F9F (Family)

F9F may refer to:

Rank V - Aircraft

• F9F-2 Panther
• F9F-5 Panther

Rank VI - Aircraft

• F9F-8 Cougar

F9F/F-9 Panther

Service

US Navy

The Panther was the main US Navy and Marine Corps fighter aircraft during the Korean War; it flew a total of 78,000 sorties during the war. Panthers of the -2, -3, and -5 versions were able to carry out ground attack missions, even despite heavy anti-aircraft fire. In comparison to earlier propeller-driven planes, pilots saw the air conditioned cockpit as a huge improvement, which were often hot and humid during flight.

Lieutenant, Jr. Grade Leonard H. Plog of VF-51 was the first US Navy pilot to score an air-to-air victory during the Korean War. He shot down a Soviet-built Yak-9 propeller-driven fighter in his F9F-3 Panther on 3 July 1950. In comparison to the MiG-15, the F9F Panther was relatively slow. Despite this, the F9F was able to achieve seven MiG-15 kills during the war, while only losing 2 Panthers. During a UN attack on the Sinuiju bridges (near the mouth of the Yalu River) on 9 November 1950, an F9F-2B Panther flown by Lieutenant Commander William Amen of VF-111 achieved the first MiG-15 kill by a Panther. On 18 November 1950, two more MiG-15 fighters were shot down. During a series of strikes on the port of Hoeryong,North Korea, Lt Royce Williams of VF-781 shot down four MiG-15 jet fighters on 18 November 1952 while flying an F9F Panther. At the time VF-781 was operating off of the USS Oriskany. The MiG-15s were intercepted because of intelligence from the US National Security Agency (NSA). The encounter lasted only 35 minutes, as Williams had lost track of his wingman and ended up in a dogfight with six enemy MiGs. He shot down four of them - all four of which were piloted by Soviet Naval Aviation pilots - and then returned to the USS Oriskany. Once Williams landed it was found that his Panther had been hit by 263 cannon rounds and was unable to be repaired.

Neil Armstrong, who would later become the first man to walk on the Moon, flew an F9F Panther during the Korean War. In 1951, Neil Armstrong's Panther struck a wire that had been strung across a valley by the North Korean military, and he had to eject from the aircraft. Red Sox player Ted Williams flew an F9F during the Korean War as well, and so did John Glenn - a future astronaut who would become the first American to orbit the Earth.

In 1956, the F9F was removed from front-line service, and it was only used as a training aircraft until 1958 in the US Naval Air Reserves and US Marine Air Reserve units. Starting in 1951, the F9F Panther became the main aircraft of the US Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration team; the Blue Angels used the Panther/Couger for four years, and it was the first jet to be used by the Blue Angels. A small number of F9F Panthers were used into the early 1960's, and after the Tri-Service aircraft designation system of 1962 any remaining F9F aircraft were redesignated as the F-9 Panther.

Variants

• XF9F-1
• XF9F-2
• F9F-2
• F9F-2B
• F9F-2P
• F9F-3 (F-9B)
• XF9F-4
• F9F-4 (F-9C)
• F9F-5 (F-9D)
• F9F-5P (RF-9D)
• F9F-5K (QF-9D)
• F9F-5KD (DF-9E)

F9F/F-9 Cougar

Service

US Navy

At the end of 1952, the first F9F-6 Cougars were assigned to VF-32, but the Cougar was first deployed with VF-24 from the USS Yorktown in August 1953; the Cougar arrived too late to see combat in the Korean War. The Cougar was retired from front-line service between 1958 and 1959, but it served with the Naval Reserves into the 1960's. The Cougar was replaced mostly by the F11F Tiger and F8U Crusader. Despite their continued usage with the Naval Reserves, the standard combat, single-seat Cougars did not participate in the Vietnam War.

The TF-9J (renamed from F9F-8T in 1962) trainer version of the Cougar, on the other hand, did see service during the Vietnam War. Four Cougars at a time served at Da Nang with US Marines Headquarters and Maintenance Squadron 11 (H&MS-11) and Chu Lai with H&MS-13. They were used in the airborne command and forward air control roles, directing air strikes against enemy positions between 1966 and 1968. The TF-9J two-seat trainer variant was used until February 1974, when Training Squadron 4 (VT-4) was re-equipped with the TA-4F Skyhawk trainer variant - the plane that replaced the Cougar in the training role.

On 1 April 1954, the F9F Cougar set the transcontinental speed record. Three F9F-6 Cougars of VF-21 flew 2,438 miles across the continental United States in under four hours. The fastest time was achieved by LCDR F.X. Brady setting the fastest time, coming in at 3 hours, 45 minutes, and 30 seconds. That flight was the first to cross the US in under four hours. While flying over Kansas, the three planes completed an aerial refueling from an AJ Savage, using a new and experimental refueling probe mounted on the nose.

Variants

• XF9F-6
• F9F-6 (F-9F)
• F9F-6P (RF-9J)
• F9F-6D (DF-9F)
• F9F-6K (QF-9F)
• F9F-6K2 (QF-9G)
• F9F-6PD (DF-9F)
• F9F-7 (F-9H)
• F9F-8 (F-9J)
• YF9F-8B (YAF-9J)
• F9F-8B (AF-9J)
• F9F-8P (RF-9F)
• YF9F-8T (YTF-9J)
• F9F-8T (TF-9J)
• NTF-9J
• YF9F-9