This simulation is actually about four different aircraft - the Grumman F4F-3 and F4F-4 Wildcats and also the Martlets, the British name given to the F4F-3 and F4F-4-based aircraft which were supplied to Britain from the earliest days of WWII.
All four aircraft are represented in this simulation and although essentially similar, each displays a set of unique characteristics.
These simulations are extremely accurate representations, with models, textures and virtual cockpit functions all carefully researched and replicated and flight models specially programmed using factory specifications and actual flight test reports.
The aircraft are fully compatible with FSX Acceleration and can be catapulted and trapped on the included carriers.
This package includes ten aircraft: F4F-3 (3), F4F-4 (3), Martlet I (2) & Martlet IV (2).
No US aircraft other than the Wildcat fought throughout WWII, all the way from 1940 to VJ Day in 1945; the Wildcat was there when the US Navy and Marines entered the Pacific theatre and when the atomic bomb was dropped to put an end to hostilities. Apart from service in the North Atlantic, British Martlets saw combat in warmer climes too such as Malta, North Africa and alongside their American counterparts throughout the Pacific.
The Wildcat could well be considered the US Navy’s 'Spitifre', performing heroically against considerable odds in often difficult conditions in the defining battles of the Coral Sea and Midway and later in the dark days of the early Pacific islands campaigns at infamous locations such as Guadalcanal and Rabaul.
It is a testament to the success of this rugged little fighter that the design remained basically unchanged until the end of the war, and the last Wildcat to roll off the General Motors production lines in 1945.
Model features
- Fully detailed and animated F4F undercarriage
- Folding wings (F4F-4 and Martlet MkIV) with detailed mechanisms and correct wing stay rods when folded
- Fully detailed split flaps
- Opening dinghy storage area
- Accurate and detailed radial engines
- Operating tail hook and lockable tail wheel
- Realistic animated pilot in a choice of uniforms to suit the aircraft
- Retractable landing lights
- Animated cowl flaps in correct configurations for each type
- Authentic pre-war and wartime liveries
- Choice of aircraft with tanks or no tanks
- Fully compatible with Acceleration carrier operations
Virtual Cockpit features
- Highly detailed Virtual Cockpit
- Every switch, knob and lever is animated and most are fully functional
- Switchable and dimmable gunsight reticles
- Choice of British and US gunsights, compasses etc.
- Working checklist gauge
- Separate VCs for US and British types and different layouts for F4F-4 and F4F-3
- Fluid 3D gauges with accurate readings
Included modelsF4F-3 F-15 - flown by Lt (jg) E H 'Butch' O'Hare, perhaps the Wildcat's most famous ace. O'Hare was, in fact, the US Navy's first aerial ace and was flying this machine when he shot down five Japanese bombers in one engagement in 1942, 400 miles from Rabaul. The action earned him the first military Congressional Medal of Honor. O'Hare was killed just one year later in a Grumman Hellcat during the battle for the Gilbert Islands - ironically, by friendly fire.
F4F-3 3-F-9 - belonged to Fighting Squadron VF-3 flying from USS Saratoga in the Spring of 1941. Overall light grey paint scheme.
F4F-4 'White 18' - flown by AP/1c Howard Stanton Packard of VF-6, USS Enterprise, August 1942. Enterprise was the most decorated ship of the US Navy in WWII; it was at Midway with the Yorktown and was the departure base for the famous Doolittle raid in retaliation for Pearl Harbor.
Martlet I - EJ569 F - flown by Sub Lt Parke, RNVR, when he, along with another Martlet pilot, scored the very first aerial victory for the F4F series in WWII. The action took place near the Orkney Islands in Scotland early in 1940 and the result was that one JU88 was destroyed.
MartletI IV - Nose art of any type was usually strictly frowned upon by Naval 'brass' but this Martlet, 'That Old Thing' - flew from HMS Tracker during Operation Overlord, D-Day and the invasion of France in June 1944.
F4F-3 MF-1 - the mount of Major Robert E. Galer, who totalled 13 confirmed victories and was a recipient of the Medal of Honor. Galer’s Marines unit, VMF-224, took part in the heroic struggles at Guadalcanal in 1942, repaying some of the awful losses suffered by US land forces in recapturing the airfield there against impossible odds and in atrocious conditions.
F4F-4 BuNo 5093/’White 23’ - flown by Lt Cdr John S Thach, Officer Commanding VF-3, USS Yorktown, Midway, 4 June 1942. The battle of Midway, although resulting in the loss of the Yorktown, succeeded in pushing back the Japanese advance and prompted the US Navy’s decision to retake the island groups of the Pacific.
F4F-4 22-F-1 - displays the later tri-colour scheme adopted by all US naval aircraft in the Pacific Campaign. The machine was on board USS Independence in April of 1943, flying with Fighting Squadron VF-22.
Martlet I ‘French 2’ - an F4F-3 ordered by the French AeroNavale, prior to the fall of France in 1940. Originally, France had ordered 81 aircraft from the Grumman plant, fitted with the Wright Cyclone engine. Seven had been built by the time of the French capitulation. The British took over the order when France fell and these, plus the remaining aircraft ordered, were delivered as Martlet Mk1s to the Royal Navy.
Martlet IV 9Z - an 893 Squadron machine at the time of Operation Torch, the joint allied invasion of French North Africa. In a rather confused fashion, many aircraft carried dual nationality in the shape of both US and British insignia and markings. Note the US star insignia on this aircraft.
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