Aircraft

Grumman G-23 / FF / SF / F3F / F2F-1

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In 1931 the XFF-1 prototype two-seat carrier-based biplane fighter flew for the first time. It was of advanced design with enclosed cockpits (the canopy made up of telescoping sections) and a landing gear that retracted into well-type recesses in the forward fuselage sides.

On 6 March 1931 Grumman signed a contract to supply, for $73,975, one XFF-1 (experimental fighter, Grumman, model 1). Not a cent was to be paid until the XFF-1 had been accepted by the customer. Grumman hired Bill McAvoy from the NACA to make the first flight on 29 December 1931, powered by a 575 hp Wright R¬1820E Cyclone. It soon clocked 195 mph in level flight. Later, with a 750 hp R 1820F Cyclone, it achieved 323 km/h (201 mph).

Grumman G-23 Article

In August 1932 Grum¬man flew the XSF-1 scout, with one of the fixed guns replaced by 45 gal of extra fuel, and this reached 207 mph. 33 SF 1s were ordered with revised internal equipment and R 1820 84 engines. These also served in the Lexington, with Scout Squadron VS 3B.

But the break¬through came just before Christ¬mas 1932, when everyone was about to be laid off because there were insufficient funds to pay the wages: the navy ordered 27 FF-ls. Deliveries of 27 FF 1s, with 559kW R 1820 78 engines, began to VF 5B (Lexing¬ton) in June 1933. Armament comprised two 0.30 in (7.62 mm) Browning machine guns in the upper front fuselage, with another in the rear cockpit, and there was provision for one 45.36 kg (100 lb) bomb beneath each lower wing.

FF-1

In 1934 similar but R-1820-84-powered SF-1 scouts were delivered.
FF-1s and SF-1s totalled 60 aircraft and in 1933 these equipped fighter Squadron VF-5B aboard USS Lexington, and from then on the company never looked back. In 1935-36 the 25 surviv¬ing Fifis (the FF had to be called that) were modified with the cock¬pits arranged for dual-control pilot training. All FF 1 s and SF 1 s were withdrawn from front¬line service by the end of 1936, but served with reserve units (the former as FF 2 train¬ers) until late 1940.

Can Car’s entry into the aviation industry was in 1936 when the company obtained a licence to assemble the Grumman FF 2 (redesignated G 23 in Canada), a two seat, carrier based, naval biplane fighter, which had first flown in 1931. It combined a duralumin stressed skin fuselage and tail with wings consisting of metal ribs and spars covered with fabric. It was also the first of its kind to have retractable undercarriage. The G 23 was already close to being obsolete by the time assembly started and there could have been no obvious market among the major aviation powers, who already possessed higher performance biplanes or were developing faster low wing monoplane fighters. By mid 1938, 42 G 23s had been assembled at the company’s plant in Fort William, Ontario, one each for Nicaragua (The prototype Grumman G 23 was sold in Nicaragua and returned to the USA in the 1960s) and Japan and the remaining forty for Turkey. Thirty -four of the latter had been shipped when complaints were received from representatives of the Spanish Nationalists that Spain, not Turkey, was the final destination of these aircraft. The GE-23s were assembled in Barcelona and pushed into service as ground-attack and reconnaissance aircraft. Despite its retractable landing gear, the GE-23 was only marginally faster but considerably less agile than the CR.32 flown by the Italians and Nationalists, and only nine survived destruction in the air or on the ground to fall into Nationalist hands at the end of the war.

GE-23

An additional ten G 23s were built and, with the exception of one sent to Mexico, these were offered to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) along with the remaining six from the ‘Turkish’ order. The RCAF was at first reluctant to accept the aircraft and the offer had to be made three times before the desperation produced by war forced them to take the G 23 into service as the Goblin in mid 1940. For a time, these fifteen obsolete aircraft formed the country’s main fighter force on the east coast, but by April 1942 all of the Goblins had been scrapped.

Other G 23s survived a bit longer than that. Several of the Spanish machines were taken over by the Nationalist forces at the end of the Civil War and the last was only scrapped in 1955.

FF-2

A single seat derivative of the FF-1, the XF2F-1 was flown by Paul Hovgard on 18 October 1933. Though a very tricky aircraft, needing (for example) care not to stall/spin off too tight a turn in the circuit, the single-seater had the outstanding speed range of 65 mph up to 230. The engine was the 14-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-1535-72 Twin Wasp Junior, rated at 700 hp. The navy placed its biggest order since 1918: 55 F2Fs. These were delivered in 1935, and not only out-performed everything in the Army Air Corps but probably any other fighter in service anywhere. Even so, it was still tricky, and after designer Bill Schwendler had suggested improvements the navy ordered that these should be incorporated in the last of the 55, to be called the XF3F-1.

F2F-1
Corsair V93S in Royal Thailand Air Force

After de¬signer Bill Schwendler had suggested improvements to the F2F the navy ordered that these should be incorporated in the last of the 55, to be called the XF3F-1. This had a greater span, longer fuselage, bigger cockpit and other changes. During tests the pilot made a long vertical dive and then pulled out violently. He was aiming for 9 g. but calculations afterwards showed he actually pulled 14 g leading to fatal break-up. But after a small ventral fin had been added under the tail of a second prototype the navy placed another record order, for 54 F3F-ls, priced at over $lm. The F3F-1, powered by the 484kW R-1535-72, was good, and it carried one 0.5-in gun, one 0.3-in and two 116-lb bombs, but it could do with a bigger engine. The upshot was that on 23 March 1937 the navy placed another record order: 81 F3F-2s, priced at $1,674,310. These were powered by the 850-hp Wright Cyclone, turning a Hamilton propeller with three controllable-pitch blades. Grumman had to farm out the wings and tails to rival Brewster, but when fitted with the Cyclone R-1820-22 rated at 950 hp and the result was an order for 27 F3F-3s. They were so good the last did not come off the line until May 1939.

