The American built Grumman F7F Tigercat was destined to be the US Navy's first twin engined fighter built in production quantities. It was designed to operate from aircraft carriers of the USS Midway class and six version of the Tigercat were produced. The Tigercat was too late for operational service in the second world war, arriving in Okinawa the day before VJ-day. It did not see Korea and was replaced by more effective jets.

Ordered in 1941, the Grumman F7F Tigercat wartime production was delayed and the first flight of the prototype, XF7F-1, was not until 3 November 1943 where it proved to be a highly maneuverable aircraft with a top speed of 400 mph despite its large radial engines (a pair of 2,100hp Pratt & Whitney R2800 engines) and heavy armament of four .50 caliber machine guns and four 20 mm cannons. Originally fitted with a tail hook for operations from "Midway" class carriers, the F7Fs proved too heavy for such duty and were transferred to the US Marine Corps shore based squadrons in 1944.

Total production of all variants of the F7F was slightly in excess of 360 examples.

Only two Tigercats were assessed by the Royal Navy and none saw service with the Fleet Air Arm. The single aircraft, TT349(Bu Aer No 80293) was received at the naval unit at A&AEE Boscombe Down in December 1944 and another, TT346 was sent for trials with 787 squadron in February, 1945.

Assessment by the naval test pilots at Boscombe Down indicated that the cockpit featrures were regarded as poor, due to a lack of rear view. The aircraft was regarded as suitable for deck operations which was aided by good view, absence of take off swing, low power- on stall and good lateral stability. However, the type was rendered unacceptable to the FAA as tested due to poor elavator response at approach speeds.

Manufacturer: Grumman

Primary function: Fighter

Powerplant: Two Pratt&Whitney R-2800-22W engines

Thrust: Two 2072 hp, Two 1545 kW

Crew: One

Wingspan: 51.5 ft, 15.7 m

Length: 45.4 ft, 13.85 m

Height: 16.6 ft, 5.06 m

Wing area: 455 sq ft, 42.27 sq m

Weight empty: 15957 lbs, 7238 kg

Weight max: 23656 lbs, 1030 kg

Max speed: 427 mph, 687 kph

Ceiling: 36090 ft, 11000 m

Max range: 1790 miles, 2880 km

Armament: Four 20 mm cannon, Four 12.7 mm machine gun 300 rounds each), Two 454 kg bombs or six rockets; alternative under fuselage one 21inch torpedo