Reno: F7F Tigercat Workout

[mobius1aic]

Such a sexy plane.

[neilharchanko]

Man that mustang was gorgeous!!

[mrssweetpotatohead]

a gruman looks out of place with a nose wheel

[heettreet]

@mrssweetpotatohead yes ,it surely does ,,and i love it . f7f my favorite of all time (dc3 excepted of course)

[aviationwingnut]

VERY well done videos. Makes me want to go back to the National Museum of Naval Aviation. Only been there once. I wanted to work in Naval Aviation but, color blindness stopped me. So, I ended up as an RM on submarines. (Go figure!!) NEVER lost the passion for aviation and the planes, though.

[yardhog]

Great video. I got to see one loping around the course Monday, unofficial time 219 mph. Great sounding plane and fun to watch. Only one at Reno this year, from what I saw.

[RK1Hatty]

@ 5:15, Precious Metal. Thats one hell of a machine as well!

[Nebelkrieg]

oh my dear what a great expensive hobby

[TERYDOTCOM]

well done

[C172Pilotdude]

I want one. How much?



[rustyATV]

@C172Pilotdude $1.8 million, last time I saw one for sale. (actually, I think it was this one)

[EnterpriseXI]

what software could you use to download a video like this one to a mp3? GREAT video man and such a beautiful aircraft

[paralleler]

@EnterpriseXI I use a Sony TRV-900, Apple's iMovie to edit, Sorenson Squeeze to compress to give me a MP4 video. Yep..., they make a pretty good team and give a nice final product. Many thanks.

[marcosvaldivia678]

real fascinating airplanes I would like to ride one of those in my spare time

[Shalinar45]

Who lit right before the 'Cat did? Sounded pretty good, too! :)

[falcon2160]

Thank you. Fun and interesting to watch especially the F7F. I didn't know it existed.

[LarryTheTubaBoy]

Wow, that plane is a beast!

[silverbird58]

is kitty eatin good or what !

[silverbird58]

meow X 2

[WakeUpDummies]

Almost as sexy as Danica Patrick in a bikini

[FuriousB777]

one is spinning clockwise, one other side. cause the torque.

[cycler2]

They are both spinning counter clockwise. Watch them at startup.

[dirtbikinboy92]

sweet lookin airplane, but is it just me or do the props spin the other way?

[scsupercancro]

IT's working out! Cheers people!

SC

[JackFlemingFan]

Excellent!! Beautiful airplane!!

[unforgettablescarlet]

She is beautiful

[mxpx6890]

Saw one of these at the Chino Bird of Fame airshow...absolutely magnificent airplane. It flies so beautifully and smoothly through the sky.

[Hvnscent]

What a gorgeous plane!

[mrblujet]

I would love to get my hands on that thing!

[mjkobb]

Damn, what a sound.  Fantastic.

[paralleler]

Yep, you got that right!

[Xenophoebus]

Beautiful plane

[NobleKorhedron]

What "season" is he on about?! Do people, like, race these things?! Show a little respect folks, these things were protecting America when your grandparents were in high school!

[johnleejohnson]

Many of these Fighters were converted after the war by those same people who flew them in the war. Some of these planes have been racing since the '60s

[johnleejohnson]

Yes people actually "like, race these things". If those planes had not been surplused, made available to the public, and converted into racers, any of them would have been scrapped and we would not have them today, in any condition, modified or original.

[NobleKorhedron]

Well if that's true then I'll take racing versions... Although personally I'd outlaw any of this weird modern shit like turbo-chargers and force 'em to be flown "as is"... It'd be the ultimate test of skill if it was just two guys in two basic F7's...

[johnleejohnson]

Well it is true, do a wiki search for Air racing and also for F8F Bearcat (Air Racing is at the bottom of the Bearcat wiki page). The first race was held in 1909. After WW2, when the military surplused their obsolete aircraft, and with piston engine technology having advanced so far as it did, many people began to take advantage of the new engines to make über racers.

[kblackav8or]

I don't know that I would call the Turbocharder modern exactly. The P-47 had them from the beginning and I believe they were being used in the 1930's on some race cars. Other WWII aircraft with air cooled radial engines had them or gear driven superchargers including the R2800. What you speak about is done all the time with AT6's and T28's. Raced in stock form.

[No1118117]

I'm pretty sure every single piston engined fighter of WW2 had a turbo or supercharger.