F3F

Gallery

FF-1
Engine: Wright R-1820-78, 750 hp.
Seats: 2.
Wingspan: 36 ft 6in.
Length: 7.47 m (24 ft 6 in)
Gross Weight: 2110 kg (4655 lb)
Maximum speed: 333 km/h (207 mph).
Armament: 3 x 0.3 in mg, 200 lb underwing bomb load.

FF-2
Engine: 1 x Wright R-1820-78, 552kW
Max take-off weight: 2190 kg / 4828 lb
Empty weight: 1474 kg / 3250 lb
Wingspan: 10.52 m / 34 ft 6 in
Length: 7.47 m / 24 ft 6 in
Height: 3.38 m / 11 ft 1 in
Wing area; 28.80 sq.m / 310.00 sq ft
Max. speed: 333 km/h / 207 mph
Ceiling: 6400 m / 21000 ft
Range: 1428 km / 887 miles
Armament: 3 x 7.62mm machine-guns
Crew: 2

F2F-1
Engine: 1 x Pratt-Whitney R-1535-72 Twin Wasp, 485kW / 700 hp
Max take-off weight: 1745 kg / 3847 lb
Empty weight: 1221 kg / 2692 lb
Wingspan: 8.69 m / 28 ft 6 in
Length: 6.53 m / 21 ft 5 in
Height: 2.77 m / 9 ft 1 in
Wing area: 21.37 sq.m / 230.02 sq ft
Max. Speed: 383 km/h / 238 mph
Cruise speed: 225 km/h / 140 mph
Range: 1585 km / 985 miles
Armament: 2 x 7.62mm (0.3 in) machine-guns, 200 lb underwing bomb load.
Crew: 1

GE-23
Engine: 1 x Wright R-1820-F52, 596.5kW (800hp).
Span: 10.515m (34ft 6in).
Length: 7.467m (24ft 6in).
Max T/O weight: 2190 kg (4,828 lb).
Max speed: 216 mph at 7,000 ft.
Operational range: 921 miles.
Armament: 3 x 7.62-mm (0.3-in) mg.

F3F-1
Engine: Pratt & Whitney R-1535-72, 700 hp.
Armament: 1 x 0.5 in & 2 x 0.3 in mg, 232 lb underwing bomb load.
Seats: 1.

F3F-2
Engine: Wright Cyclone R-1820-22, 850 hp.
Wing span: 32 ft.
Armament: 2 x 0.3 in mg, 200 lb underwing bomb load.
Seats: 1.

F3F-3
Engine: Wright Cyclone R-1820-22, 950 hp / 708kW
Wingspan: 9.75 m / 31 ft 12 in
Length: 7.06 m / 23 ft 2 in
Height: 2.84 m / 9 ft 4 in
Wing area: 24.15 sq.m / 259.95 sq ft
Max take-off weight: 2175 kg / 4795 lb
Empty weight: 1490 kg / 3285 lb
Max. speed: 425 km/h / 264 mph
Cruise speed: 241 km/h / 150 mph
Ceiling: 10120 m / 33200 ft
Range: 1577 km / 980 miles
Crew: 1
Armament: 2 x 7.62mm machine-guns

Grumman F2F
Grumman F3F-1

Grumman J2F Duck / OA-12 / JF / G-15

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J2F Duck

The J2F was an equal-span single-bay biplane with a large monocoque central float which also housed the retractable main landing gear, a similar design to the Leroy Grumman-designed landing gear first used for Grover Loening’s early amphibious biplane designs, and later adopted for the Grumman FF fighter biplane. The aircraft had strut-mounted stabilizer floats beneath each lower wing. A crew of two or three were carried in tandem cockpits, forward for the pilot and rear for an observer with room for a radio operator if required. It had a cabin in the fuselage for two passengers or a stretcher.

The Duck’s main pontoon was blended into the fuselage, making it almost a flying boat despite its similarity to a conventional landplane which has been float-equipped. This configuration was shared with the earlier Loening OL, Grumman having acquired the rights to Loening’s hull, float, and undercarriage designs. Like the F4F Wildcat, its narrow-tracked landing gear was hand-cranked.

Production of this general utility amphibian began in 1933 when the first prototype flew, and production continued until 1945. In all, nine series of the Duck were built.

The J2F-1 Duck first flew on 2 April 1936, powered by a 750 hp (559 kW) Wright R-1820 Cyclone, and was delivered to the U.S. Navy on the same day. The J2F-2 had an uprated Wright Cyclone engine of 790 hp (589 kW). Twenty J2F-3 variants were built in 1939 for use by the Navy as executive transports with plush interiors. Due to pressure of work following the United States entry into the war in 1941, production of the J2F Duck was transferred to the Columbia Aircraft Corp of New York. They produced 330 aircraft for the Navy and U.S. Coast Guard. If standard Navy nomenclature practice had been followed, these would have been designated JL-1s, but it was not, and all Columbia-produced airframes were delivered as J2F-6s.

The first appeared for the Navy in 1933 as the JF-1, powered by a 521.6kW Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engine. This was followed by the JF-2 Coast Guard version, powered by a 559kW Wright Cyclone radial, and the JF-3.

The amphibian was originally used for photography, target-towing, scouting, and rescue work. Although the Duck is normally flown as a two-seater in tandem fashion, a folding floor in the rear cockpit gives access to a lower compartment for use in rescue work and the like; the lower compartment could house either two extra crew members or a stretcher.

A number of JF-2s were also delivered to Argentina.

By the beginning of 1941 about 115 JF and J2F-1 (company designation G-15) to J2F-4 Ducks were in service as general/utility amphibians for photographic, target-towing, scouting and rescue work. The J2F was an improved version of the earlier JF Duck, with its main difference being a longer float.

These were followed by J2F-5s and J2F-6s. The J2F6 was by far the most common. It featured aerodynamic improvements over the previous models, including a long-cord engine cowling.

