Added: Jun 9, 2007
From: octane130
Duration: 2:29
This video was taken at the 2006 airshow at Jacqueline Cochran Airport in Thermal, California. This Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat is a member of the Southern California Wing of the Commemorative Air Force and is based in Camarillo, Calif. Their Grumman Hellcat also attended the show. These aircraft attend most SoCal airshows, even the very small ones. This is at no small expense. Thank you very much!This is my favorite Grumman "Cat" and I think the video really illustrates Grumman's "smallest possible airframe built around the P&W R-2800 engine" concept. What a beast! This thing is ALL engine. This aircraft was run at a substantially higher power setting than what you would normally see at an airshow, much to the benefit of us warbird enthusiasts! Enjoy the great sights and sounds. I got a little buffeted by the prop wash and also had to wash the oil droplets off my lens filter after the engine startup. Ah, y-e-s!The town of Thermal was not so named because it is the most temperate spot in California, but is rather often the hottest place in the USA in the summer. Thermal is located approx. 33 miles southeast of Palm Springs and is in the central bowels (and I do mean bowels) of the California low desert :).However, this airshow is held in November and the weather is just delightful. This is a relatively small, predominantly warbird-oriented show and being in SoCal, many nearby warbirds attend. Definitely worth going to if you live in SoCal or are visiting! Warbirds from the Planes of Fame Museum (Chino, Calif.), the Palm Springs Air Museum and the Southern California wing of the Commemorative Air Force attend, along with modern U.S. military aircraft and other historic, privately-owned warbirds (see my other videos).If you'd like, please also check out my other warbird videos. Thanks and happy warbirding!
Channel: Autos
Tags: b-17 b-24 b-25 bearcat chino duxford grumman harley hellcat japanese mustang p-38 p-40 p-47 p-51 spitfire ww2 wwii zero
Rating: 4.83 (172 ratings) Views: 206731' favoriteCount='526 Comments: 25
biloxigator Says:
Oct 2, 2008 - Your comment and fact have nothing to do with each other. The Yak-3's max. range is only 405 miles, while the Grumman is almost three times that with 1,105 miles maximum. Even in the basic comparison of their engines, the Yakvolev comes up short (Yak-3:1,290 hp, F8F Bearcat:2,100 hp).The Yak just doesn't have what it takes to "beat" the Bearcat; it wasn't designed to compete with a late-war carrier-based fighter.
matamoros77 Says:
Oct 3, 2008 - yak was the most agile thing in low altitude combat also there where post war faster yak 3s
spencnaz Says:
Oct 8, 2008 - Agility means nothing. If your opponent can gain and keep his energy up with a more powerful engine, then he dictates the terms of the merge and the engagement.The YAK, while very agile wouldn't be able to keep up with the climb rate and engine power of the Bearcat. The Bearcat would be able to boom and zoom the YAK, chewing him to pieces.
Elchupucabra Says:
Oct 9, 2008 - The F8F was the fastest single radial engine fighter ever mass produced. It would have been the ideal kamikaze killer , with its range , speed , service ceiling , and firepower. In essence it was one of the earliest carrier group area defense interceptors.
freddytuber Says:
Oct 9, 2008 - What a piece of outdated crap. Spend your time and money on building an electric plane instead of rebuilding this junk. Recycling is the best option for this gas hog. Cut it up and melt it down to make Coke cans.
biloxigator Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - Respect the power, or shut your face. This plane is a Grumman. If that doesn't mean anything to you, that's the company that built the F4F Wildcat, the F6F Hellcat, F7F Tigercat(which, like this Bearcat, came too late to serve in WWII) and most recently, the A-6 Intruder and F-14 Tomcat. Don't forget the Apollo Lunar Module, either.Grumman (now Northrop Grumman) doesn't make crap planes. Grumman aircraft are part of history.Respect the history.
GeneralSirDouglasMcA Says:
Oct 15, 2008 - If it's a hot day, you can stand behind the airplane while it's running and get a BIIIIIIG breeze to blow on you.
matamoros77 Says:
Oct 17, 2008 - and this bird had a good high altitud performance?? how do you know this bird can outclimb our yak3?can you send some links to prove it has superior climb rate?
matamoros77 Says:
Oct 17, 2008 - well the bearcat wins in engine power but , how about the weight ratio of the bearcat compared to yak 3 how much does this bird weights?
matamoros77 Says:
Oct 17, 2008 - i meant the weight power ratio
spencnaz Says:
Oct 17, 2008 - Yak-3 = 18.5 m/s (3,645 ft/min)F8F-1 = 4,570 ft/min (23.2 m/s)I believe the numbers speak for themselves.While the YAK is an excellent fighter, it wouldn't have the horsepower to keep up with the Bearcat. Even the vaunted Mustang would have great difficulty taking on the Bearcat as shown by post war testing.The climb rate and acceleration of the F8F wasn't equaled until the early 1960's when afterburning jet fighters came into service.
biloxigator Says:
Oct 17, 2008 - Wikipedia is your friend, matamoros.
HayateAce Says:
Oct 22, 2008 - Basically, had the war continued another few months>>>>>SEVERE OWNAGE was going to be dealt out by the F8F.
jolupapi Says:
Oct 27, 2008 - FreddyTuber, shut the f**k up you treehugger. If the WW2 gas hogs wouldn't have existed you wouldn't even be here you idiot. Be more grateful to these great war birds from the WW2 era.
skipplet Says:
Oct 29, 2008 - You're a fuckin idiot freddytuber.
skipplet Says:
Oct 29, 2008 - Gawd what an awesome sound. Gives me chills thinking about it.
wilmanric1 Says:
Nov 6, 2008 - Ummnn..I know a heavily modified one currently holds the record at around 528 mph, but I think you are otherwise wrong about production machines. A production Bearcat did about 455; fast, but not the fastest. The prototype Spiteful did 595 and the Hawker Sea Fury was almost as fast. They were both faster than the Bearcat.
wilmanric1 Says:
Nov 6, 2008 - "Agility means nothing"??? You might want to run that one past the guys who fought against the Spitfire, buddy.
knightspy Says:
Nov 6, 2008 - of planes that really fought in the war &where in production, the p51 H model ran 472mph , the p47 m 467mph &could break of combat from any prop plane by diving at near the sound barrier, & the bf109k could reach 452mph maybe not the best but theres no dispute the world greatest fighter ace flew it with 352 kills shot down twice 2 fight again &survived the war, i don t think manuer speed of any plane of that era beats a good pilot , as proved by the man with a record never to be beat
knightspy Says:
Nov 6, 2008 - YAK 3?the climb /manuver, the japanese had several planes that would out climb and out turn the yak 3 , at 1200-1300hp, the last model zeros would have gave it a scare, but the japs had even better planes, the yak 3 is not even comparable to the spitfire,mustang, corsair, or hellcat, or folke wolf 190, the bf 109 k model would easly out perform it , you need to get to the yak 7s to even start to get comparable performance,
knightspy Says:
Nov 6, 2008 - FreddyTuber, shut the f**k up you treehugger. If the WW2 gas hogs wouldn't have existed you wouldn't even be here you idiot-nice response to ole freddy , i guess he dosnt even consider the fuel rate a jet plane uses, compared to jets WW2 planes are far more economical
wilmanric1 Says:
Nov 7, 2008 - That should be 494.
3fitzgrld Says:
Nov 14, 2008 - SAAWEEEET!
trgmanu Says:
Nov 23, 2008 - Wonderful Sound!
DardanellesBy108 Says:
Sep 29, 2008 - High Powered Radials, YES!!!!!