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Panther

Manufacturer :
Number Built : 1382
Production Began :
Retired : 1958
Type :

The Grumman F9F Panther was the manufacturer's first jet fighter and used very successfully by the U.S. Navy as a carrier based jet fighter. The Panther was the most widely used U.S. Navy jet fighter of the Korean War, flying a total of over 78,000 sorties and scoring the first air-to-air kill by the US Navy in the war, On 3 July 1950, Lieutenant, Leonard H. Plog of U.S. Navy's VF-51 flying an F9F-3 scored the first air victory of the war by shooting down a North Korean Yakolev Yak-9 fighter. This was followed by The first MiG-15 being downed on the 9 November 1950 by U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander William (Bill) Amen of VF-111 "Sundowners" Squadron flying an F9F-2B. Two more were downed on 18 November 1950, and the other two were downed on the 18 November 1952. The US Navy successes during the Korean war from the Panther variants F9F-2s, F9F-3s and F9F-5s downing two Yak-9s and five Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s with a loss of one F9F. The Astronaut Neil Armstrong flew the F9F extensively during the war, even ejecting from one of the aircraft when it was brought down by a wire strung across a valley. Panthers were withdrawn from front-line service in 1956, but remained in training roles and with Reserve units until 1958. Total F9F Panther production was 1,382, with several variants being exported to Argentina.

Panther

Panther Artwork Collection

Panther Pack, Korea, March 1953 by David Pentland.

Good Hunting by Stan Stokes.

A Pair of Famous Nines by Stan Stokes.