The J2F-6 was produced in 1944 by the Columbia Aircraft Corporation of Valley Stream, Long Island, under licence from Grumman, bringing the total number of JF/J2Fs built to over 600.

J2F-6

J2Fs of the utility squadron of US Patrol Wing 10 were destroyed at Mariveles Bay, Philippines, by a Japanese air raid on 5 January 1942. The only Duck to survive the attack had a dead engine but had been concealed at Cabcaben airfield during the Battle of Bataan, to be repaired afterwards with a cylinder removed from a destroyed J2F-4 submerged in Manila Bay. Following repairs the J2F-4 departed after midnight on 9 April 1942, overloaded with five passengers and the pilot, becoming the last aircraft to depart Bataan before the surrender of the Bataan to the Japanese only hours later. Among its passengers was Carlos P. Romulo (diplomat, politician, soldier, journalist, and author), who recounted the flight in his 1942 best-selling book I Saw the Fall of the Philippines (Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York 1943, pp. 288–303), for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence.

Several surplus Navy Ducks were converted for use by the United States Air Force in the air-sea rescue role as the OA-12 in 1948.

The Argentine Naval Aviation received four new-build Grumman G-15s (equivalent to J2F-4s) in 1939, to supplement the eight Grumman G-20s (export version of the Grumman JF-2) received in 1937. In 1946–1947, 32 ex-US Navy Ducks (consisting of one J2F-4, 24 J2F-5s, and 7 J2F-6s) were acquired, with the last examples remaining in use until 1958.

The Colombian Navy operated three examples from 1948.

The Mexican Navy operated three ex-U.S. Navy J2F-6s from 1950–1951.

The Peruvian Navy operated one ex-USN example from 1961–1964.

In the United States the United States Army Air Forces, United States Coast Guard, United States Marine Corps, and United States Navy all operated the J2F.

USCG Northwind March 1947 Wellington New Zealand – Grumman J2F-6 Duck & Sikorsky HNS-1

A Grumman J2F-6 Duck was owned and operated by Kermit Weeks at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida.

The United States Coast Guard worked with North South Polar, Inc. to recover a J2F-4 Duck, serial number V-1640, downed in a storm on a Greenland glacier on 29 November 1942. Two Coast Guard airmen were lost along with a rescued U.S. Army Air Forces passenger from a downed B-17 searching for a downed C-53 with five on board. The three men of the Duck are presumed to still be entombed at the site. North South Polar, under the auspices of the Coast Guard team, located the aircraft in August 2012 resting 38 feet beneath the surface of the ice sheet.

Variants:

J2F-1
Initial production version with 750 hp R-1820-20 engines, 29 built.

J2F-2
United States Marine Corps version with nose and dorsal guns and underwing bomb racks, 21 built.

J2F-2A
As J2F-2 with minor changes for use in the United States Virgin Islands, nine built.

J2F-3
J2F-2 but powered by an 850 hp R-1820-26 engine, 20 built.

J2F-4
J2F-2 but powered by an 850 hp R-1820-30 engine and fitted with target towing equipment, 32 built.

J2F-5
J2F-2 but powered by a 1,050 hp R-1820-54 engine, 144 built.
Engine: 1 × Wright R-1820-54 nine-cylinder radial engine, 900 hp (670 kW)
Wingspan: 39 ft 0 in (11.9 m)
Wing area: 409 ft² (38 m²)
Length: 34 ft 0 in (10.37 m)
Height: 13 ft 11 in (4.25 m)
Empty weight: 5,480 lb (2,485 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,700 lb (3,496 kg)
Maximum speed: 190 mph (304 km/h)
Cruise speed: 155 mph (248 km/h)
Stall speed: 70 mph (112 km/h)
Range: 780 mi (1,255 km)
Service ceiling: 20,000 ft (6,100 m)
Rate of climb: ft/min (m/s)
Crew: two (pilot and observer)
Capacity: two rescued airmen
Armament: 1 × Browning .30 cal machine gun (7.62 mm) on flexible mount in rear cockpit
Bombload: 650 lb (295 kg)

J2F-6
Columbia Aircraft built version of the J2F-5 with a 1,050 hp R-1820-64 engine in a long-chord cowling, fitted with underwing bomb racks and provision for target towing gear; 330 built.

OA-12
Air-sea rescue conversion for the United States Army Air Forces (and later United States Air Force, OA-12A).

Grumman E-2 Hawkeye / W2F-1

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E-2C Hawkeye

The first of three Hawkeye prototypes flew on October 21, 1960, the Hawkeye became the primary early warning component of the US Navy carrier air wings.

Grumman E-2 Hawkeye Article

Delivery of the first member of the Hawkeye family, the E 2A (formerly known as the W2F-1) began on 19 January 1964 to the US Navy, entering service in 1965 as a replacement for the Grumman E 1B Tracer, an early warning derivative of the S 2 Tracker. The E 1B carried its radar aerial inside a fixed oval, aerofoil shaped radome, but the E 2 was the first AEW type to adopt the 7.32m diameter ‘rotodome’, with the antennae mounted rigidly inside a radome which itself rotates at 6 rpm in the case of the Hawkeye. Fifty nine E 2As were delivered to the US Navy, and the type quickly proved its worth off the coast of Vietnam. The Hawkeyes were sent out to patrol whenever there was a risk of the naval task force being attacked by enemy aircraft or ships; by extending the force’s detection range well beyond the normal horizon, even against low flying aircraft, the E 2As reduced the need for large numbers of intercepters to be kept on alert throughout the day and night.
In addition to their defensive role, the Hawkeyes were able to relay target information from the aircraft carriers to their distant attack formations. With the E 2A the US Navy began to appreciate the many advantages of a modern AEW aircraft, but the 1950s technology computer had to be physically modified every time the ATDS (Airborne Tactical Data System) needed new software. To overcome this problem the Hawkeyes were fitted with Litton L 304 general purpose digital computers, and several minor modifications were also made; the E 2As thus became E 2Bs, which flew for the first time in February 1969, all having been converted by 1971.
Grumman built 56 E-2As, later updated to E-2B, before introducing the E-2C. The first of the significantly more capable E-2C series flew in January 1971. By mid-1987 97 E-2Cs had been delivered to the US Navy, plus 21 to overseas customers.

