The XF4F-3, prototype for what became the first F4F production version, was the XF4F-2 rebuilt to eliminate the many troubles that had cost it the 1937-38 competition to become the Navy's first monoplane fighter. Since the basic Grumman design seemed promising, in October 1938 the Navy gave the company a contract to build a modified version. Using the XF4F-2's Bureau of Aeronautics serial number (Bureau # 0383) and much of its structure, the "new" plane had squared-off wings and tail and a different model of the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engine.
Completed in February 1939, the XF4F-3 demonstrated improved performance and significantly better reliability. Impressed, the Navy ordered 54 F4F-3 production variants in August 1939. As is almost always the case with prototype trials, XF4F-3 flight tests generated a number of design changes that were applied to the service F4F-3 airplanes, the most visible of which was a larger vertical tail and higher location for the tailplane.
This page features all our views of the Grumman XF4F-3 prototype.
For more pictorial coverage of F4F type fighters, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 97481 Grumman XF4F-3 prototype (Bureau # 0383) Photographed during flight testing, circa April 1939. The original print is from Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison files. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 65KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
![]() |
Photo #: 80-G-2889 Grumman XF4F-3 fighter prototype (Bureau # 0383) In flight during early testing, 3 April 1939. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 575 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
![]() |
Photo #: NH 97482 Grumman XF4F-3 prototype (Bureau # 0383) Photographed during flight testing, 21 July 1939. The original print is from Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison files. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 65KB; 740 x 565 pixels |
![]() |
For more pictorial coverage of F4F fighters, see:
NOTES:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 21 January 2001
Coding updated 6 May 2009