Academy 12313 1/48 F8F-1/2 "USS Tarawa" Le: Bearcat

The Grumman F8F Bearcat is a late-war American single-engine transport fighter. The prototype flight took place on August 21, 1944, and the F8F entered service in February 1945, reaching the Pacific in May of the same year. However, the aircraft did not take an active part in World War II. The heart of the F8F was the powerful Pratt-Whitney R-2800-34W Double Wasp engine with 2400KM and 2800KM supercharged. The Bearcat was lighter than the Hellcat, was significantly faster, and had a much better rate of climb. The F4 Corsair was also ahead of the competition in many respects. Interestingly, many design solutions in the F8F were taken from captured German Fw-190s. F8Fs were used in combat by France in the Indochina War (1946-1954). They were also exported to South Vietnam and Thailand. Technical data (F8F-2 version): Maximum speed: 720 km/h, rate of climb: 25.3 m/s, maximum ceiling 12190 m, maximum range: 1400 km, armament: fixed - four suspended 20mm M2 cannons - up to 908 kg load.

This is an injection-plastic aircraft model kit.