Plane Review - Grumman F4F3 Wildcat

F4F3 plane analysis

Grumman's cat takes to the skies.

 

Click here to see the Youtube video review with commentary&gameplay

Introduction:

A level 5 plane of the American tech tree, the F4F3 Wildcat is the second carrier borne fighter model the player has, after flying the Buffalos. An average plane in most regards the Wildcat is a trusty plane that gets the job done, even if it does so without being spectacular in any of it's details.

Slightly lighter than it's higher level sibling, the F4F4, the F3 version also has a lighter armament. Four 50 caliber heavy machineguns might seem too light at punch at the beginning but in fact they're pretty effective against the competition you'll probably find.

Being carrier borne this is a fighter that can be used to it's full in every map in the rotation - unlike army aircraft which can't land on carriers in Pacific based maps. As a naval fighter the F4F naturally sports a good handling and behavior at slow speeds and is a pretty decent turnfighter. However it's an american plane and as all american planes it's true desire is to stay in Boom and Zoom realm.

A little, yet trustable, fighter, the F4F3 is not a common sight in the skies of War Thunder probably because of the better options the american line has at the immediate lower and higher levels, but is still a plane that does its job, and does it well.

General description:

The Grumman F4F Wildcat is a mid-wing single engine fighter with a traditional configuration. Sporting a very large wing area for it's size and weight it has a pretty low wingloading, thus making it a good plane to fly even at slow speeds. Being somewhat chubby and barrel like in appearance, a trademark of the Grumman fighters, it's got surprisingly decent aerodynamics for high speed tactics.

Powered by a 1200hp Pratt&Whitney R-1830 radial engine the F4F3 weighs 3.5 tons in a normal takeoff configuration, a pretty hefty weight for a plane of it's size. As a result climb and acceleration, while adequate, are far from excellent.

With four 50 caliber M2 machineguns in the wings the F4F also has an adequate firepower for the level it sits at, again being far from excellent in this department, is still good enough to get the job done.

It's a hard plane to admire or to highlight for any single given quality, as the Wildcat is a plane that is either average or good in most regards, but doesn't excel at anything in particular. If anything should be emphasized as the strenght of this plane is the overall pack, a very solid workhorse, unimpressive in detail, but very capable as a whole.

Maneouverability:

Naval fighters needed good slow speed handling to be able to safely land and takeoff from carriers. To provide for that, the Wildcat has a wing with a very large area for a plane that size. The plane is small for that weight, but the big wing area means a low wingloading, which also translates into good turning ability, which ony improves with smart use of combat flaps at the key moments. As long as the F4F has speed and energy to burn, it certainly can turn, and turn pretty well.

Control surfaces are effective up to very high speed but roll is, put it mildly, bad. The plane is a definitely underaverage roller, and has a particular problem in this area is that it gets worse as the speeds increase so you really have to bank your plane into the proper angle for the shot you want before you dive. Mid-dive roll adjustements are very slow.

All things taken in account the F4F is a pretty nice little maneouvering plane able to turn really well and keeping most of it's controllability at high speeds. As with almost every other thing in this plane, it's not a spectacular performer in a turn, nor has impressive high speed controllability but still is pretty good at both.

Performance:

Being a naval fighter was a serious penalty for planes of that era (1941). Planes had to be stressed to take the rough conditions of seaborne operations and the tough landings that were part of the normal life of a carrier borne plane. They also needed big wings and naval equipment such as hooks, emergency rations, etc. The F4F being a pretty small fighter was a pretty heavy one aswell.

The R-1830 was a trustworthy, effective and reliable performer, but delivered - a very average number for 1941 - 1200hp. For a plane that weighed 3.5 tons that was adequate, but was far from being very good. To establish comparisons, the 1941 Spitfire Mk.V had a 1270hp engine on a 3000kg airframe while the Bf109F4 sported a 1325hp engine on a 2800kg one. Unsurprisingly, the Wildcat was far from the accelerations and climbrates of the land-based purebreed fighters, and is the same in War Thunder.

 It's strongly advised to climb away from the main action at the game start to win enough altitude before entering combat as the lack of acceleration and climb of the plane means that there will be no huge energy incomes while in the middle of a fight. Energy should be in your side before the fight actually begins.

To compound the lack of climb and acceleration, the F4F is decidedly a plane with a slow top speed. You won't run away from much of the opposition you'll find and catching up with fleeing enemies is a tough proposition, unless you're diving on them.

Performance wise the F4F is certainly not a hotrod so your flying style should take that in account in order to be succesful in it.

Energy keeping and high speed performance:

If performance was lackluster at best, in this area is where the F4F comes into it's own. Far from being the latewar Boom and Zoom monster later planes as the Corsair or P51 are, the F4F is still one of the best Boom and Zoomers of it's level.

3.5 tons is not a lot when you compare this fighter with much higher level fighters, but at the low level fights the Wildcat will see, is a pretty hefty weight. And while the Wildcat is not really an aerodynamic marvel from the point of view of it's shape it has a pretty small frontal area so it's high speed aerodynamics are definitely not bad at all.

It's pretty easy to see where I'm heading here - the Wildcat is a very good Boom and Zoomer. Has a very good (for it's level) energy retention at high speed and feels great in sustained high speed dive and zoom chains where it'll keep it's energy while lighter oponents will waste theirs.

Dive performance and acceleration is really good and is possible to maneouver the plane without a problem even at speeds over 750kph (of course taking care of not overstressing the plane with too many Gs) while retaining most of it's controllability all through the speed ranges. A very high speed dive immediately followed by a low angle zoom is enough to leave behind most of the opposition it will find as the momentum of the plane carries it forward.