Firm orders existed for a total of 47 aircraft, with procurement of 36 more by the end of 1985. Israel has four and in 1979 Japan released funds for the first four of an eventual total of about 15 for the JASDF. The Air Self-Defence Force accepted its first E-2C Hawkeye at Bethpage, Long Island, on 18 May 1982.

The E-2G has an advanced radar that is capable of detecting airborne targets anywhere in a three-million-cubic-mile surveillance envelope. It first entered service with the US Navy in November 1973 and went to sea on board USS Saratoga in late 1974. A training version is designated TE-2C.

By this time the first E 2Cs were flying, the prototype first flew in January 1971. Although virtually identical to its forebears externally, the E 2C is a very different under the skin. The improved APS 120 radar’ can detect and track aircraft over land as well as above the sea, and the APS 125 ARPS (Advanced Radar Processing System) is being incorporated in all E 2Cs to give long range detection of very small targets and automatic overland tracking. The APS 125 also incorporates a digital airborne moving target indicator (AMTI) in place of the E¬2B’s analogue unit. Communication equipment has been improved, and the E 2C has better hot day and single engine performance than its predecessors, and is four times as reliable.

E-2C

The E 2C entered service in 1974, its arrival more or less coinciding with the introduction of the US Navy’s new generation of carrier based aircraft: the F 14 Tomcat, S 3 Viking, EA 6B Prowler and A 6E Intruder.
The latest APS-138 surveil¬lance radar was introduced on the E-2C airborne early warning aircraft built in 1983, and will be retrofitted to earlier E-2Cs in place of the original APS-125. APS-138 has a low-¬side-lobe active-element-array antenna, an enhanced passive detection system with trian¬gulation and exotic emitter recognition, together with expanded computer memory allowing the simultaneous and automatic track¬ing of up to 600 targets. At an operating height of 9,150m (30,000ft), a Hawkeye can detect and assess any approaching aircraft over a range of 480km (260 nm) in all weathers.
From 1988 new E-2Cs will be fitted with uprated Allison T56-A-427 engines, and will receive the improved APS-139 radar system which can transmit on any one of ten UHF channels. General Electric is also developing an APS-145 radar for service in 1990 which will counteract the problem of overland clutter.
The Hawkeyes work closely with the Tomcats, orbiting on station between 110 km (68 miles) and 185 km (115 miles) from the carrier at heights of 4600 m to 9150 m (15000-¬30000 ft); a typical orbit begins at 7000 m (23 000 ft) and rises to 8500 m (28000 ft) as fuel is burnt off. At a height of 7600 m (24 930 ft) the radar has a horizon range of 375 km (235 miles) and can detect high flying aircraft out to 460 km (285 miles).
The radar can detect and track more than 200 targets simultaneously, supplying alti¬tude, range and velocity information. The crew of five includes three operators in the combat information centre, each of which has a main 25 cm (10 in) radar display and a 12.5 cm (5in) screen giving alphanumeric information. Targets detected by the AWG 9 long range fire control radar in the F 14 can be notified to an E 2C by data link; they are then correlated with the appropriate return on the Hawkeye’s own radar displays or are used to feed in new information, thus effec¬tively extending the range of the AEW cover-age. The intercepter may then be vectored automatically on to the rear of the target for a visual identification, or it can be manoeuvred into the optimum firing position. The US Navy claims that the use of an E 2C for airborne control can double the number of kills made by the intercepter force while substantially reducing losses of friendly air¬craft.
Hawkeyes can also control a carrier’s attack force, supplying navigation and turn¬ing instructions by data link.

Northrop Grumman undertakes production of E-2C Hawkeye in the Hawkeye 2000 form (first flown April 1998).

Gallery

E-2A Hawkeye

E-2B Hawkeye

E-2C Hawkeye
Engine: 2 x Allison T56-A-425 turboprop, 4910 shp.
Installed thrust: 6800 kW.
Span: 24.6 m.
Length: 17.5 m.
Wing area: 699.66 sq.ft / 65 sq.m.
Height: 18.34 ft / 5.59 m
Empty wt: 17,265 kg.
MTOW: 23,560 kg.
Max speed: 600 kph.
Cruising speed: 269 kts / 498 kph
Service Ceiling: 30840 ft / 9400 m.
Initial climb rate: 2519.69 ft/min / 12.80 m/s
T/O run: 609 m.
Ldg run: 439 m.
Fuel internal: 7050 lt.
Range: 320 km.
Endurance: 4 hr on station.
Air refuel: Yes.
Crew: 5

Engines: 2 x turbo-prop Allison T-56 A-8, 2980kW
Max take-off weight: 22450 kg / 49494 lb
Empty weight: 16358 kg / 36063 lb
Wingspan: 24.6 m / 80 ft 9 in
Length: 17.2 m / 56 ft 5 in
Height: 5.6 m / 18 ft 4 in
Wing area: 65.0 sq.m / 699.65 sq ft
Max. speed: 600 km/h / 373 mph
Cruise speed: 500 km/h / 311 mph
Ceiling: 9660 m / 31700 ft
Range w/max.fuel: 3000 km / 1864 miles
Crew: 5

Grumman C-2 Greyhound

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Derived from the E-2A Hawkeye, the first of two Greyhound prototypes flew on November 18, 1964.
19 were completed for the US Navy by the end of 1968, including the two prototypes converted from E-2A airframes. The C-2 shares wings and power plants with the E-2 Hawkeye, but has a widened fuselage with a rear loading ramp and replaced the piston-engined C-1 Trader in the COD role.

