Galer's F3F-2

Galer's F3F-2

Galer's F3F-2

USA

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.3	1.3	1.3

Class:

PREMIUM

Fighter

Naval aircraft

Purchase:250

Show in game

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

Description

The Galer's F3F-2 is a premium rank I American fighter with a battle rating of 1.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica". The plane is painted after the camouflage scheme of American pilot Bob Galer in the USMC, whose plane can be viewed today at the National Naval Aviation Museum.

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
411	404	10120	15.8	16.1	10.4	12.5	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
461	436	10120	14.3	15.0	24.3	16.0	210

Details

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

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flap (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
810	320	N/A	7	2.5

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 rear fuselage
• Critical components located in front of aircraft (fuel, pilot, engine, controls)
• Two self-sealing fuel tanks located in the fuselage

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Galer's 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 Galer's F3F-2 can be outfitted externally with:

• 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 No automatic pitch	Not controllable	Controllable Has automatic mode	Separate	Controllable 2 gears	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage Repair	Radiator			Offensive 7.62 mm belts
II		Compressor	Airframe	Offensive 12.7 mm belts		Mk.41
III		Engine			New 7.62 mm MGs
IV	Wings repair	Engine Injection	Cover	New 12.7 mm MGs

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Turning circle is very tight
• Very low stalling speed
• Extremely control responsive aircraft
• Capable of landing on aircraft carriers
• 12.7mm MG can be used for attacking light ground vehicles

Cons:

• Small primary armament, inadequate for bombers
• Low ammunition count for the .50 cal
• Bright paint scheme makes it harder to stay hidden
• Can flip on landing with constant brake use

History

Robert E. Galer ditched this aircraft in the ocean in 1940. He went on to become a distinguished Marine Corps aviator in WW2 and the Korean War.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

• F3F-2 - the normal tech tree version of the F3F
• Zhukovsky's I-153-M62 - similar Soviet aircraft

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the aircraft;
• other literature.

Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
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