US Navy Aircraft – MAIN FUSELAGE DATA PLATE – F9F PANTHER – KOREAN WAR VETERAN!

Development of the Panther commenced in the final months of World War II to harness the recent innovation of the jet engine. Grumman designed a single-engined, straight-winged day fighter that was armed with four 20 mm (0.79 in) cannons and could also carry a wide assortment of air-to-ground munitions. Production aircraft were typically powered by a single Allison J33 or Pratt & Whitney J48-P-2 turbojet engine. On 21 November 1947, the prototype performed its maiden flight, powered by an imported Rolls-Royce Nene engine. During September 1949, the F9F was cleared for flight from aircraft carriers. 

The Panther was used extensively by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps in the Korean War. On 3 July 1950, a F9F-3 recorded the first U.S. Navy air victory of the conflict, having shot down a propeller-powered Yak-9. In the Korean theatre, Panther pilots cumulatively claimed the shooting down of seven Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s. During 1956, the type was withdrawn from front-line combat service, but remained in secondary roles, such as for training and with U.S. Naval Air Reserve and U.S. Marine Air Reserve units, until 1958. The Panther was also the first jet aircraft used by the Blue Angels aerobatics demonstration team, being flown in this capacity from 1949 through to late 1954. Future astronauts Neil Armstrong and John Glenn both flew the F9F extensively during the Korean War.

The F9F-2B was a variant modified to a fighter bomber, by replacing the standard rocket launcher mounts with 3 Aero 14A Combination Bomb Rack/Rocket Launcher Pylons; and one MK51 Bomb Pylon beneath each wing. The inboard pylon could carry either a 150 gallon drop tank or a 1000 Lb. bomb

 Made of aluminum, this is an EXTREMELY RARE piece, as only 567 of these versions were ever produced! It features 95% original paint, and all markings are very legible.  It indicates:

GRUMMAN AIRCRAFT ENGINEERING CORP.
BETHPAGE, LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK.

MANUFACTURER’S       US GOVERNMENT
MODEL  F9F-2                      F9F-2 MODEL
SERIAL NO 360            123xxx SERIAL NO
MFRD DATE                                 VF CLASS

F9F-2B Bu No 123xxx was assigned to Carrier Air Group 101 (CVG-101) aboard USS Boxer for a deployment to Korea from March 2 to October 24, 1951. During this deployment the squadron lost 2 aircraft. The Squadron was then deployed on USS Kearsarge from 11 August 1952 to 17 March 1953. During this deployment the squadron lost 4 aircraft and two pilots killed.  She was marked as both “A-116” and “A-122” during this time. She survived the war, and eventually made it back to the US as part of an Advance Training Unit. The VERY interesting feature is that this aircraft was photographed in BOTH of her markings (see images), and the model company Hobbbycraft has even made a decal sheet depicting this aircraft as she looked while serving in Korea!