Most of the "weird modern shit" like fuel injection and turbochargers were seen in aircraft long before they were ever used in cars.

[TheSteamLocomotive]

Most Allison powered single engined planes were not equipped with superchargers.

[WakeUpDummies]

Exactly! Even GPS

[pucara70]

Another Grumman´s Ironworks aircraft, one of the best piston engine fighters of all times, along with the Corsair, Bearcat and the Hawker Sea Fury.....

[rdionne]

The Red and white Corsair is actualy an F2G Super Corsair, it came with a 4360 in it from the Factory it is one of like 14 made.

[JackFlemingFan]

The F7F Tigercat is a beautiful airplane! Excellent video!

[MIT1369]

Another beauty from the Grumman "Cathouse"!

[renotsttam]

Great video man! My grandfather is a retired bird colonel from the Marine Corps. He flew the Corsair for most of WW2, but near the end he was transfered to the VMF(N)-533, Black Mac's Killers, flying the F7F Tigercat. They were set to deploy to China for the planned invasion of Japan and were expected to be in the first waves of that planned invasion. Initial US losses were expected to be 90%. But then we dropped the nukes and it was all over. He says this was his favorite fighter to fly.

[RoninTXBR549]

GREAT video... great sound... Thanks for sharing!

[louswire]

what a glorious sound!

[Irvine5312x6ma]

I think I'm in love with the monster!!!

[JackFlemingFan]

Tigercat..........May you fly forever!!

[strokin303]

Man that was beautiful. I recently went to Tucson an they have a tiger cat at Pima. It is beautiful. Also The Palm Springs Air Museum has a Beautiful one there.

[bridgeman11]

Beautiful planes and nice video work! Wasn't the Tigercat rated as THE fastest piston-powered plane ever produced, up to that point?

[JAROSLAVAGINA]

god listen to that thing scream. . . ahhhhhhhhhh

[LordDisneyland]

Ależ to niesamowicie brzmi! Szkoda,że Tigercat to relatywnie mało znany samolot.

[Irvine5312x6ma]

If anyone knows how much power does the Tigercat have, please inform me - so far I've been unable to have any info.

[velocity173ae]

There's a great deal of info on wikipedia. It has (2) 2,100 HP engines. I saw this plane perform at OSH and it is a screamer!!!

[Irvine5312x6ma]

That's just what I've imagined-it has its original R-2800-34W engines...how do they expect to win races like that if they don't tune them to provide at least 3000hp each!!!

[BlueWaterBoat]

The owner of that Big Boss Man (this particular F-7-F) doesnt race it to win. He races it because he can. I is also the only F-7-F to race in the history of the Reno Air Races.

[Irvine5312x6ma]

AAAh, ok, I see now. Thanks for informing me!! But wouldn't it be great (for all of us) to power the aircraft with 2 R-4360's? Just imagine it...

[RoninTXBR549]

This is an interesting thread... I'm glad to know this F7F is kept original. I love seeing these planes perform all out. But, I really hate seeing them worked over too much like the six bladed P51 in this clip. I understand the nature of competition, though. I suppose I might feel different if there were still a lot of these planes available... Anyway, interesting comments.

[Irvine5312x6ma]

I am also supporting your idea that these planes should be original ( eg. with the engines they were produced, their original wings, cockpit canopies-for some P-51s & Sea Furies-and much more).

But could you imagine the Tigercat with two P&W R-4360s, producing over 3000 hp each? The aircraft would own EVERY other racer including the Rare Bear which is the fastest there at Reno! Wouldn't it be nice, what do you think?

[RoninTXBR549]

To be honest, even though I'm a bit of a nostalgia buff, I am a competitive person at heart. So, yes, I would love to see the Tigercat outrun the Rare Bear. I'm a bit of a Corsair fanatic actually. But, I've always been a huge fan of the Tigercat, and would love to see one of these planes outrun the Bearcat.

[Irvine5312x6ma]

Nothing more than you to say...I am 10000% agreed!!! :-)

[ediirwin]

Give me the sound of a good radial over a Merlin or the like any day...

[HellaJDM]

God I wanna hump his tigercat . maybe I will sometime on the 2008 season.

[rockinroy555]

Outstanding visually and aurally!

[bayfire66]

Mike Browns F7F hes awesome pilot

[88SC]

Love the F7F, that's an impressive bird. Extra thanks for the F2G footage; so far that's about all I've found of it on youtube.