Grumman F9F-6 Cougar

What the F9F-6 Cougar was

The Grumman F9F-6 Cougar was the U.S. Navy’s first swept-wing carrier fighter. Grumman built it by taking the straight-winged F9F Panther and fitting a swept wing, keeping the Panther’s center fuselage, engine and landing gear.

The Navy wanted it because the MiG-15 had shown over Korea that straight-wing jets were outclassed. Grumman got the contract in early 1951, and the XF9F-6 prototype first flew on 20 September 1951, about six months later.

How the Cougar differed from the Panther

The new wing was swept 35 degrees. Grumman also added an all-flying tail, wing fences, larger airbrakes and a larger rudder, and stretched the fuselage by about two feet. The wings folded near the roots for carrier stowage.

The result was a much higher critical Mach number, from 0.79 to 0.86 at sea level. The Cougar could break the sound barrier in a full-power vertical dive, but it was otherwise limited to subsonic level flight.

Engine and armament

The F9F-6 used a Pratt & Whitney J48-P-8 turbojet rated at 7,250 lbf (32 kN) for takeoff. The first 30 aircraft flew with the earlier J42, a licensed Rolls-Royce Nene.

Armament was four 20 mm cannon in the nose. Wing pylons carried two 1,000 lb bombs, or 150-gallon drop tanks.

Explaining the numbers

The full specification table for the aircraft is on this page. A few figures need context.

Wikipedia’s F9F-6 data gives a top speed of 654 mph (1,052 km/h) at sea level, with a service ceiling of 44,500 ft (13,600 m). The later F9F-8 was faster, at about 704 mph according to flugzeuginfo.net.

Range depends on the mission. Wikipedia lists a combat range of 293 mi (472 km) with 1 hour 24 minutes on station, which is far shorter than a ferry range with drop tanks.

Production and variants

The Navy bought 646 F9F-6 fighters, delivered from mid-1952 to July 1954. A photo-reconnaissance version, the F9F-6P, followed with 60 built.

Some F9F-6s became drones and drone controllers. The F9F-7 was a 168-aircraft batch built with the Allison J33 engine, and most were later re-engined with the J48.

The F9F-8 was the improved Cougar, with a larger wing and a slightly longer fuselage. It first flew on 18 January 1954, and 601 were delivered between April 1954 and March 1957. The two-seat F9F-8T became the TF-9J in 1962. Wikipedia gives a total of 1,988 Cougars of all versions.

Service with the Navy

VF-32 was the first fleet squadron to receive the F9F-6, in late 1952. VF-24 took the Cougar to sea aboard USS Yorktown in August 1953, but it was too late to fight in the Korean War.

On 1 April 1954, three VF-21 pilots flew F9F-6s coast to coast, a distance of 2,438 miles (3,924 km), in under four hours. They refueled over Kansas from a North American AJ Savage. The fastest, LCDR F. X. Brady, took 3 hours 45 minutes 30 seconds.

The Blue Angels briefly flew six F9F-6s in 1953. They moved to the F9F-8 in 1954 and flew it until 1957, when they switched to the F11F-1 Tiger.

Vietnam and retirement

The only Cougar version to see combat was the TF-9J. U.S. Marine squadrons H&MS-11 and H&MS-13 used it for forward air control from 1966 to 1968.

The F9F-8 left front-line service in 1958 and 1959, and the Naval Reserve flew it into the mid-1960s. The last Navy Cougar was phased out in February 1974, when training squadron VT-4 re-equipped. Argentina was the only foreign operator, flying two F9F-8T trainers from 1962 to 1971.

Frequently Asked Questions

How good was the F9F Panther?

It was the Navy’s first successful carrier jet fighter, and Panthers flew about 78,000 sorties for the United Nations Command in the Korean War. They scored seven MiG-15 kills for the loss of two F9Fs. Against the MiG-15 itself, the straight-winged Panther was at a disadvantage, which is why the Cougar was built.

Did the F9F Panther have an ejection seat?

Pilots could eject from it. Neil Armstrong ejected from a Panther in 1951 after a wire strung across a valley brought his aircraft down. The Wikipedia article does not say which seat model the Panther used.

Is the F9F Panther still in service?

No. The Panther left U.S. Navy service in 1958 after being withdrawn from front-line combat in 1956. Wikipedia lists one F9F-2B in the airworthy category, at the former Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Texas, but does not confirm its current flight status.

Did the Cougar fight in Korea?

No. VF-24 deployed aboard USS Yorktown in August 1953, too late for the air war. The only Cougar variant to see combat was the TF-9J in Vietnam.

How many F9F-6 Cougars were built?

The Navy bought 646 F9F-6 fighters. Across all variants, including the F9F-7, F9F-8 and the TF-9J trainer, Wikipedia gives 1,988 built.