet Strike Aircraft 
A-6 Intruder  A-6E TRAM
Bombers  TBF-1C
Export  ▄Martlet Mk IV · ▄F6F-5 · ▄F6F-5N · ▄F8F-1B · ▄Avenger Mk II · ▄Hellcat Mk II
  ▄F-14A IRIAF
Naval Vehicles 
Patrol Gunboat Hydrofoil (PGH)  USS Flagstaff

USA fighters
P-26 Peashooter  P-26A-33 · P-26A-34 · P-26A-34 M2 · P-26B-35
P-36 Hawk  P-36A · Rasmussen's P-36A · P-36C · ○P-36C · P-36G
P-39 Airacobra  P-400 · P-39N-0 · P-39Q-5
P-40  P-40C · P-40E-1 · P-40E-1 TD · P-40F-10
P-43 Lancer  P-43A-1
P-47 Thunderbolt  P-47D-22-RE · P-47D-25 · P-47D-28 · P-47M-1-RE · ⋠P-47M-1-RE · P-47N-15
P-51 Mustang  P-51 · P-51A (Thunder League) · P-51C-10 · P-51D-5 · P-51D-10 · P-51D-20-NA · P-51D-30 · P-51H-5-NA
P-63 Kingcobra  P-63A-5 · P-63A-10 · P-63C-5 · ␠Kingcobra
Prototypes  XP-55
F2A Buffalo  F2A-1 · Thach's F2A-1 · F2A-3
BF2C  BF2C-1
F3F  F3F-2 · Galer's F3F-2
F4F Wildcat  F4F-3 · F4F-4
F4U Corsair  F4U-1A · F4U-1A (USMC) · F4U-1D · F4U-1C · F4U-4 · F4U-4B · F4U-4B VMF-214 · F2G-1
F6F Hellcat  F6F-5 · F6F-5N
F8F Bearcat  F8F-1 · F8F-1B
Other countries  ▃Ki-43-II · ▃Ki-61-Ib · ▃A6M2 · ▃Bf 109 F-4 · ▃Fw 190 A-8 · ▃Spitfire LF Mk IXc