Help ID some aircraft I saw at Oshkosh

[butch burton]

First there was a Navy carrier based fighter, designed to get up to
altitude in just minutes to take on the kamakazies. A gentleman in
his 80's described this high performance bird in glowing terms. What
is the name of this bird.

Next I am trying to find out the name of a new 6 place kit aircraft
which is turboprop powered. Had it on my old system but the system
died and could not save the web addresses. The name and web address
would be good.

thanks

[[email protected]]

On 12 Dec 2003 08:24:30 -0800, (butch burton)
wrote:

:First there was a Navy carrier based fighter, designed to get up to
:altitude in just minutes to take on the kamakazies. A gentleman in
:his 80's described this high performance bird in glowing terms. What
:is the name of this bird.

It sounds like the Bearcat. Didn't make it into combat before the war
ended. Hellcat? Corsair? (the bent wings give it away).

:
:Next I am trying to find out the name of a new 6 place kit aircraft
:which is turboprop powered. Had it on my old system but the system
:died and could not save the web addresses. The name and web address
:would be good.

I remember seeing their poster at their press confrence. I think they
were former Lancair people, but I'm probably wrong even in that.

[Corky Scott]

On 12 Dec 2003 08:24:30 -0800, (butch burton)
wrote:

>First there was a Navy carrier based fighter, designed to get up to
>altitude in just minutes to take on the kamakazies. A gentleman in
>his 80's described this high performance bird in glowing terms. What
>is the name of this bird.
>
>Next I am trying to find out the name of a new 6 place kit aircraft
>which is turboprop powered. Had it on my old system but the system
>died and could not save the web addresses. The name and web address
>would be good.
>
>thanks

I can answer your first question: the fighter being described sounds
like the Grumman F8F Bearcat. It was quite the hotrod in it's day,
mating the Pratt and Whitney 2,100 hp R-2800-34W twin row radial to an
airframe that was about the size of it's little ancester, the F4F
Wildcat.

There are reports and eye witness stories about the F8F leaving the
early jets in it's wake while climbing.

No F8F saw combat during WWII. There were boatloads of them heading
for the combat zone when the war ended. They saw some combat in Korea
and some were used by the French in Vietnam.

Corky Scott

[OSKI 3]

The Kamikazi chaser I think was the
Vought Corsair with the 3000 HP Engine.
The same one used in the Reno Air races.

Billl Oparowski

[Darrel Toepfer]

"butch burton" > wrote...

> I am trying to find out the name of a new 6 place kit aircraft
> which is turboprop powered. Had it on my old system but the system
> died and could not save the web addresses. The name and web address
> would be good.

http://www.aerocompinc.com

Typically the turbine is in the 7, 8 & 10 models, I think...

[Ron Wanttaja]

On 12 Dec 2003 18:10:29 GMT, (OSKI 3) wrote:

>The Kamikazi chaser I think was the
>Vought Corsair with the 3000 HP Engine.
>The same one used in the Reno Air races.

I kind of lean towards this answer as a fighter designed to go after
kamikazes, rather than the F8F.

The order for the prototype Bearcats went out in November 1943, well before
the Japanese started doing mass kamikaze assaults. The general design
requirement of a fast-climbing interceptor matched the eventual
anti-kamikaze mission, but I doubt that was on their minds when they
designed it. According to one Bearcat site...

http://www.acepilots.com/planes/f8f_bearcat.html

"...The Bearcat was intended as an interceptor fighter, operating from
carriers. In modern vernacular, it might have been called the "Hellcat
Lite," designed for the smallest and lightest airframe that could support
the Pratt & Whitney R-2800-34 radial engine, its fuel, weapons, and armor."

On the other hand, when the Navy realized the threat of the kamikaze, they
quite likely polled the various manufacturers and asked what they could do
in a hurry. A big-engined Corsair wouldn't have taken that long to
develop....

Ron Wanttaja

[butch burton]

wrote in message >...
> On 12 Dec 2003 08:24:30 -0800, (butch burton)
> wrote:
>
> :First there was a Navy carrier based fighter, designed to get up to
> :altitude in just minutes to take on the kamakazies. A gentleman in
> :his 80's described this high performance bird in glowing terms. What
> :is the name of this bird.
>
> It sounds like the Bearcat. Didn't make it into combat before the war
> ended. Hellcat? Corsair? (the bent wings give it away).
>
> :
> :Next I am trying to find out the name of a new 6 place kit aircraft
> :which is turboprop powered. Had it on my old system but the system
> :died and could not save the web addresses. The name and web address
> :would be good.
>
> I remember seeing their poster at their press confrence. I think they
> were former Lancair people, but I'm probably wrong even in that.

Yes this company was started by former Lancair people and am still
looking for their name. Remember asking at the Lancair booth in
Oshkosh and nobody knew anything.