"This is the F4F Wildcat carrier-based fighter."

Just when the Japanese delegation was "wiped out", Lin Chao was accompanied by Reston to visit the plane contained in the warehouse.

"The two planes could not fly because of the lack of spare parts, and the seller sold them for $600,000. The organizing committee has done metal flaw detection, and there is absolutely no problem with the body structure. ”

The price of antique aircraft, in addition to the number of surviving aircraft, depends on whether it can fly.

Big-road goods like "F4F" generally cost between $1.8 million and $2.2 million in the international market.

The most expensive of these is the cost of the engine and routine maintenance.

The price of the body is $300,000, which is not too high.

Lin Chao slapped the fuselage of the "Wildcat" a few times.

After the war, Jiro Horikoshi wrote a memoir, "The Eagle of Mitsubishi".

He was satisfied that he was able to design the "Zero Battle", but he was also helpless about the fragility of the aircraft.

Because, every little increase in the weight of the engine will involve the wing area and fuel tank capacity.

Then, the layout of the landing gear and the structural strength of the fuselage had to be redesigned.

Grumman's designers will certainly scoff at this.

In the winter of 1935, the Citi Naval Aviation Agency conducted a new round of tenders.

Because on the other side of the ocean, the Japanese country has created a new type of fighter "9 test single-seat fighter." ”

Unlike the previous biplane shape, it adopts an all-metal monoplane and reaches a top speed of 450 km/h.

And in the same year, the guys from the army also went to the tender.

The "Type 75" fighter of the Curtis, the "XP35" of the Seversky company are impressive.

At this time, Citi naval aviation was still using biplane fighters.

In the face of new technologies, the upper echelons of the Navy have also changed their perception and set their sights on all-metal monoplanes.

But Grumman, one of the most important producers of naval aircraft, did not redesign the monoplane.

They only made their "F3F" biplane an all-metal style and replaced it with a more powerful engine.

Because, the boss of the company, Grumman, believes that the continuous development of aerodynamic shape, coupled with the continuous improvement of engine power, the speed of the biplane will become faster and faster, which can fully meet the needs of the army.

And when the biplane is folded, the wingspan is smaller than that of the monoplane.

Whether it is transport, or fighting on an aircraft carrier, there will be greater advantages.

If the unsightly navy lords choose monoplanes, they will have to worry about the number of carrier-based aircraft.

Grumman, who was full of self-confidence, submitted the "G-16" plan in November of that year.

Although the Navy did not approve of it, it was still stereotyped as "XF4F-1" for the sake of insurance. ”

Surprisingly, an airline named Brewster won the bid.

Because, their scheme is precisely the all-metal monoplane design that Grumman dismisses.

The Navy of great interest, the identification letter assigned to Brewster was "A", and the scheme was numbered "XF2A-1." ”

But Grumman believes that this plan is not a threat, because Brewster is a halfway monk.

It was founded as a carriage company, and in the 20s it entered the automotive sector.

Soon after the outbreak of World War I, it entered the aviation market due to the subcontracting of the production of aircraft pontoons and spare parts.

After the war, the company ceased operations due to the sluggish aircraft business.

In 1932, it was bought by a group of investors for $30,000 and renamed Brewster Aeronautical Industries after reorganization.

At this time, its scale was still very small, mainly engaged in subcontract production, and there was really no success.

But just when Grumman thought that he was sure to win, he was stunned to find that the wind direction had changed, and the Navy Master was actually interested in "XF2A-1." ”

Seeing that something was not going well, Grumman immediately lobbied and promised to offer a completely new design.

The Navy weighed in and agreed to cancel the XF4F-1 biplane program and order Grumman's redesigned XF4F-2 monoplane.

By September 1937, the prototype of the XF4F-2 had made its first flight, reaching a speed of 466.61 km/h, which was 16.09 km/h faster than Brewster's aircraft.

But just when victory was within reach, the engine used by the aircraft had a series of failures, the most troublesome of which was the problem of engine overheating.

During the test flight on February 4, 1938, the plane was burned due to the overheating of the exhaust pipe, but fortunately, the pilot made an emergency landing.

At this time, there was less than a month left before the time for the Navy to bid.

The self-designed "XF4F-2" is still quite far from the design index.

To this end, Grumman's technicians carried out emergency repairs to the aircraft.

To minimize overheating, the engine compartment was lengthened to increase the free area and the heat sink was replaced.

The aerodynamic shape of the aircraft has also been improved to reduce air resistance, which allows for increased flight speed.

However, in a later test, the problem of overheating of the aircraft was again a problem. It even led to the engine stopping in the air.

The pilot had to land unpowered, and as a result, the landing gear on one side got stuck in the soft mud, causing the plane to overturn entirely.

In this serious accident, although the pilot was unharmed, the plane was destroyed.

While the XF4F-2 was the best in the bidding scheme, frequent accidents caused the Navy to lose the last vestiges of confidence in it.

Coupled with the increasing tension in Europe, the Citi Navy, which did not dare to hesitate any longer, finally chose Brewster's "XF2A-1" and placed the first batch of 54 orders.

By this time, everyone thought that Grumman had failed.

However, Grumman, the boss of the company, did not give up, and he personally flew the "F3F-2" fighter and went to various naval bases to negotiate.

He was once a pilot of the Naval Aviation, which helped him a lot, and with the assistance of his former comrades-in-arms, the Navy approved the program of the "XF4F-3" test aircraft.

They also agreed with Grumman to replace it with a better engine to improve the performance of the aircraft.

When Grumman got the news, Grumman's team of engineers sprang into action.

They restored the wreckage of the XF4F-2 and replaced it with Pratt & Whitney XR-1830-66 Twin Hornet engines.

To accommodate this behemoth, the engine compartment section was redesigned.

The wingspan of the main wing has been made longer, and the angle to the fuselage has been modified to a certain extent.

The anxious Grumman finally saw the light of day, but he also encountered more problems, which were not small compared to the "XF4F-2".

The first to burst out was the enclosed cockpit, which also caused carbon monoxide poisoning to the driver because of poor ventilation.

The windshield is also not strong enough, safety is a joke when diving, and there are countless others.

Engineers can solve these problems.

But the damn engine problem has pushed Grumman into a corner.

The "XR-1830-66" engine is indeed more powerful, but its structure is really complex, and the amount of maintenance is naturally small.

What's worse is that the problem of overheating the engine has popped up again, and Grumman is anxious up and down.

"What should we do?"