Talk:Grumman F9F Panther/Archive 1

Film observation
I was a member of vf154 on board the uss Yorktown cva 10, in 1954, we had f9f-5 panther jets. The film made was " Jet Carrier" by Otto Lang. The Yorktown was called " The Fighting Lady. Bob Taranto.


 * Thanks Bob! I'll keep an eye out for the film. - BillCJ 22:27, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

First Kill
The opening paragraph states that "The Panther ... was responsible for the first air kill in the war—the downing of a North Korean Yakovlev Yak-9 fighter" and later the article states that "On 3 July 1950, LTJG 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 Yak-9."

This incident may have been the USN's first air-to-air victory (I'll have to check my sources to confirm) but the first overall air-to-air victory is generally considered to have been by USAF 1LT William Hudson, an F-82 Twin Mustang pilot, on 27 June 1950--almsot a week before Plog's claim--against a Yak fighter of some sort. 172.131.84.109 03:02, 1 June 2007 (UTC)RKH
 * According to the ACIG listing, Plog was not first by quite a few. http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_307.shtml for the information. -- Thatguy96 03:14, 1 June 2007 (UTC)


 * In the ACIG article "Honchos" you will find that a Panther actually achieved the FIRST JET-VS JET VICTORY IN HISTORY. Although both Soviets and Americans had earlier claims, the Amen's victory is the first one supported by the opposing sides' records. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.137.121.94 (talk) 19:31, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

The Hunt for Red October
According to the trivia page for Red October on IMDB, a plane of this type was the one that crashed on the aircraft carrier in the movie. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099810/trivia Can we get some more information about this and include it in the article? --Tiberius47 (talk) 03:11, 11 October 2008 (UTC)


 * If that was the case they edited an F-14 into the image —Preceding unsigned comment added by AVKent882 (talk • contribs) 15:58, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

Second life as playground fixtures
I believe that a number of these aircraft were retired into playground fixtures. I know that one was installed at a neighborhood park in Costa Mesa, California and given a cement coating. Has this occurred elsewhere? knoodelhed (talk) 07:45, 30 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Hi! Hmm. In "Wacker Park", in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, there used to be a steam locomotive and a fighter jet, displayed end to end, near the public restrooms, if I recall right. The steam locomotive was relocated to be a display by the "Depot Museum", while the airplane was sold, or given, to the first person with the legal means to haul it away. Sigh. But if I recall right, at the time I thought it was a, "Crusader". But now that I've seen your question, I wonder if that impression is in error. Maybe it was one of the "Panther" jets? That would make sense, as the cat is the local school mascot. Hmm. LeoStarDragon1 (talk) 20:58, 2 June 2015 (UTC)

Only one loss in Korean War - Armstrong?
Neil Armstrong was brought down by a wire strung across a valley in Korea during the war. The article says only one F9F lost in the entire war - so was this Armstrong's aircraft? Little grape (talk) 19:18, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

Confusing Article
This article is confusing on F9F mods and engine types, at least to me. The early narrative portions give the impression that various engines were tried, but that they settled on the J48 during the development phase. The list of variants, though, notes several production versions with J33 and J42 engines. And the entry on the F9F-4 says that they were powered by J33s and most were later re-engined with J42s. But then it says that these aircraft were actually completed as F9F-5s, which are described as having J48 engines. Keacla1 (talk) 08:44, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

Inconsistent lists of armament
Greetings Wikipedians! The only armament listed in the Specifications section is the AN/M3 cannon. This is inconsistent with the Design section, which states: "...the Panther was soon armed with underwing air-to-ground rockets and up to 2,000 lb (910 kg) of bombs." The two sections should be consistent, and the one in the Design section should be supported by an inline citation. Cordially, BuzzWeiser196 (talk) 11:36, 27 July 2021 (UTC)
 * The Swanborough and Bowers book cited in the article is a single-volume general reference that covers virtually everything in the USN inventory from 1911 to 1976, so the specifications in the book are necessarily short, and in this case, the info in the article actually has the opposite problem from what you suggest: the book only says that the aircraft is armed with four forward-firing 20mm cannons, full stop—nothing about the type nor the number of rounds per gun. I've added a Failed Verification tag. What the page needs is a more detailed source. Carguychris (talk) 13:38, 27 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Cites added for the guns and number of hardpoints.Nigel Ish (talk) 14:16, 27 July 2021 (UTC)
 * @User:Nigel Ish @User:Carguychris Thanks for the quick response. BuzzWeiser196 (talk) 09:55, 28 July 2021 (UTC)

"The Mig 15 was a better plane" is subjective
Should be replaced with more neutral terms. Perhaps "The more advanced MiG-15 with superior high-speed maneuverability" or something Memelephant (talk) 13:31, 21 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Good observation! 'Better' does not have to be subjective, but it is vague. From the facts, i.e. the F9F surviving 263 hits, one could also say something like: "The more advanced MiG-15 had superior high-speed maneuverability, but the F9F had far better survivability." I do not suggest you do, because I am not well versed in the aircraft of the time. What I do know is that determining the better aircraft is a complex issue, and that is probably also what the incident suggests.Grieg2 (talk) 13:49, 21 May 2023 (UTC)

"It was the first jet-powered fighter aircraft operated by the United States Navy"?
The first paragraph of the lede ends by saying the Panther was "It was the first jet-powered fighter aircraft operated by the United States Navy," but this does not seem to be true. The Panther, according to this article, first flew in November 1947 and entered service in May 1949. That means it was preceded by two other jet fighters in US Navy service, the McDonnell F2H Banshee (first flight January 1947 and service in August 1948) and the even earlier McDonnell FH Phantom (first flight in January 1945 and service in August 1947, nearly two years before the Panther). It does appear that it was the first US Navy jet fighter to see air-to-air combat, but it was not the first to be operated. It wasn't even the second. --OuroborosCobra (talk) 17:01, 3 April 2024 (UTC)