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School: Montgomery College: AA Frostburg State University: BS The University of Maryland: BS & Post Graduate Studies
Archdiocese of Washington: Master's Degree in Religious Education and The OSHA Training Institute
7860 planes produced, starting in December, 1940. F4F-4 specs:
320 MPH, six 50 caliber machine guns
One of the first monoplanes to fly from U.S.
carrier decks, the Grumman naval fighter became one of the most
successful, in the hands of Butch O'Hare, Joe Foss, Marion Carl, and
other great pilots. Grumman's stubby, rugged fighter held the line
against the Zeros in the early air battles over Guadalcanal and in
the 1942 carrier battles of the Coral Sea, Midway, and the Eastern Solomons.
In
pure performance, the Zero outclassed the F4F, but with its tough
construction and well-trained pilots using appropriate tactics, the
Wildcat prevailed. Later in the war, the FM-2, an Eastern-produced
version of the Wildcat, flew from escort carriers.
Development
In 1936, the US Navy published a requirement for a carrier-based
fighter, While the Navy first selected the Brewster F2A Buffalo, it
authorized Leroy Grumman's Bethpage, Long Island company to build one
prototype, the XF4F-2
, as an alternative. Experienced builders of carrier planes, the
Grumman designers planned the Wildcat for the challenging take-offs and
landings on small, heaving carrier decks. With large wings, situated
well forward on the fuselage, the plane had very high lift, permitted
quick take-offs, slow landings, and excellent maneuverability. But high
lift resulted in slower speed, which could only be improved with a more
powerful engine.
Grumman test pilot Robert Hall first flew the XF4F-2
in September, 1937. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830-66 Twin
Wasp, rated at 1,050 horsepower, it achieved 290 miles per hour in
test flight. The XF4F-2 featured a cantilever wing set midway up the
fuselage, all-metal construction, semi-monocoque construction,
mill-riveted skin, four .50 caliber machine guns, and main wheels
that retracted into the fuselage. Despite the F4F's speedy performance
in a 1938 fly-off at Anacostia, the Navy went with the Brewster.
"On its own hook," Grumman improved the design further with
the next prototype, the XF4F-3. The "dash Three" had
the more powerful R-1830-76 P&W, larger wings, a better machine
gun installation, and (ultimately) a higher-mounted tailplane. With a
top speed of 335 MPH, it impressed the Navy, and 78 F4F-3
aircraft were ordered in August, 1939.
An export version of the F4F-3, powered by the Wright Cyclone R-1820,
served with the British Fleet Air Arm (FAA), as the Martlet Mark
I. Other Martlet versions included the Mark II, Mark III, and
Mark IV. They served primarily on escort carriers in the Battle of
the Atlantic. Among the notable achievements of FAA Martlet pilots
was the downing of a four-engine Fw 200 Condor off Gibraltar in
September, 1940.
In late 1940 the first F4F-3's arrived with US Navy Squadrons VF-7
and VF-41.
Based on British combat experience, the next version, the
XF4F-4, incorporated:
folding wings
six machine guns (two more than in the F4F-3)
self-sealing gas tanks
armor
These add-ons made the "dash Four" heavier and slower than
the previous version, which the pilots did not like. But the brass
liked the more compact stowage of the folding wings, which enabled
more planes to fit in a carrier.
By the time of Pearl Harbor the Navy and the Marine Corps had 131
Wildcats in eleven fighting squadrons. At Wake Island
, outnumbered the Marine fliers of VMF-211 fought a doomed battle
against the Japanese invaders. Captain Henry T. Elrod of VMF-211, while
flying an F4F-3, sank a Japanese destroyer, and subsequently lost his
life in the land defense of Wake Island. For his combined actions in
defense of Wake Island, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
In February, 1942, the US Navy struck back; carriers Enterprise, Lexington
and Yorktown
raided forward Japanese bases. When Lexington
was sighted and Japanese Betty bombers came after her, Butch O'Hare
shot down five of them in minutes. For this skillful heroism, which
likely saved the carrier, O'Hare was also awarded the Medal of Honor.
At the Battle of Midway, the four Navy carrier-based Navy squadrons were still
adjusting to the "dash Four" Wildcat. Seven F4F's joined
the Buffalo-equipped VMF-221,
based on Midway Island itself; the first Japanese air raid on the
morning of June 4 decimated the squadron, and VMF-221 was out of the
battle. Later that morning, the F4F fighting squadrons from
Enterprise and Hornet escorted SBD's and TBD's, but did
not provide effective cover for the strike planes when they
approached the Japanese carriers. The Yorktown fighters, under
Jimmy Thach, made more of an impact, and claimed five kills.
