F4F-4

F4F-4

F4F-3

F6F-5

F4F-4

F4F-3

F6F-5

USA

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.0	3.0	3.0

Class:

Fighter

Naval aircraft

Research:5 600

Purchase:22 000

Show in game

This page is about the aircraft F4F-4. For other uses, see F4F (Family).

Description

The F4F-4 Wildcat is a Rank II American fighter with a battle rating of 3.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27.

General info

Flight Performance

The Wildcat is a sort of middle child between the F2A Buffalo and the F6F Hellcat in the naval tree. While being slightly slower, climbing slower and turning worse than the previous F2A-3 Buffalo you unlocked, the Wildcat has two extra Browning M2's which ups the firepower by a decent amount. The Wildcat is also better at altitude than the Buffalo, meaning it's a better dogfighter at a high altitude. Given its traits, it is recommended to use the Wildcat as a high altitude dogfighter, although its mediocre climb rate makes it difficult to out-climb the opponents you face.

The clipped wings and light weight of the F4F-4 allows for a very solid roll rate while having little effect on its turning capabilities, as it will still be able to outturn most enemies.

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 5,600 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
494	481	8500	21.3	21.8	11.6	11.6	258
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 5,600 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
539	517	8500	18.6	19.9	19.3	14	258

Details

Features
Combat flap	Take-off flap	Landing flap	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	✓

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flap (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
0	320	420	~8	~5

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 320	< 390	< 300	> 200

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
3,157 m	800 hp	864 hp
Setting 2
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
5,220 m	950 hp	1,026 hp

Survivability and armour

• 6.35 mm steel- behind pilot's body
• 8 mm steel - behind pilot's head
• 38 mm bulletproof glass - armoured windscreen
• Critical components located at front of aircraft (fuel, pilot, engine, controls).

The Wildcats have two large and easy to hit fuel tanks that are placed in the centre of the fuselage, and a big oil cooling system in the cowling. This means that any pilot who knows where to aim will be able to seriously cripple you and send you limping back to the airfield if they don't kill you outright.

When facing against a Wildcat pilot, a smart Wildcat pilot will assess the situation it is in and plan accordingly. If you are in a plane that turns worse, do not take its bait to make you turn fight them, so try to Boom-N-Zoom it and vice-versa for a plane that turns better but is slower.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The F4F-4 is armed with:

• 6 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun, wing-mounted (240 rpg = 1,440 total)

If you liked the F4F-3 Wildcat but was disappointed by its poor armament, you will welcome the upgrade in firepower from the F4F-4. The 2 extra M2 Brownings increase the firepower from the Buffalo and F4F-3 by an entire kilogram, reaching a respectable one second burst mass of 3.30 kg/s compared to the previously mentioned Buffalo and F4F-3's 2.20 kg/s.

However a downside to this change is a much lower ammo count per machine gun load. The total ammunition load is the same at around 1,400 rounds, but compared to the F4F-3's 450 rounds per gun load, the F4F-4 only has 240 rounds per gun. As such, the time span of firing is reduced greatly for the gain in increased fire saturation.

Suspended armament

The F4F-4 can be outfitted with the following ordinance:

• 2 x 100 lbs AN-M30A1 bombs (200 lb total)

Usage in battles

As with any American fighter, you should break into a climb at the start of a match, attempting to reach an altitude of 3,000-4,000 meters where the Pratt and Whitney R-1830-86 radial starts increasing performance. If you encounter an enemy you know you can outturn, turn fight them and make good use of the rudder.

As you climb, you will encounter enemies that outclass you in many ways such as BF 109 E-3/4's and F-1's, C.202EC's and C.205's, Zeroes and the Dreaded J2M2. Do not engage with any of these targets! All of the previously mentioned planes will rip you to shreds and almost completely outclass you.

When encountering enemies, there are some that should be highlighted as dangerous to the F4F-4's well-being.

• BF 109's: The legendary Messerschmitts out climb you, out run you and in some cases, outturn you. E-4's and F-1's are the most common versions you will come across, but you can face the F-4 which is entirely superior. You can outturn the E-4, but be weary of its twin MG FF/M carrying the volatile minengeschoß round. However, do not engage with the F-1, as it turns better and is faster than you while still mounting a single MG FF/M which only needs to land a few shots before downing you and the same goes for the F-4 which mounts the more powerful MG 151.
• A6M2's: Zeroes are an interesting opponent to fight, but are easily countered. Zeroes turn better than almost every plane in the game but are painfully slow, so abuse their low speed to Boom-N-Zoom them, but be careful about their two 20mm cannons which can still down you as you fly away.
• J2M2's: The Raiden is the ultimate counter to the Wildcat. It is better at altitude, climbs almost twice as well, is faster, and mounts two powerful 20mm Type 99 Mk2 cannons which can rip you to shreds, and as such, you should avoid them at all costs. However, if you are forced to fight one, use your better turn time to try to get on its tail, but it is the best course of action to fly towards teammates so they can help get rid of it.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Controllable	Not controllable	Controllable	ombined	Controllable	Not controllable

Modules

For firepower modules, outside of upgrades for the machine guns, the unlock of the module Mk.41 will allow the F4F-4 to mount two 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs.

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage Repair	Radiator		Offensive 12 mm
II		Compressor	Airframe		MK.41
III	Wings Repair	Engine		New 12 mm MGs
IV		Engine Injection	Cover

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Decent maneuverability
• Decent roll rate
• Carried an extra pair of guns
• Can carry bombs
• Can take some damage
• Improved pilot protection from already good protection from previous model
• Good dive speed and characteristic
• Can fly with a red engine (AB)

Cons:

• Commonly faces difficult foes
• Mediocre rate of climb and top speed
• Low ammo count of only 1,440 rounds, despite the added guns
• Bad cockpit rear visibility (SB)

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

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;
• encyclopedia page on aircraft;
• other literature.