If you can't find a practical solution, you can only experiment with the same thing.

After testing countless engine cooling equipment, Grumman's engineers chose Curtiss plated triple-blade propellers.

Compared to other products, it has the best cooling effect and the highest propulsion efficiency.

In addition, the engineers changed the aerodynamic shape of the aircraft, which further improved the performance of the "XF4F-3".

After this thorough refurbishment, Grumman came up with a work that pleased the Navy.

In August 1939, it was officially finalized as the "F4F-3" carrier-based fighter, and the first batch of 54 orders was placed.

By this time, the Navy's tender was ripe.

These four years have been filled with too many hardships and setbacks, but the resilient Grumman has the last laugh.

Surprisingly, the most formidable opponent, Brewster Aeronautical Industries, was in a crisis.

Its workshop-like scale is simply not enough to complete a naval order.

Even the "F3F-3" biplane fighters urgently ordered by the Navy were all delivered, and Brewster could not get a single F2A-1.

In desperation, the Navy could only cut the number of aircraft booked to 10.

Even so, Brewster had only five aircraft delivered by November 1939.

Such an output, of course, could not threaten Grumman.

Now, all the design team has to do is get the aircraft in hand perfect, especially the damn overheating.

Due to the poor performance of the Pratt & Whitney "R-1830-76" engine, the Navy had doubts about its reliability.

To this end, Grumman experimented with other engines and continued to modify the blades and cooling equipment.

After a lot of hard work, this grinding problem was finally solved.

However, the engineers soon discovered other flaws.

As a carrier-based aircraft, the "F4F-3" is simply too heavy.

If you make a forced landing on the water, you will sink like a stone.

To do this, they added two airbags to the wings.

Even if the plane crashes into the water, it will float on the surface for a long time.

As the saying goes, every bad idea is the best idea until it turns out to be a bad idea.

As a result of the installation of the airbags, the two testing machines were fed to the fish.

It turns out that when the plane is making a sharp dive, the airbag will also be triggered.

This changes the airframe aerodynamics, which eventually crashes the aircraft.

Ironically, because of the airbags, the plane remained floating on the water, and the trapped pilot was safely rescued.

Eventually, the Navy eliminated the wing airbag design for stability and weight reduction.

The engineers had to place an inflatable life raft in the space behind the plane.

Even if there is a crash into the sea, at least the pilot's life can be saved.

But the pilots were not grateful to Grumman's engineers for this.

Because, these guys who have seawater in their brains actually made a hand-cranked landing gear.

Shake it 29 times before the landing gear can be fully retracted or lowered.

As the plane takes off, the pilots are busy climbing, adjusting course, and making other fine-tuning.

At this time, it is a hellish test to have to free up your hand to shake the rocker.

What's even more terrifying is the landing, if you enter the field too fast, the joystick will spin without warning.

Injuries to the hands are all small things, and what is even more terrifying is getting stuck on the landing gear, which can cause serious accidents.

For the entire 1940 year, "XF4F-3" was spent in tinkering.

Finally, at the end of the year, the engineers fixed all the defects.

Looking at the progress, the Navy's order has also increased from 54 to 200 aircraft.

By early 1941, the Citi Navy had proposed a field modification program.

They have to replace the "F4F-3" and improved models on hand with large-capacity self-sealing fuel tanks.

And additional armor was added to the cockpit, engine compartment to increase survivability.

Who knows, this change happened again, and the engine of the plane actually stopped in the air.

After some investigation, it was found that there was a problem with the quality of the self-sealing fuel tank.

The melted rubber seeped into the fuel line, causing a fuel blockage.

What's even more incredible is that the M2 aviation machine gun, which had been in normal use before, also had a jamming accident.

Fortunately, the cause of the failure was quickly found.

It turned out that when an aircraft loaded with ammunition was performing a violent maneuver, there was a poor supply of ammunition.

The engineers made some adjustments to completely solve the problem of jamming.

By this time, the "XF4F-3" had finally come to fruition.

But Grumman's concern about the number of planes has finally become an obstacle.

The navy guys did not want to bother their brains at all and directly ordered the production of a new model with folding wings.

Grumman, of course, doesn't learn from Jiro Horikoshi, but just folds the wingtips.

If you cut corners like that, the company won't think about any orders in the future.

At the time, the easiest way to do this was to fold the wings upwards so that the wingspan could be cut in half.

But Grumman took a different approach, he used the principle of the tilt axis, selected a fulcrum at the wing root, folded the wing outward at a certain angle, and finally closed inward, and tightly attached to the fuselage.

As a result, the aircraft's wingspan of 11.6 meters has been shortened to 4.4 meters, which greatly increases the remaining space.

Moreover, the engineers also added a hydraulic device to the aircraft, and the wing deployment or recovery is automatic.

Compared to pilots who desperately want to handle them, ground crews do have reason to be grateful to them.

However, the modification of the wing made the original weapon system adjusted, and the position of the machine gun was moved by more than 10 inches.

Grumman's engineers saw that the space was still bigger, and simply added two more M2 aviation machine guns to the wings, so that the "F4F" had 6 .50 caliber machine guns.

This new model is called the "XF4F-4," and its weight has risen dramatically because the changes have been so great.

According to the calculations of the engineers, the weight of the aircraft should not exceed 3402 kg without replacing the engine, but the "XF4F-4" actually reached 3515 kg.

Not to mention fighting, running away is a problem.

Grumman's engineers can only learn from Jiro Horikoshi and work on weight loss.

After studying for a long time, they finally decided to change the automatic hydraulic wing retraction device to a manual one.

The ground staff, who had just been happy for a few days, also had a hard time.

Before the plane takes off, after landing, all they have to do is pick up the handle, shake it, shake it, shake it.

However, the weight of the "XF4F-4" was also pressed to 3377 kg.

In June 1941, the Citi Navy, which was greatly satisfied, officially confirmed the number of "F4F-4" and officially placed an order for 436 aircraft.

And at the end of 1941, the production of the first F4F-4 was completed, and it was named "Wildcat". ”

Soon after, the combined fleet of the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

Their "Zero" fighter jets were like wolves, shooting down all the planes that could be seen.

Even the F2A-1, which was in the same bid, was no match for the Buffalo, which was named as clumsy as its appearance.

Under the attack of Zero War, he was beaten to the point of being defenseless, and earned a reputation for this.

"Citi's worst fighter in World War II!"