|
 Grumman F9F-8 (F-9J) Cougar - Seattle, WA
N 47° 31.191 W 122° 18.025
10T E 552668 N 5263172
One of many static aircraft displays located at the Museum of Flight at King County International Airport. Admission fees apply.
Waymark Code: WMVHKW
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 04/21/2017
Views: 6
Located at the Museum of Flight are a large number of static aircraft on display. One of them is a Grumman F9F-8 (F-9J) Cougar. The Museum of Flight website contains a page devoted to this aircraft and it reads:
The F9F Cougar is the swept wing version of its forerunner, the F9F Panther -- Grumman's first jet fighter plane. As MiG-15s tangled with the slower, less agile Panthers and McDonnell Banshees over Korea, the Navy requested a swept wing F9F design from Grumman. The first Cougars were delivered in November of 1951, a year after the debut of the MiG-15 and never saw combat in Korea. But the Cougar, built as a stop-gap, became a successful design with 1,988 built. The last Cougar, an advanced trainer version, was phased out in 1974.
The Museum's Cougar was built at Grumman's Bethpage, New York factory and delivered to the Navy on January 25, 1955. The plane served with Navy and Marine units in North Carolina, Virginia, and Texas. In 1964, it was loaned to the King County Parks and Recreation Department and put on display at Marymoor Park. The Parks Department transferred the Cougar to The Museum of Flight in 1969. Today, it wears the colors of Navy Fighter Squadron VF-81.
This aircraft loan courtesy of the National Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola, Florida.
A nearby placard also highlights this F9F-8 (F-9J) Cougar in more detail and reads:
Corwin "Corky" Meyer
Corky Meyer joined Grumman in 1942 as an experimental test pilot. He became the project pilot for seven different "cat" fighters. During his years of test flying, he piloted over 125 types of civilian and military aircraft including a Japanese Zero.
In 1954, Meyer became the first civilian pilot to qualify for aircraft carrier landings while flying a Grumman F9F Cougar.
He was awarded the coveted wings of gold from the Navy in 1997.
These wings recognized Meyer for his lifelong contributions to naval aviation and named him an honorary Naval Aviator--only the 23rd in the U.S. Navy's history.
Type of Aircraft: (make/model): Grumman F9F-8 (F-9J) Cougar
Tail Number: (S/N): 31232
Construction:: original aircraft
Location (park, airport, museum, etc.): Museum of Flight - Aviation Pavilion
inside / outside: outside
Other Information:: Not listed
Access restrictions: Not listed
|
Visit Instructions:
Photo of aircraft (required - will be interesting to see if the aircraft is ever repainted or progress if being restored)
Photo of serial number (required unless there is not one or it is a replica)
Photo(s) of any artwork on the aircraft (optional but interesting)
Tell why you are visiting this waymark along with any other interesting facts or personal experiences about the aircraft not already mentioned.
|