In connection with the performance of the Zero fighter, any
success we had against the Zero is not due to the performance of the
airplane we fly, but is the result of comparatively poor
marksmanship on the part of the Japanese, stupid mistakes made by a
few of their pilots and superior marksmanship and teamwork on the
part of some of our pilots ... The deficiency not only
prevents our fighter [the F4F] from properly carrying out its
mission but it has had an alarming effect on the morale of the
fighter pilots in the Fleet at this time and on those who are going
to be sent to the Fleet.
Thach and his F4F pilots witnessed the awesome destruction of three
carriers in five minutes by the American SBD dive bombers. Later that
afternoon, Scott McCuskey and other VF-3 Wildcat pilots flew CAP over
Yorktown when the Japanese struck back. Despite claiming 11
Vals, a few got through and crippled the flattop.
Guadalcanal
When the U.S. forces invaded Guadalcanal in August, 1942, the big
prize, the island's strategic importance, was an unfinished Japanese
airstrip on the north side of the island. Later that strip would become
Henderson Field. Days after the first infantrymen occupied the area,
Marine Corps Wildcats landed. In the ensuing weeks and months, those
stubby fighters protected the tenuous American hold on the island.
While bloody battles were fought on the ground at Guadalcanal, air
power made the difference. Almost every day, Japanese Betty bombers
and Zero fighters made the long flight from Rabaul to strike at
Guadalcanal. Forewarned by the Coastwatchers and by radar, the F4F's
of the "Cactus Air Force" would scramble in time to gain
altitude, and then hit the Japanese raiders. In the first few weeks,
Major John Smith's VMF-223 flew their Wildcats "into the ground."
The Wildcat was aptly named; it was tricky and unforgiving to fly.
Its landing gear was not well-suited to the muddy and dusty
conditions of Henderson Field. The controls could be mushy when
maneuverability was most needed. There was no way to jettison the
hood. The pilot's seat was cramped and too low for optimal
visibility. It was not as agile as the Zero. Usually, the F4F pilots
tried to zoom through the screening Zeros and go after the bomber
directly. With altitude, they could adopt hit-and-run tactics; their
rugged construction resisted the Japanese 7.7mm machine gun bullets.
The great Japanese ace Saburo Sakai described the Wildcat in the book Zero:
I had full confidence in my ability to destroy the Grumman and
decided to finish off the enemy fighter with only my 7.7mm machine
guns. I turned the 20mm. cannon switch to the 'off' position, and
closed in. For some strange reason, even after I had poured
about five or six hundred rounds of ammunition directly into the
Grumman, the airplane did not fall, but kept on flying. I thought
this very odd - it had never happened before - and closed the
distance between the two airplanes until I could almost reach out
and touch the Grumman. To my surprise, the Grumman's rudder and
tail were torn to shreds, looking like an old torn piece of rag.
With his plane in such condition, no wonder the pilot was
unable to continue fighting! ... A Zero which had taken that many
bullets would have been a ball of fire by now.
Through 1942 and the relatively less intense first half of 1943, the
US Navy and Marine Corps relied, by necessity, on the F4F, and 46 of
those pilots 'made ace' in the tough little Grumman. Starting in the
sumer of 1943, the Hellcat and Corsair replaced the Wildcat in the
Naval services' fighting squadrons.
The Eastern Wildcat
From very early in 1942, it became clear that Grumman would need to
focus on the Hellcat program. As part of wartime cooperation, General
Motors' Eastern Aircraft Division took over production of the Wildcat.
Over the course of the war, Eastern turned out 1,151 FM-1
's and 4,777 FM-2
's (far more than Grumman ever produced).
At the Battle of Leyte
Gulf, FM-2 pilots, flying from escort carriers, distinguished
themselves in launching repeated attacks against the Japanese
battlewagons, sometimes unarmed!
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Portable ladders are a simple and effective means for safe climbing except for one major problem.People sometimes find portable ladders so easy to use that they neglect normal precautions and safety rules. The result, too often, is an accident.
Almost all ladder accidents can be avoided by following the basic rules of ladder safety:
1)No ladder is safe unless it is the right type and size for the job.Using the right type of ladder makes the job safer. Do not use a stepladder to do the job of a straight ladder, by leaning the step ladder against a support.
2)The right length is important. Stepladders are safest if they are 10 feet or less in length, and they should never be longer than 20 feet.
3)Metal ladders must not be used in the vicinity of exposed electrical circuits.
4)A ladder should always be examined before it is used to be sure there are no defects that make it unsafe to use.
5)After setting the ladder in place, check it for firm and level footing.To prevent slipping, non-slip points or safety shoes are recommended.
6)Never carry tools or materials in your hands when going up or down the ladder. Instead put them in a sack that hangs from a strap over your shoulder, wear a tool belt, or use a rope to raise and lower them.
7)Don’t overreach or try to reposition the ladder while you are on it. Instead, get down and move the ladder to a better working position.
Car accident in rush hour caused by speeding