Grumman C-2 Greyhound Article

The original C-2A aircraft were overhauled to extend their operational life in 1973.
The C-2A was produced 1965-1968, followed by the C-2A(R) 1985-1989
58 were built at a unit cost of US$38.96 million
C-2As built after production was resumed in 1983 are based on the E-2C, and have the uprated engines and avionics of the latter. Production C-2As also have a new auxiliary power unit to reduce the need for ground support equipment at remote locations.
Grumman received a $678 million multi-year production contract for 39 additional C-2A twin-turboprop carrier on-board delivery (COD) aircraft from the US Navy in 1983. The first of these was delivered in 1985, and production was to run until 1989.
The C-2A was originally powered by two Allison T56-A-425 turboprop engines and four-bladed Hamilton-Sundstrand constant-speed propellers.
An undercarriage with main gears is fitted to each engine nacelle and at the fuselage’s forward-most portion, a nose wheel is fitted. The wing systems are foldable and twist down, and then fold towards the empennage, just outboard of each engine nacelle, thus improving the carrier storage. Fitted into streamlined nacelles, the engines are mounted under each wing.
Straight-in rear cargo loading and downloading are enabled by the inclusion of a large aft cargo ramp and door, and a powered winch in the design to allow for fast turnarounds. A cage system helps to tie down the cargo and restrain it from the arresting and loads during carrier operation.

Northrop Grumman has equipped the aircraft with modified fowler-type flaps, and hydraulically powered irreversible flight controls with an independent hydraulic backup system.

Ultra-high-frequency (UHF) radio navigation aids such as GPS, TACAN (tactical air navigation), dual VOR (VHF omni-directional range), UHF/DF (ultra-high-frequency / direction finder), LF/ADF (low-frequency / automatic direction finder) and weather radar; and communications equipment such as high frequency (HF) and very high frequency (VHF) were provided in the aircraft. The TCAS, TAWS and ARC-210 (airborne radio communication) radios were added later.
The C-2A has open-ramp flight capability which enables airdrop of personnel and cargo or other supplies from a carrier-launched aircraft. Ground power self-sufficiency in remote areas and an auxiliary power unit onboard for starting the engine give the C-2A high operational versatility.

The C-2A is also an approved special warfare asset. It can airdrop the inflatable combat rubber raiding craft of a SEAL (sea air land) platoon out of its ramp. It deploys the platoon after the release has been made, thus enabling the SEALs to operate in close proximity to enemy camps. The airdrop capability also enables the aircraft’s utility as a search and rescue (SAR) platform to airdrop life rafts and provisions.
In 1984, the Navy ordered 39 new C-2A aircraft to replace older airframes. Dubbed the Reprocured C-2A (C-2A(R)) due to the similarity to the original, the new aircraft has airframe improvements and better avionics. The older C-2As were phased out in 1987, and the last of the new models was delivered in 1990.
Powered by two Allison T56 turboprop engines, the C-2A can deliver up to 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) of cargo, passengers or both. It can also carry litter patients in medical evacuation missions. A cage system or transport stand restrains cargo during carrier launch and landing. The large aft cargo ramp and door and a powered winch allow straight-in rear cargo loading and unloading for fast turnaround.

Its ability to airdrop supplies and personnel, fold its wings, and generate power for engine starting and other uses provide an operational versatility found in no other cargo aircraft.

The fact that this aircraft has four vertical stabilizers is due to aircraft carrier hangar deck height restrictions. Only three of these stabilizers have working rudders. For adequate directional control of an aircraft of this size, a single rudder would have been too tall. It also places the outboard rudder surfaces directly in line with the propeller wash, providing effective yaw control even as the plane’s airspeed approaches zero, as during takeoff and landing.

Between November 1985 and February 1987, VR-24 (the former Navy Transport Squadron) and its seven reprocured C-2As demonstrated the aircraft’s exceptional operational readiness. The squadron delivered 2,000,000 pounds (910 t) of cargo, 2,000,000 pounds (910 t) of mail and 14,000 passengers in the European and Mediterranean theatres. The C-2A(R) also served the carrier battle groups during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, as well as during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Production of the modernised version began in 1985. Delivered in 1990, the aircraft’s modernisation process included several improvements in the airframe and avionic systems over those in the C-2A.

C-2A BuAer 162148 of VRC-30 gets a wave-off on USS Kitty Hawk off Perth, Australia, August 1988

Northrop Grumman is currently working on the resupply of the upgraded C-2A version. In November 2008, the company also obtained a $37m contract for the maintenance, logistics and aviation administration services over five years for the C-2A fleet assigned to air test and evaluation squadron 20 (VX-20) at Patuxent River.
Greyhound service life extension programme (SLEP)

A service life extension programme (SLEP) is being carried out to improve the operating service life of the reprocured aircraft, achieving a viable and economically maintainable platform until it is replaced. The programme will increase its service life from 15,020 to 36,000 landings and from 10,000 to 15,000 flight hours. The SLEP involves structural enhancements to the centre wing, an aircraft rewire, a new propeller system and improvement of the avionics systems.

The eight-bladed NP2000 propeller is another part of this upgrade and was expected to be installed by 2010.
Navigational upgrades such as the addition of a global positioning system (GPS), the dual CAINS II navigation system, crash-survivable flight incident recorders and a ground proximity warning system are also included in the programme.

Further, a mandate issued by Congress and the chief of naval operations provided for incorporation of two passenger-carrying safety requirements, namely the traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS) and the terrain avoidance warning system (TAWS) in the extension programme. The landing limit of most of the airframes is quickly approaching and the SLEP, upon successful completion, will improve the operational life of the aircraft till 2027.

