Any chance of adding a nose bump, either as a modifed base model, or as an add-on pylon/weapon to create the two seat 2N, 3N or 4N night fighter versions for Korean operations?
The most extensively modified F7Fs were the night fighter versions (F7F-2N/3N/4N), which incorporated a cockpit behind the pilot, occupied by a radar operator and in some versions a lengthened and modified nose housing the aircraft’s radar. Indeed, given the fact that in its earliest iterations the F7F had been equipped with an internally-mounted radar, a first for a single-seat aircraft, it is only natural that the Tigercat left its greatest mark on naval aviation history as a nocturnal hunter in the skies over Korea.
F7Fs first deployed to Korea in 1950, and during the war three Marine Corps night fighter squadrons operated in theater. Second Lieutenant Reese Woodard reported to Marine Night Fighter Squadron (VMF(N)) 513 in 1953, deploying with the “Flying Nightmares” to Korea that same year. An F4U Corsair pilot during World War II, he remembered that flying the Tigercat “took a little getting used to because of those monstrous engines.” The biggest fear among pilots new to the F7F was losing an engine on take-off or landing and flipping the aircraft over on its back. Unlike in the F4U, in which he was quick to engage in a dogfight, to Woodard the F7F was not a fighter in the truest sense of the word, but more an interceptor. In fact, in this role Tigercats shot down two enemy aircraft in Korea, Polikarpov Po-2’s in June and September that the North Koreans used to harass US troops at night.
On Sept. 23, 1951, an F7F-3N Tigercat of the “Flying Nightmares,” VMF(N)-513, flown by Maj. E.A. Van Gundy and Master Sgt. T.H. Ullom, was aloft searching for a “Bedcheck Charlie” Polikarpov Po-2 biplane and made radar contact. The Tigercat pilot purposely went down to minimum speed to avoid overshooting the slower biplane. At a range of about 500 feet, Van Gundy made visual contact and fired about 100 rounds of 20mm ammunition at it. The Polikarpov burst into flames instantly and was seen burning on the ground as the F7F-3N returned to base.
Where F7F pilots and radar operators earned their keep was in night reconnaissance missions interdicting enemy traffic. Typically lasting between 1.5 and 2 hours, these “road recces” were conducted at extremely low altitude, with the keen eyesight of the crew oftentimes more valuable than the aircraft’s radar. Night operations presented their share of operational difficulties. “The guns were located right beside the cockpit and the pilot would be half blinded when he fired them,” Woodard recalled. “I closed my eyes momentarily to preserve my night vision, while the radar operator kept his eyes open to observe the target.” Operating in the bitterly cold winter of 1953, Woodard and his squadronmates had to avoid turning on the heater because it operated using fuel drawn from the fuel pressure gauge line, not a good combination if the plane took an antiaircraft round near the cockpit. Another cold weather issue was snow on the ground, upon which a swinging parachute flare dropped to illuminate the landscape created shadows that looked like targets.
Any difficulties were more than overcome by the fact that in the interdiction role, the F7F had found its niche. A report of combat activity over Korea summarized one month of operations of VMF(N) -513 in March 1951, which totaled some 2,000 hours of night combat flying during which squadron aircraft conducted attacks on 3,764 vehicles. All told, during the Korean War Marine Corps F7Fs logged 7,119 combat flights, 27 of which ended in Tigercats being lost on combat missions, including one VMF(N)-513 plane, written off after a crash landing after the plane hit a tree during a night mission.
Hey Starspeeder do we have to scrap the pylons and weapons too?
