F3F-2

F3F-2

BF2C-1

F2A-1

F3F-2

BF2C-1

F2A-1

USA

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.7	1.3	1.3

Class:

Fighter

Naval aircraft

Research:2 900

Purchase:700

Show in game

This page is about the American fighter F3F-2. For the premium version, see Galer's F3F-2.

Description

The F3F-2 is a rank I American fighter with a battle rating of 1.7 (AB) and 1.3 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.55 "Royal Armour".

The F3F-2 is, as of War Thunder patch 1.69, the sole American biplane fighter other than its premium variant. However, it is a very capable biplane fighter, and can be seen in-game as a rival to the USSR's I-153 Chaika.

As expected with most Rank I fighters, but often considered "unusual" for an American fighter, the F3F is a pure-bred turn fighter. Like the Chaika mentioned above, and the polar opposite in performance to the F2A that replaced it in service, the F3F can pull turns with relative ease, and also has a very excellent roll rate, which when abused can provide a tough challenge for most of its opposition. It easily outclasses all reserve planes except the Ki-10 in manoeuvrability, and is on par with the I-153 in that matter as well. However, the F3F's BR can push it into the domain of Spitfires, late-model I-16s, Ki-43s (as well its bigger brother, the Ki-44) and of course Bf 109s, all of which are capable of easily disposing of their biplane opposition. It isn't the fastest or most climbable fighter either.

Due to its lacklustre armament (one M2 Browning machine gun with 200 rounds and one 7.62 mm Browning machine gun with 500 rounds), the F3F should mainly go after the fighter opposition, and not after bombers - leave that job to the P-40s. While it can carry two 100 lb bombs, they are only effective against lightly armoured targets (armoured cars, artillery, AAA etc.), and if carried early on in the match can weigh the plane down, affecting its flight characteristics a bit as a result. Leave the bombs until either the opposition goes passive for a while or air superiority can be obtained for a period of time over an opposing field of ground targets.

The F3F is armed with one 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun, and one 7.62 mm Browning machine gun, both are located within the nose of the aircraft right above the engine. While this does mean gun convergence is not an issue, the two-gun armament can be lacking in both firepower and ammunition count; the larger M2 has only 200 rounds to play with while the smaller 7.62 has 500 rounds on hand.

Nevertheless, this armament is decent enough to take down reserve and lightly-armoured Rank I planes with relative ease and, if an experienced player is behind the controls, is capable of dealing with even rank II aircraft.

The best air-to-air belts for the 12.7 MG are either Universal or Stealth belts (good amount of incendiary bullets), and Universal belts should be used for the 7.62 MG.

General info

Flight performance

The F3F-2 is a highly manoeuvrable aircraft as would be expected from its biplane configuration, this allows it to competitively turn with majority of the enemy aircraft that it encounters, the energy retention is good at lower speeds (<250km/h), but at higher speeds the F3F-2 will lose energy quickly when in a hard turn, problems will be found when facing higher BR monoplane fighters which will have a considerably superior top speed this can cause problems due to the slower speed of the F3F.

Despite the slower speed of the F3F-2 it does have good early acceleration (0-240km/h) and will usually be one of the first aircraft in the air at the start of the match thanks to its 210m needed takeoff distance, the 16m/s climb rate will also allow for the F3F-2 to have an altitude against majority of the enemy fighters that it will face.

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 4,268 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
416	405	10120	15.7	16.1	12.4	12.4	210
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 4,268 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
458	436	10120	14.4	15.0	20.9	16	210

Details

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

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flaps (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
810	320	420	~13	~6

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 320	< 390	< 350	> 308

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
1,600 m	850 hp	952 hp
Setting 2
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
4,214 m	750 hp	840 hp

Survivability and armour

• 8.5 mm Steel boxes in the fuselage.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The F3F-2 is armed with:

• 1 x 12.7 mm Browning M2 machine gun, nose-mounted (200 rpg)
• 1 x 7.62 mm Browning machine gun, nose-mounted (500 rpg)

Suspended armament

The F3F-2 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

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

Usage in battles

The F3F is first and foremost a fighter aircraft, this is a role in which it thrives with its brilliant manoeuvrability allowing it to deal with majority of enemy aircraft in a turn fight, trying to get an enemy aircraft to turn with you will be the best way to engage and win a fight, if the enemy is a monoplane they will usually have worse performance at slower speeds, so making them turn and lose energy is a good way to gain an advantage with your superior slow speed performance, if the enemy aircraft is also a biplane your main focus should be preventing them from getting guns onto your aircraft, if you can gain a turning advantage you should move into position and attempt to down the enemy aircraft, your two guns can end up putting lots of rounds into an enemy, but a hit to any critical component such as the pilot or engine will either end the fight or put it strongly in your favour. It is best to avoid "head on" engagements with enemy aircraft, as the engine on the F3F has a large frontal profile (Radial engine) along with the engine front being exposed, this makes the engine being hit a common occurrence and without your engine survival is unlikely.

