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Rank VI | Premium | Golden Eagles
 Rank VI | Premium | Golden Eagles INFO

Chinese A-5C Pack

This page is about the American fighter F3F-2. For the premium version, see Galer's F3F-2.

F3F-2
F2A-1
LOADING...
USA I Rank

Battle rating: Class:

Fighter Naval aircraft
AB RB SB
Description 1.7 1.3 1.3

The F3F-2 is a rank I American fighter Research: Purchase:

with a battle rating of 1.7 (AB) and 1.3
(RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.55
2 900 700
"Royal Armour".
Show in game
The F3F-2 is the sole American biplane
fighter other than its premium variant.
However, it is a very capable biplane fighter, and can be
seen in-game as a rival to the USSR's I-153 Chaika.

As expected with most Rank I fighters, but often Contents

considered "unusual" for an American fighter, the F3F is a
pure-bred turn fighter. Like the Chaika mentioned above, 1 Description
and the polar opposite in performance to the F2A that 2 General info
replaced it in service, the F3F can pull turns with relative 2.1 Flight performance
ease, and also has a very excellent roll rate, which when 2.1.1 Details
abused can provide a tough challenge for most of its 2.2 Survivability and armour
opposition. It easily outclasses all reserve planes except the 2.3 Modifications and economy
Ki-10 in manoeuvrability, and is on par with the I-153 in 3 Armaments
that matter as well. However, the F3F's BR can push it into 3.1 Offensive armament
the domain of Spitfires, late-model I-16s, Ki-43s (as well 3.2 Suspended armament
its bigger brother, the Ki-44) and of course Bf 109s, all of 4 Usage in battles
which are capable of easily disposing of their biplane 4.1 Manual Engine Control
opposition. It isn't the fastest or most climbable fighter 4.2 Pros and cons
either.
5 History
Due to its lacklustre armament (one M2 Browning machine 6 Media
gun with 200 rounds and one 7.62 mm Browning machine 7 See also
gun with 500 rounds), the F3F should mainly go after the 8 External links
fighter opposition, and not after bombers - leave that job to
the P-40s. While it can carry two 100 lb bombs, they are
only effective against lightly armoured targets (armoured cars, artillery, AAA etc.), and if carried early on in
the match can weigh the plane down, affecting its flight characteristics a bit as a result. Leave the bombs
until either the opposition goes passive for a while or air superiority can be obtained for a period of time
over an opposing field of ground targets.

The F3F is armed with one 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun, and one 7.62 mm Browning machine gun,
both are located within the nose of the aircraft right above the engine. While this does mean gun
convergence is not an issue, the two-gun armament can be lacking in both firepower and ammunition count;
the larger M2 has only 200 rounds to play with while the smaller 7.62 has 500 rounds on hand.

Nevertheless, this armament is decent enough to take down reserve and lightly-armoured Rank I planes with
relative ease and, if an experienced player is behind the controls, is capable of dealing with even rank II
aircraft.

The best air-to-air belts for the 12.7 mm MG are either Universal or Stealth belts (good amount of incendiary
bullets), and Universal belts should be used for the 7.62 mm MG.

General info
Flight performance

Arrestor gear
Accelerates braking by grabbing the
brake cable on the deck of the aircraft
carrier

Max speed
at 4 300 m 425 km/h

Turn time 13 s

Max altitude 10 120 m

Engine Wright Cyclone R-1820-22

Type Radial
Cooling system Air

Take-off weight 2t

The F3F-2 is a highly manoeuvrable aircraft as would be expected from its biplane configuration, this allows
it to competitively turn with majority of the enemy aircraft that it encounters, the energy retention is good at
lower speeds (<250 km/h), but at higher speeds the F3F-2 will lose energy quickly when in a hard turn,
problems will be found when facing higher BR monoplane fighters which will have a considerably superior
top speed this can cause problems due to the slower speed of the F3F.
Despite the slower speed of the F3F-2 it does have good early acceleration (0-240 km/h) and will usually be
one of the first aircraft in the air at the start of the match thanks to its 210 m needed takeoff distance, the 16
m/s climb rate will also allow for the F3F-2 to have an altitude against majority of the enemy fighters that it
will face.

Max
Speed Max Turn time Rate of climb Take-
Characteristics (km/h at altitude (seconds) (metres/second) off run
4,300 m) (metres) (metres)
AB RB AB RB AB RB

Stock 407 392 13.5 13.9 11.9 11.9

10120 57
Upgraded 444 425 12.8 13.0 19.9 15.6

Details

Features

Combat Take-off Landing Air Arrestor

flaps flaps flaps brakes gear

X X X X ✓

Limits

Max
Flaps (km/h)
Wings Gear Static G
(km/h) (km/h) Take-
Combat Landing + -
off

810 320 N/A N/A N/A ~13 ~6

Optimal velocities (km/h)

Ailerons Rudder Elevators Radiator

< 220 < 280 < 420 > 250

Survivability and armour

Crew 1 person

Speed of destruction
Structural 810 km/h
Gear 320 km/h

8.5 mm Steel boxes in rear lower fuselage

Self-sealing fuel tanks (1 behind engine and one in front of pilot's feet)
Modifications and economy

Repair cost Basic → Reference

AB 120 → 151
RB 230 → 291
SB 690 → 873

Total cost of modifications 2 980

880

Talisman cost 190

Crew training 200

Experts 1 000
Aces 20
Research Aces 96 000

Reward for battle AB / RB / SB

10 / 20 / 70 %
100 / 100 / 100 %

Modifications

Armaments
Offensive armament

Weapon 1 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun

Ammunition 200 rounds
Fire rate 750 shots/min

Weapon 2 7.62 mm Browning machine gun

Ammunition 500 rounds
Fire rate 1 000 shots/min
The F3F-2 is armed with:

