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mako88sb · 02-24-13, 01:21 AM

I happened on this book a couple years ago:

http://www.amazon.com/Dive-Bomber-Le...on+dive+bomber

One of the types of planes he flew in was the F3F-2 which is whats shown on the cover. I never knew anything about them but his descriptions about flying it where quite interesting. It never served in combat but was used quite a bit for carrier training until the end of 1941 and just a regular trainer until 1943. Here's a video of one that's been beautifully restored. You can see why it got the nickname "the flying barrel" It was designed so that it would float for awhile if it had to ditch.

After Pearl harbor, the colorful yellow wing colors were quickly changed:

From wiki:
"A Grumman F3F-2 was ditched off the coast of San Diego on 29 August 1940 while attempting a landing on Saratoga. The fighter was rediscovered by a navy submarine in June 1988, and recovered on 5 April 1991. It was restored at the San Diego Aerospace Museum"

Robert Winston eventually became a commanding officer for a squadron of Hellcats that flew from the USS Calbot.

02-24-13, 01:21 AM	#179
mako88sb XO Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Calgary, Canada Posts: 423 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I happened on this book a couple years ago: http://www.amazon.com/Dive-Bomber-Le...on+dive+bomber One of the types of planes he flew in was the F3F-2 which is whats shown on the cover. I never knew anything about them but his descriptions about flying it where quite interesting. It never served in combat but was used quite a bit for carrier training until the end of 1941 and just a regular trainer until 1943. Here's a video of one that's been beautifully restored. You can see why it got the nickname "the flying barrel" It was designed so that it would float for awhile if it had to ditch. After Pearl harbor, the colorful yellow wing colors were quickly changed: From wiki: "A Grumman F3F-2 was ditched off the coast of San Diego on 29 August 1940 while attempting a landing on Saratoga. The fighter was rediscovered by a navy submarine in June 1988, and recovered on 5 April 1991. It was restored at the San Diego Aerospace Museum" Robert Winston eventually became a commanding officer for a squadron of Hellcats that flew from the USS Calbot. Last edited by mako88sb; 02-24-13 at 05:00 PM.