While all the existing fleet of 36 C-2As is being upgraded in the SLEP, the first upgraded C-2A(R) took off from the NAVAIR Depot North Island on 12 September 2005. Development and installation of the SLEP for this aircraft took three and a half years. As of 2009, a second airframe is close to completion, and the rest of the 34 aircraft are anticipated to take off in the following five years.
As of September 2009, the USN was exploring a replacement aircraft for the C-2, including the V-22 Osprey.

The C-2 was operated by Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron One Two Zero (VAW-120), Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 30 (VRC-30) and Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40 (VRC-40). ‘Providers’ at NAS North Island and Detachment Five (at NAF Atsugi, Japan) of VRC-30 are also flying the C-2As. VRC-40 is using the aircraft for its ‘Rawhides’ stationed at NAS Norfolk, while VAW-120 is using the aircraft for its ‘Greyhawks’ stationed at the same location.

VAW-120, the US Navy Fleet Replacement Squadron, was engaged in training aircrew men, naval flight officers and new pilots for the C-2A Greyhound as well as E-2C Hawkeye aircraft.

Variants:
C-2A
C-2A(R)
“Reprocured” C-2A

C-2 Greyhound
Primary Function: Transport
Engines: Two Allison T-56-A-425 turboprop, 4,600hp (3,400 kW)
Length: 56 feet, 10 in (17.30 m)
Wingspan: 80 feet, 7 in (24.60 m)
Folded span: 29 feet, 4 in
Height: 15 feet, 10.5 in (4.85 m)
Wing area: 700 sq.ft (65 sq.m)
Empty weight: 33,746 lb (15,310 kg)
Useful load: 20,608 lb (9,350 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 60,000 lb (24,655 kg)
Payload: 10,000 lb cargo or 26 passengers / 12 litter patients
Wing loading: 77.6 lb/sq.ft (378.9 kg/sq.m
Maximum speed: 343 knots (394 mph, 553 km/h) at 12,000 ft (3,660 m)
Cruise speed: 251 knots (289 mph, 465 km/h) at 28,700 ft (8,750 m)
Stall speed: 82 knots (94 mph, 152 km/h) at idle power
Range: 1,300 nm (1,496 mi, 2,400 km)
Service ceiling: 33,500 ft (10,210 m)
Rate of climb: 2,610 ft/min (13.3 m/s)
Crew: 2 pilots, 2 aircrew

C-2A / C-2(R)
Engines: 2 × Allison T56-A-425 turboprop engines; 4,800shp (3,400kW)
Propeller NP2000 eight-blade propeller
Length 56ft 10in (17.3m)
Height 17ft 2in (5.28m)
Wingspan 80ft 7in (24.56m)
Wingspan Folded 29ft 4in (8.94m)
Wing area: 65 sq.m.
Maximum Gross Take-Off Weight 57,500lb (26,082kg)
Empty Weight 35,000lb (15,875kg)
Internal Fuel 12,000lb (5,443kg)
Payload 10,000lb (4,536kg)
Carrier Landing Weight 49,000lb (22,226kg)
Field Take-Off Weight.60,000lb (27,216kg)
Field Landing Weight 52,000lb (23,587kg)
Airspeed 260kt (true cruising airspeed)
Maximum Speed 343kt
Range 1,300nm
Climb Rate 2,610ft a minute (13.3m/s)
Ceiling 30,000ft (9,144m)
T/O run: 665 m.
Ldg run: 435 m.
Fuel internal: 6905 lt.
Range/payload: 1930 km with 4500 kg.
Crew 4 (two pilots and two air-crew)
Capacity 38 (26 passengers and 12 litter patients)

Grumman G-70 / AF-2 Guardian

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AF-2W (nearest) and AF-2S (rear)

In 1944 Grumman set out to produce a successor to the war-winning TBF Avenger torpedo bomber with a composite power plant consisting of an R-2800-34W piston engine in the nose and a Westinghouse 19XB-2B turbojet engine in the rear fuselage, and the first result was the XTBF-1 (G-70), first flown on 19 December 1945. Looking like a slimmer and neater TBF, this machine had a Westinghouse J30 (later an Allis-Chalmers J36, otherwise de Havilland Goblin) turbojet in the tail for high-speed boost propulsion. This was later omitted.
In 1949 two new prototypes incorporating all the changes were built (carrying the designations XTB3F-1S and XTB3F-2S) the former equipped as a submarine hunter and the latter as a killer.
Both types were ordered by the US Navy under the respective designations AF-1S and AF-2S, but before completion of the first AF-1S its designation was changed to AF-2W.
It was put into production in two versions, which operated from US Navy carriers in the ASW (anti-submarine warfare) role in pairs, known as hunter/killers.
The hunter was the AF-2W, distinguished by its APS20A search radar, the displays and controls for which were in a two-seat rear compartment. The AF-2W carried a large search and early-warning radome beneath the forward fuselage.
The killer was the AF-2S, which took over when its companion had obtained a sure ‘con¬tact’. First it used its smaller APS-30 radar under the right outer wing to pinpoint its target, using a searchlight in an identical pod under the left wing to illuminate it if necessary. Then it would attack using any of its assortment of weapons.
The AF-2S Guardian (G-82) carried one 900kg torpedo, two 720kg depth charges or two 900kg bombs internally, while a similar load could be carried externally. In addition a searchlight was carried under the port wing and a radar scanner under the starboard.

In 1952-53 the AF-3S version was produced with additional submarine detection gear.
The Guardians were among the largest single-engine military aircraft, heavier than a Douglas DC-3 and with a roomy side-by-side cockpit, the AF-2S having a third rear-compartment seat for the single radar operator. Grumman delivered 193 of the AF-2S attack version and 153 of its companion AF-2W model in 1950-3. The company then followed with 40 AF-3S machines, which were the first aircraft in service with MAD (magnetic-anomaly detection) gear in a re¬tractable tail-boom mounting.
Production of the Guardian ended in March 1953.