The F3F will commonly come across aircraft with superior top speed, such as many of the early Bf-109 variants (A,B-1,E-1 & F-1), these aircraft will usually attempt to use a "boom & zoom" attack style against your aircraft, the best you can do is to keep a good amount of energy and be ready to evade when the commit to an attack run, if you can evade them for long enough you will hopefully receive some help from some of your other team members or you might be able to make the enemy try and commit to a turn fight where you should have an advantage and be able to critically damage or down their aircraft.

As for using the F3F for close air support (CAS) you will have a few possibilities, the most popular choice will be to take the two 100lb bombs (AN-M30A1), these only contain 24.5kg of explosive mass so you will need to land them very close to the intended target to do any meaningful damage. A second option is to use your .50cal (12.7mm) Browning M2 machine gun to destroy ground targets, all belts for this gun have 26mm of penetration, although the ground targets belts are best as they contain more AP rounds, these will be able to go through SPAA (Self Propelled Anti Aircraft) vehicles as well as some light & medium tanks, firing for the upper armour or side armour on enemy vehicles will usually prove to be the most effective way of going through enemy armour.

It is recommended not to hold the brakes on landing, as the F3F will likely flip over, it is best to tap the breaks on and off to avoid this occurring.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Controllable Not auto controlled	Not controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Separate	Controllable 2 gears	Not controllable

Modules

For firepower modules, outside of upgrades for the machine guns, the unlock of the module Mk.41 will allow the F3F-2 to mount two 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs.

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator			Offensive 7 mm
II		Compressor	Airframe	Offensive 12 mm		Mk.41
III	Wings repair	Engine			New 7 mm MGs
IV		Engine injection	Cover	New 12 mm MGs

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Very good turn rate and roll rate
• Capable of dealing with most reserve or rank I aircraft
• Can land on carriers, which comes in handy
• Massive fuel load
• 12.7mm MG can damage/destroy light tanks and SPAA vehicles making it useful for CAS
• Good rate of climb when compared to other aircraft at this BR

Cons:

• Limited Armament
• Not a very fast plane
• Engine is exposed and is susceptible to damage
• Will easily flip on landing with constant brake use

History

The last biplane fighter in use by the United States Navy, the Grumman F3F first flew on 20 March 1935, and entered front-line service with VF-5B of USS Ranger the following March. The improved F3F-2 model-fitted with a more powerful Wright R-1820-22 Cyclone nine-cylinder engine-entered service between 1937-38 and proved to be the ultimate evolution of American biplane fighter design; it also earned the nickname "Flying Barrel" due to its modified engine cowling, which had to be larger to fit the new and bigger 1820 cubic-inch (29.88-litre) radial powerplant. The modifications allowed the updated fighter to accelerate to a higher top speed of 264 miles per hour (425 km/h), improved its climb rate from 2050 to 2750 ft/min (10.4 m/s to 13.7 m/s) and also expanded its service ceiling to 33,200 feet (10,120 m). Despite already being obsolete by the time it was introduced, Navy pilots loved the tough little Grumman fighter, and the F3F also influenced and provided a starting point for the design of Grumman's more successful wartime F4F Wildcat monoplane fighter.

Eighty-one F3F-2s were procured, and served with VF-6 aboard the USS Enterprise as well as Marine squadrons VMF-1 and VMF-2. The last F3Fs in front-line use by carrier squadrons were gone by 1941 (replaced by newer Brewster F2A Buffalo monoplanes), but remained in use for training and transport duties during the first two or so years of the United States' involvement in World War II, the last of which was retired in November 1943.

Media

• War Thunder Live camouflages for the F3F

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

• English Wikipedia article about the F3F
• Some information on the F3F, in all its variants

Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
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