1 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun, nose-mounted (200 rpg)

1 x 7.62 mm Browning machine gun, nose-mounted (500 rpg)

Suspended armament

List of setups (1)

The F3F-2 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

Without load
2 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs (200 lb total)

Usage in battles
The F3F is first and foremost a fighter aircraft, this is a role in which it thrives with its brilliant
manoeuvrability allowing it to deal with majority of enemy aircraft in a turn fight, trying to get an enemy
aircraft to turn with you will be the best way to engage and win a fight, if the enemy is a monoplane they
will usually have worse performance at slower speeds, so making them turn and lose energy is a good way to
gain an advantage with your superior slow speed performance, if the enemy aircraft is also a biplane your
main focus should be preventing them from getting guns onto your aircraft, if you can gain a turning
advantage you should move into position and attempt to down the enemy aircraft, your two guns can end up
putting lots of rounds into an enemy, but a hit to any critical component such as the pilot or engine will
either end the fight or put it strongly in your favour. It is best to avoid "head on" engagements with enemy
aircraft, as the engine on the F3F has a large frontal profile (radial engine) along with the engine front being
exposed, this makes the engine being hit a common occurrence and without your engine survival is unlikely.

The F3F will commonly come across aircraft with superior top speed, such as many of the early Bf-109
variants (A, B-1, E-1 & F-1), these aircraft will usually attempt to use a "boom & zoom" attack style against
your aircraft, the best you can do is to keep a good amount of energy and be ready to evade when the commit
to an attack run, if you can evade them for long enough you will hopefully receive some help from some of
your other team members or you might be able to make the enemy try and commit to a turn fight where you
should have an advantage and be able to critically damage or down their aircraft.

As for using the F3F for close air support (CAS) you will have a few possibilities, the most popular choice
will be to take the two 100 lb bombs (AN-M30A1), these only contain 24.5 kg of explosive mass so you will
need to land them very close to the intended target to do any meaningful damage. A second option is to use
your .50 cal (12.7 mm) Browning M2 machine gun to destroy ground targets, all belts for this gun have 26
mm of penetration, although the ground targets belts are best as they contain more AP rounds, these will be
able to go through SPAA (Self Propelled Anti Aircraft) vehicles as well as some light & medium tanks,
firing at the roof armour or side armour on enemy vehicles will usually prove to be the most likely areas to
achieve penetration.

It is recommended not to hold the brakes on landing, as the F3F will likely flip over, it is best to tap the
breaks on and off to avoid this occurring.

Manual Engine Control

 MEC elements

Radiator
Mixer Pitch Supercharger Turbocharger
Oil Water Type

Controllable Not controllable Not controllable Controllable

Controllable Separate Not controllable
Not auto controlled Not auto controlled Not auto controlled 2 gears

Pros and cons

Pros:

Very good turn rate and roll rate

Capable of dealing with most reserve or rank I aircraft
Can land on carriers, which comes in handy
Massive fuel load
12.7 mm MG can deal damage to light tanks and SPAA vehicles, making it useful for CAS
Good rate of climb when compared to other aircraft at this BR
Incredible rudder at low speeds

Cons:

Limited Armament
Not a very fast plane
Engine is exposed and is susceptible to damage
Will easily flip on landing with constant brake use
rudder becomes stiff above 400 km/h

History
The last biplane fighter in use by the United States Navy, the Grumman F3F first flew on 20 March 1935,
and entered front-line service with VF-5B of USS Ranger the following March. The improved F3F-2 model-
fitted with a more powerful Wright R-1820-22 Cyclone nine-cylinder engine-entered service between 1937-
38 and proved to be the ultimate evolution of American biplane fighter design; it also earned the nickname
"Flying Barrel" due to its modified engine cowling, which had to be larger to fit the new and bigger 1820
cubic-inch (29.88-litre) radial powerplant. The modifications allowed the updated fighter to accelerate to a
higher top speed of 264 miles per hour (425 km/h), improved its climb rate from 2050 to 2750 ft/min (10.4
m/s to 13.7 m/s) and also expanded its service ceiling to 33,200 feet (10,120 m). Despite already being
obsolete by the time it was introduced, Navy pilots loved the tough little Grumman fighter, and the F3F also
influenced and provided a starting point for the design of Grumman's more successful wartime F4F Wildcat
monoplane fighter.

Eighty-one F3F-2s were procured, and served with VF-6 aboard the USS Enterprise as well as Marine
squadrons VMF-1 and VMF-2. The last F3Fs in front-line use by carrier squadrons were gone by 1941
(replaced by newer Brewster F2A Buffalo monoplanes), but remained in use for training and transport duties
during the first two or so years of the United States' involvement in World War II, the last of which was
retired in November 1943.

Media
Skins

Skins and camouflages for the F3F-2 from live.warthunder.com. (https://live.warthunder.com/fe

ed/camouflages/?vehicle=f3f-2)

Videos

THE SHOOTING RANGE #214… War Thunder: The Shooting R…

The Shooting Range #214 - Air Triathlon section at The Shooting Range #96 - Pages of History section at
09:59 discusses the F3F-2. 08:18 discusses the F3F-2.

See also
I-153 M-62
CR.32 bis
CR.42
I-153 M-62 (China)
J11

External links
Official data sheet - more details about the performance (https://forum.warthunder.com/index.ph
p?/topic/285035-grumman-f3f-2/)
[Wikipedia] Grumman F3F
[Mucheswarbirds.com] The Grumman F3F: The U.S. Navy's Last Biplane Fighter (http://web.ar
chive.org/web/20190526124324/http://www.mucheswarbirds.com/F3Fart.html)

Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation [Expand]

USA fighters [Expand]

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 This page was last edited on 26 December 2021, at 08:57.

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