Grumman’s little F3F was the US Navy’s front-line fighter into 1940.

Let’s take a look at one that served abord the Navy’s most famous aircraft carrier.

Hard to believe, but the F3F was in front-line service at the same time as Spitfire and Bf 109. Even through the Battle of Britain.

The F3F-1 entered production in 1936. It was superseded by the F3F-2, with a more powerful engine, in 1937. And the F3F-3 finished production by the end of 1938.

By the standards of the time, that means it was an older type when World War II started. In fact, development had been started on the F2A Buffalo and F4F Wildcat in 1936. Really, that means the F3F was a stop-gap from the very start. Its also worth mentioning the pace of technology and innovation in aviation at the time was blisteringly fast. So much so, when F3F-1 production was wrapping up the Navy informed Grumman the type would not be further developed. It was only as delays continued on the Buffalo and Wildcat, that Grumman offered they could hang a more modern R-1820 engine on the F3F and gain about 30 knots top speed. The Navy decided this was desirable. By 1938 all Navy fighter squadrons were flying some version of a Grumman bi-plane. This would stay true until the Buffalo showed up a year later.
The last F3Fs were withdrawn from combat squadrons in November 1941, the month before Pearl Harbor was attacked. They would remain in service as trainers for two more years.

Of particular interest on this build is the US Navy’s “Yellow Wings” markings. This was designed to make rapid identification, not only of nationality but squadron and position in squadron, visible at a distance. The blue tail signifies USS Enterprise. The solid red cowling and fuselage stripe identify the plane as belonging to a squadron leader. And the chevron on the upper wing indicates Fighter Squadron. On the Enterprise that would be Fighting Six (Carrier Squadron numbers come from the ship’s hull number, the Enterprise was CV-6)
This colorful marking scheme started informally from about 1925, it was first codified in 1927. It was tweaked several times through the 1930s, especially as the organization of Squadrons and Air Groups changed.
With the start of World War II, duties, responsibilities and risks started to change in dramatic ways. In December 1940, a year before the US entered World War II, a new directive called for all combat types to be painted overall light grey. The Yellow Wings era had ended. Wildcats and Buffalos were expanding their service role, early examples of both types were delivered in Yellow Wings markings, but not for long. The majority of F3Fs built were still in service and they were all given the new light grey color, eventually.

One curiosity with these markings. The movie Dive Bomber (starring Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray) was filmed aboard the USS Enterprise starting in April 1941. At this time the air group was in the process of getting new paint; so that film, in beautiful period color, show’s the air group in transition. The corny story may be forgettable, but the color cinematography is stunning.
A minor tidbit, Rear Admiral William F Halsey had Enterprise as his flagship during filming. He was not happy about the distraction, but he followed orders and made accommodations. On the last day of filming he was heard to shout “Now get the hell off my ship!”

This is the Accurate Miniatures kit I’ve built a couple times before. Its not difficult kit, except for the usual qualifications about bi-planes. That is, alignment of the wing structure can be tricky and external rigging is often a bear.
This time the aligning seemed to go much harder than the previous F3F I built, its still not quite right. Sorry!