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Fisher Blue Angels F9F-8B, Yes B...


nichenson

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Parking here for now.  Took some pics but won't be posting things until this weekend.  As you can see the subject line, I am doing something a bit different and to my knowledge no one else has.  This started out as a discounted Fisher F9F-8.  I managed to find it on eBay from someone that I guess got in over their head some years ago so it is a first release.  Paul has changed resins a couple of times over the years, and this early version is not one of my favorites.  The stuff he has now is really nice albeit it more expensive for him.

 

Anyway, this all started when I was watching a video of the Blue Angles a year after they all came back from Korea and received their F9F-8's.  I know what you are thinking.  They had F9F-8's in 1954 and continued through the 1956 season.  In 1957 they went to the F-11F.  The only "B" version was the TF-9J or F9F-8T.  Well, that is correct, but they did add a F9F-8B in 1955 and one in 1956.  Here is the video if you would like to watch.

 

 

You can see a couple of minutes into it that #2 at that time was indeed a F9F-8B.  In 1955, I believe it was #5.  For those that don't know much about Cougars, the B has the slats added into the intakes on the sides and a few internal changes.  They also switched some paint colors and primers.  The Detail in Scale book is wonderful for anyone who has interest in building a Cougar.

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This should be a good build! I agree, don't think it's been done yet. You know I didn't even know the Cougar existed till 2 yrs ago. Saw one sitting on the deck of the uss Lexington when we were in Texas. Really a cool looking aircraft. Will await your first build photos this weekend.

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This should be a good build! I agree, don't think it's been done yet. You know I didn't even know the Cougar existed till 2 yrs ago. Saw one sitting on the deck of the uss Lexington when we were in Texas. Really a cool looking aircraft. Will await your first build photos this weekend.

 

There are some really excellent references out there on both the Panther and Cougar, including this Squadron/Signal book, specifically dedicated to the Cougar.

 

(I'd really like to see an IM Panther one of these days.)

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The F9F-8B was an F9F-8 (single seat) modified to carry a nuke. In the great redesignation of Navy aircraft, it became the AF-9J. The TF-9J was the two seater, formerly designated the F9F-8T.

 

The fact that an F9F-8 has a intake splitter plate (not "slat") or not does not make it a -8B or not. Early F9F-8s did not have the splitter plate; later ones did.

 

I don't know when the splitter plate was incorporated in production. I do know that blue F9F-8s and early gray/white F9F-8s didn't have them. I had assumed that they were a standard retrofit since they provided a thrust benefit but the early -8s that went to the training command to replace Panthers didn't have them.

 

The highest F9F-8 Bureau Number I've seen without the splitter plate in a quick review is 141157. The lowest with a splitter plate was 141143. This suggests that it was a retrofit. For what it's worth, those BuNos are in the production block of 141030-141229, which also indicates that 141143 was a retrofit, based on the suitability of that particular Cougar for another tour.

 

The first set of Blue Angel F9F-8s did not have splitter plates. In this video, #2 does have a splitter as well as an inflight refueling probe that the other three do not. Again, that doesn't make it an F9F-8B although it could have been.

 

Also see http://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/2014/12/f9f-8-variations.html

Edited by Tailspin Turtle
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Looks killer Harold!

 

If you put in on the bench you would be finished by dinnertime on Sunday.

 

Dan

I wish, the reason I stopped, I made resin wings, but one side didn't cure properly and started to blister after is was painted....It took weeks for it to stop popping blisters. I filled them but couldn't match the paint, so it went into a box until I had the nerve to strip all the paint and decals and start over. I still haven't the courage...LOL

vs4o0Z.jpg

Edited by Harold
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  • 2 months later...

Sorry, I got really sidelined on a lot of things.  I hope to get back to this in the coming weeks.  My father was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and my mother in law has had to have several treatments for stomach cancer.  That along with doing some remodeling at the house...

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