Today In History:  21 August  [1944]   --  First flight of the prototype of the Grumman F8F Bearcat

The first of two Grumman XF8F-1 Bearcat prototypes made its first flight at Bethpage, New York, with Grumman test pilot Robert Leicester Hall at the controls. The Bearcat was a light-weight high performance interceptor, designed to operate from the U.S. Navy's smaller aircraft carriers. It used an air-cooled, supercharged, 2,804.4-cubic-inch-displacement (45.956 liter) Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp 2SC13-G (R-2800-22) two-row, 18-cylinder radial engine, an uprated version of the engine used in its predecessor, the Grumman F6F Hellcat.

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Photo Attribution:  Public Domain  via Wikimedia.