Over 450kph IAS this plane retains energy pretty well while keeping most of it's maneouverability. Again, this is not an out of the world performance as other similar level fighters as the P40E share this quality. Once again the Wildcat is good in something, but it's not the best at it.

Firepower&Weapons: 

The Wildcat has four (the F4F4 has six) Browning M2 50 caliber machineguns, mounted on the wings. While this can seem as if no improvements in firepower have happened on the step up from the F2A2 Buffalo, which also has four machineguns, those weapons still get the job done without too much trouble even against most enemy bombers you'll find.

The Browning 50 cals are trusty performers and more than enough hard hitting to deal fatal damage to the planes you'll likely find (most of them lightly protected). Lacking the per-round hitting power of 20mm cannons, which you'll start seeing a lot in the fights you'll be in with this plane, the 50 cals rely on fire saturation over time to deal damage. Usually an one-second solid burst on an enemy plane will either kill it or render it so hard to maneouver that will be out of the fight and easy to kill in a second burst.

As most american fighters the F4F comes with a sizeable ammo count, allowing for long sustained fire and pretty long bursts. Just watch your fire not to jam your weapons as it's perfectly possible to do so.

Convergences are a matter of personal taste, but the machineguns rely on kinetic energy to deal fatal damage and as such they should be set close enough, as at long ranges the weapons deal very little damage. As a result convergences of around 250 to 350m work very well for this fighter, and going lower than that is also a very viable option if you're a player that opens fire only at very close ranges.

Ammo belt choice for the american 50 cals is centered around putting the API round to work - so choose a belt that has a good load of those. Omnipurpose and Stealth both work really well, it's up to you to choose wether you want to see your tracers or not (but remember, the enemy will see them aswell).
Antiarmor gives you pure AP rounds, but API works almost as good in punching holes in enemy tough components (engines, armor plate) and also has an incendiary ability you should not want to give up.


The F4F can mount very light bombs which not only hamper your ability to maneouver and your performance, but also are almost worthless. Just don't use them.

Tactics:

Tactics when using this plane should be focused around Boom and Zoom as is probably where the Wildcat strenght relies the most. The F4F can turn with or better than most things it'll find in the skies as long as they don't have a japanese roundel. Versus the japanese just hit and run, stay fast, dive and zoom and never, ever, slow down or run out of energy or you'll die in no time.

Base your flying on high speed tactics mainly. Your energy retention at speeds over 400kph IAS is very good, your dive and zoom abilities are amongst the best in planes of this level and the high controllability of the plane at all speeds means that high speed passes won't be hard to achieve - as long as you take in account that the plane is not exactly a stellar roller.

The four 50 cals are not really suited for heavy duty BnZ work as they rarely kill in one pass. It's possible , but it's not the norm. So do high speed slashing attacks, get as many bullets as you can on target, extend away using your superior zoom, and then re-set your attack and come again in another slashing pass. 

If forced on the defensive or subjected to an attack, use the wildcat's dive to accelerate to high speeds and then enter a slight angle zoom climb (5-10 degrees) until your speed hits around 370kph. Then rinse and repeat. The chaining of boom and zoom moves means that lighter planes will slow down earlier and in due time will be left behind. But remember that your own plane top speed is limited and that most of the enemies will be faster - use your dive and zoom to gain separation, equalize energies first, and an upper hand later. Once that is achieved is time to reverse on him because if the chase drags long enough the enemy's higher speed will win the day.

 Worse comes to worst, the F4F is a pretty nice turner - but is nowhere near Japanese levels. Against soviet and german oposition and when forced to, don't be afraid to turnfight as your plane can do it as good or better than them. Against the japanese however, your only option is to keep on going at high speed.

On the offensive just stay fast and quick. Boom and Zoom. Don't get greedy and don't fall for the trap of trusting your turn ability too much (again, specially not against the japanese). Stay fast, stay quick, and only use that slow speed turning ability when forced to, don't make it your main fighting tactic because that will mean you'll waste your energy and leave yourself open to being attacked by higher enemies.

A good advice in this plane is to keep a hard deck in your mind. Select an altitude that'll allow you plenty of defensive options and never go under that when in the offensive as long as there are enemy fighters up high. If an enemy fighter dives under that altitude give up, zoom climb back to an altitude and look for other targets. Only dive under that altitude when in the defensive, and when all the enemy fighter opposition is lower than you.

CONCLUSSION:

The F4F is a prime instance of a plane that doesn't shine in anything in particular, yet it does quite well, or really well, in some departments. Is one of those jack of all trades and master of none, and of course that means that the fighter is not spectacular at all. But it gets the job done and is efficient at it.

While it might lack the style and high attractive qualities of other, faster and better climbing planes, the F4F's strenghts stem from the fact that it always has something that gives it an advantage over any fighter it'll find, be it by outmaneouvering them in slow speed turnfights, or by resorting to high speed tactics.

Hardly a hard hitter, still has weapons that do the job. Hardly a stellar performer, still is a solid all rounder. Unnatractive as it is, it's still a very effective ride, but not the easiest because it demands knowledge of the own plane and the enemy one to know which tactic to apply in a given fight. And having its strongest style in Boom and Zoom, which newcomers to the game generally haven't mastered yet at level 5, means that it is a challenging ride.

But with a little bit of effort and learning, this plane is really, really good. It does the job and does it really well - just not with the style or flair that other fighters do.
And that seems to fit the plane and history pretty well - the Wildcat was never the best fighter around, it was never stilish, a top performer, or admired by it's lines, it was never thought as a legendary plane in the same scale as other contemporary fighters were, but it got the job done and very effectively. That's the case in War Thunder aswell. A true, trustworthy, workhorse indeed.





For further information, and to see gameplay of the plane flown right, check out my Youtube analysis on the plane