Gallery

AF-2S Guardian
Powerplant: one 2,400-hp (1790-kW) Pratt & Whitney R-2800-48W 18-cylinder radial piston engine.
Maximum speed: 510 km/h (317 mph) at medium/high altitude
Service ceiling 9910 m (32,500 ft)
Range 2415 km (1,500 miles)
Empty weight 6632 kg (14,620 lb)
Maximum take-off 11567 kg (25,500 lb)
Wing span 18.49 m (60 ft 8 in)
Length 13.21 m (43 ft 4 in)
Height 4.93 m (16 ft 2 in)
Wing area: 52.02 sq.m (560.0 sq ft)
Armament: internal bay for 1814 kg (4,000 lb)
Crew: 3

Grumman A-6 Intruder / A2F

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EA-6B

Tasked with finding and attacking targets under night or all weather conditions for the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps, A2F-1 Intruders were designed and developed by the Grumman Aerospace Corporation. The first trials aircraft flew on 19 April 1960 and eight YA2F-1 Intruder prototypes were delivered to the US Navy for evaluation, with original tilt able tailpipes and powered by two Pratt & Whitney J52-P-6 engines of 8500 lb.

Grumman A-6 Intruder Article

The A2F-1 was designed to deliver nuclear or conventional weapons with great accuracy on targets that are completely obscured by bad weather or darkness. A digital integrated attack navigation system enables the pilot to set course for the target and then leave the aeroplane to fly itself. Two TV-type screens enable him to “see” the ground and target whatever the conditions. At the target the aircraft is capable of dropping its weapons and turn for home automatically.

The slightly swept tail surfaces have a variable incidence tailplane. Lateral control is by inset spoilers forward of the trailing edge flaps which extend over almost the full wing span. Full span leading edge flaps are fitted. The outer wings fold upward and inward for ship-board stowage. Sideways opening air-brakes are on each side of the rear fuselage. The tricycle undercarriage has twin nose-wheels and a single wheel on each main unit. The nosewheel retracts rearward and main units forward.

The first prototype flew in November 1960.

A2F-1 Intruder

The first US Navy attack squadron to receive the Grumman A 6A Intruder, VA 42, re-equipped with the type at Oceana NAS, Virginia, in 1963.

In August 1964 it was reported that South Africa, rebuffed by the US State Department in bid to buy Grumman Intruders because of its race policies, was buying British Buccaneers instead.

From the A 6A was evolved the initial EA 6A ECM version for the Navy, its potential such that an advanced ECM version was developed in late 1966.

A development contract was issued in autumn 1966 and the EA-6B Prowler is externally similar to basic A-6 except longer nose enclosing four-seat cockpit and large pod on fin. First flown on 25 May 1968, delivery of first 12 production aircraft started January 1971. The first flew with an ALQ-99 jamming system which has evolved from being able to cope only with individual emitters (EXCAP), through several emitters (ICAP), to groups of weapons systems such as an air defence complex (ICAP¬ 2). The last of 170 was delivered on 29 July 1991.

The Grumman EA 6B was the Navy’s first aircraft to be purpose designed and built for tactical electronic warfare, two of the crew being ECM officers to operate the airborne equipment which can detect, identify, locate, and jam the emissions of hostile radars.
Eight Prowlers were deliv¬ered to the US Navy in 1986, and plans call for production of the current ICAP-2 (Improved Capability) EA-6B shipborne electronic warfare aircraft to continue until at least 1991. Earlier EA-6Bs are being upgraded to ICAP-2 standard, which includes power management, improved emitter identification and correlation, and better reliability and maintainability. The first ICAP-2 flew in June 1980. EA-6Bs can now carry Harm anti-radiation missiles.

The A-6E began to enter service in 1972.

On 22 March 1974 Grumman flew the first A-6E TRAM version of the Intruder, this incorporating a turreted electro-optical sensor package for the delivery of laser-guided weapons; the TRAM target recognition attack multi-sensor) added infra-red and laser equipment to the full A-6 avionics systems.

Grumman A-6/TRAM Intruder Article

An advanced version of the Intruder subsonic all-weather carrier-borne strike aircraft, the A-6F, was scheduled to fly during 1987. Production deliveries will begin in 1989, against US Navy/USMC requirements for 150 aircraft. A-6F improvements include a new Norden high-resolution synthetic-aperture radar, stand-off ASM, and AIM-120 Amraam/ AIM-9 Sidewinder AAM capability. The A-6F will be powered by two 40.07kN General Electric unreheated F404 turbofans, will have a new wing designed by the Boeing Military Airplane Company, and will be fitted with a new CRT¬ based cockpit and digital avionics. Much of the avionics being carried in five external pods.

The new Boeing wing, which is to be retro-fitted to all existing A-6E/KA-6Ds from 1987, will offer an 8,000hr service life. A-6E target recognition and attack multisensor (Tram) production continues, and 12 were delivered in 1986. The modification of earlier A-6Es to accept Tram turrets also progresses. The tram turret houses both a Flir system and a laser tracker/designator.
The KA-6D is a flight-refuelling tanker converted from the original A-6A Intruders or from older A-6Es.

On 3 April 1989 an A-6E made its first test flight fitted with Boeing-built composite wings.

A total of 482 A 6 were built.

Northrop Grumman undertook EA-6B Prowler remanufacturing,

The US Navy continued to fund the A-6F in 1988 although production was no longer planned. Two A-6Fs were flying, the third, intended as a test-bed for the digital avionics suite, entered testing in late August 1988.

