
29 January 1936: The first production Grumman F3F-1, Bureau of Aeronautics serial number (“Bu. No.”) 0211 (Grumman Model G-11, serial number 271), was delivered to the United States Navy at NAS Anacostia, Washington, D.C. The F3F series was the last biplane fighter in service with the U.S. Navy.
The production F3F-1 aircraft were preceded by three XF3F-1 prototypes. Interestingly, all three prototypes had the same Grumman serial number, 257, and were assigned Bu. No. 9727. Two of these crashed.
The F3F-1 was built by the Grumman Aircraft and Engineering Corporation at Farmingdale, New York, in factory space rented from Fairchild Aircraft Company. It was a single-bay wire-braced biplane with manually-operated retractable landing gear and an enclosed cockpit with a sliding canopy. It had an arresting hook for landing aboard aircraft carriers.
The airplane had an aluminum monocoque fuselage with fabric covered wings, ailerons, rudder and elevators. The vertical fin and horizontal stabilizer were of metal construction. The ailerons were positioned on the upper wing. The wings for the F3F-1 and F3F-2 were built by the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation under a subcontract.

The F3F-1 was 23 feet, 3½ inches (7.099 meters) long. The upper wing had a span of 32 feet (9.754 meters) and a chord of 5 feet (1.524 meters). The lower wing’s span was 29 feet, 6 inches (8.992 meters) with a 4 foot (1.219 meters) chord. The total wing area was 260.6 square feet (24.2105 square meters). Both wings used a NACA CYH airfoil. The upper wing had no dihedral, but the lower wing had 2° dihedral. The vertical gap between the wings was 5 feet (1.524 meters) and the wings were staggered 2 feet, 7-1/16 inches (0.7889875 meters). The aircraft had an overall height of 10 feet, 6 inches (3.200 meters) with the thrust line level, and 8 feet 6 inches (2.591 meters) in three point attitude (not including the propeller).

The F3F-1 was powered by an air-cooled, supercharged, 1,534.94-cubic-inch-displacement (25.153 liters) Pratt & Whitney R-1535-84 Twin Wasp Junior. This was a two-row, 14-cylinder radial engine, with a compression ratio of 6.75:1, requiring 87-octane gasoline. The direct drive engine turned a two-blade adjustable pitch Hamilton Standard propeller. The R-1535-84 was rated at 650 horsepower at 2,200 r.p.m. at 7,500 feet (2,286 meters), and 700 horsepower at 2,250 r.p.m. for takeoff. It was 3 feet, 8-1/8 inches (1.1208 meters) long, 3 feet, 6-3/8 inches (1.107 meters) in diameter, and weighed 959 pounds (434 kilograms).
The F3F-1 had a fuel capacity of 110 U.S. gallons (416 liters) in a 75 gallon (284 liter) main, and 35 gallon (132 liter) auxiliary tank. Its gross weight was 4,116 pounds (1,867 kilograms).
The F3F series was armed with one M1919 .30-caliber Browning machine gun with 500 rounds of ammunition, and one M2 .50-caliber Browning machine gun with 200 rounds. It could also carry a 110 pound (50 kilogram) bomb on a centerline bomb rack.
The F3F-1 had a maximum speed of 231 miles per hour (372 kilometers per hour) at 7,500 feet (2,286 meters). It could climb at 1,900 feet per minute (9.65 meters per second) and had a service ceiling of 29,500 feet (8,992 meters).

The U.S. Navy ordered 54 F3F-1 fighters in August 1935. The final airplane in this series was modified to the XF3F-2, substituting a Wright Cyclone XR-1820-22 engine, rated at 850 horsepower at 2,100 r.p.m., and 950 horsepower at 2,200 r.p.m. for takeoff. This engine installation reduced the length of the airplane to 23 feet, 1-5/8 inches (7.052 meters).
A total of 147 F3F-1, -2 and -3 fighters were built. The type was retired in 1943.
The first F3F-1, Bu. No. 0211, crashed at sea near NAS Miami in March 1942.

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