Gallery

A2F-1
Engines: 2 x Pratt Pratt & Whitney J52-P-6, 8500 lb
Wingspan: 53 ft
Length: 53 ft 5 in
Height: 15 ft 1.75 in
Empty weight: 24,000 lb
MTOW: 54,000 lb
Max speed: 720 mph at SL
Max cruise: 685 mph at SL
Hardpoints: 4 wing, 1 fuselage

A-6
Engines: 2 x Pratt & Whitney J-52-P-8A, 41.3kN
Weight empty : 26008.0 lb / 11795.0 kg
Max take-off weight: 27500 kg / 60627 lb
Wingspan: 16.2 m / 53 ft 2 in
Length: 16.3 m / 53 ft 6 in
Height: 15.584 ft / 4.750 m
Wing area: 49.2 sq.m / 529.58 sq ft
Wing loading: 114.39 lb/sq.ft / 558.00 kg/sq.m
Max. speed: 1000 km/h / 621 mph
Cruise speed: 770 km/h / 478 mph
Ceiling: 12700 m / 41650 ft
Range w/max.fuel; 5000 km / 3107 miles
Crew: 2
Armament : 6804kg ext. (5 pt.)

EA-6A Prowler

KA-6D Intruder

A-6E Intruder
Engine: 2 x P&W J52 P 8A, 9,300lb turbojet.
Installed thrust (dry): 83 kN.
Span: 16.2 m.
Length: 16.7 m.
Wing area: 49.1 sq.m.
Empty wt: 12,000 kg.
MTOW: 26,580 kg.
Warload: 8165 kg.
Max speed: 1040 kph.
Initial ROC: 2300 m / min.
Ceiling: 12,950 m.
Fuel internal: 9030 lt.
Max range: 4399 km.
Air refuel: Yes.
Combat radius hi-lo-hi: 1415 km.

A-6F Intruder

EA-6B Prowler
Engine: 2 x P&W J52-P-408 turbojet, 11,200 lb thrust.
Installed thrust: 99.6 kN.
Span: 16.2 m / 53 ft 2 in
Length: 18.2 m
Wing area: 49.1 sq.m / 528.51 sq ft
Height: 5.0 m / 16 ft 5 in
Empty wt: 15686 kg / 34582 lb
MTOW: 26535-28655 kg / 58500 – 63174 lb
Max speed: 965 km/h / 600 mph
Cruise speed: 850 km/h / 528 mph
Initial ROC: 2540 m / min.
Ceiling: 11,600 m / 38050 ft
T/O run: 815 m.
Ldg run: 655 m.
Fuel internal: 8870 lt.
Range: 535 km.
Endurance: 1 hr loiter.
Range w/max.fuel: 4000 km / 2486 miles
Crew: 4

A2F-1
Engines: 2 x Pratt & Whitney J52-P-6, 8500 lb

Grumman EA-6B Prowler

Grumman

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As an ensign in the Navy, Leroy Randle Grumman had worked with Albert and Grover Loening on a Navy monoplane contract. Upon resigning his naval commission in 1920, Grumman joined the Loenings as test pilot for their Air Yacht amphibians, and over the next several years, he took over full responsibility for the company’s aircraft design.
The Loenings sold out their company in 1929 and backed Grumman in a venture of his own incorporated in 1929 at Farmingdale, New York. With their investment of $30,000 making up almost half of the initial capital, Grumman and five other engineers opened the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation in an abandoned garage in Baldwin, Long Island.
Contractor to U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. Built FF-1 (first flown 1931) and SF-1 two-seat biplane fighters with retractable landing gear, followed by single-seat F2F (first flown October 1933) and F3F (delivered 1936), plus all-metal amphibian as the JF-1 (first flown May 1933), later known as the Duck.
In 1936 Grumman moved to Bethpage, Long Island, NY.
Subsequent production, mainly for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, included F4F Wildcat fighter (first Grumman monoplane, first flown September 1937), TBM Avenger torpedo-bomber (first flown August 1941), F6F Hellcat fighter (delivered from 1943), F7F Tigercat twin-engined carrier fighter-bomber (first flown December 1943) and F8F Bearcat fighter (first flown August 1944) during Second World War, plus Widgeon and Goose (delivered from 1939) amphibians.
By 1943 his staff had grown from six to 25,000 employees.
Postwar aircraft included the antisubmarine Guardian (first flown December 1945), Albatross amphibian (first flown October 1947), F9F Panther as its first jet fighter (first flown November 1947), and F11F Tiger day jet fighter (first flown July 1954 in original F9F-9 form).
Grumman’s entry into specialized electronic warfare aircraft began in December 1952 with the first flight of its S2F Tracker (later S-2), though this was a carrierborne antisubmarine aircraft. From Tracker were developed variants for carrier transport operations; the C-1 Trader and, more importantly, the WF (later E-1) for airborne early-warning, with an over-fuselage radome (first flown March 1957) and based on the S-2A. Such was the success of the E-1 concept that the much improved E-2 Hawkeye was developed, which first flew in October 1960 (originally as W2F-1) and remains in production in 1999 by Northrop Grumman, itself leading to the C-2 Greyhound transport derivative (first flown November 1964). Grumman also developed the OV-1 Mohawk for the U.S. Army for observation, first flown April 1959 and also using the successful twin-turboprop engine layout.
In April 1960 Grumman flew the A2F-1, which in production form became the A-6 Intruder twin-jet carrier borne long-range and low-level strike aircraft, finally withdrawn from service in the late 1990s. Intruder itself spawned an electronic warfare variant, the EA-6 Prowler, first flown May 1968 and still in service in 1999. The final fighter to carry the Grumman name was the F-14 Tomcat, designed as a carrier based variable-geometry long-range type armed with super-long-range Phoenix air-to-air missiles (first flown December 1970, entering service with the U.S. Navy from 1972 and exported to Iran for land-based operations from 1976).
Grumman merged with American Aviation to form Grumman American.
By the time Tomcat had flown company had been divided (1969) into Grumman Aerospace and other individual corporations via the Grumman Corporation holding company. American Aviation Corporation became part of Grumman American Aviation Corporation in 1973. In May 1994 Grumman and Northrop merged to form Northrop Grumman.