No US aircraft other than the Wildcat fought throughout WWII, all the way from 1940 to VJ Day in 1945; the Wildcat was there when the US Navy and Marines entered the Pacific theatre and when the atomic bomb was dropped to put an end to hostilities. Apart from service in the North Atlantic, British Martlets saw combat in warmer climes too such as Malta, North Africa and alongside their American counterparts throughout the Pacific.
The Wildcat could well be considered the US Navy's 'Spitifre', performing heroically against considerable odds in often difficult conditions in the defining battles of the Coral Sea and Midway and later in the dark days of the early Pacific islands campaigns at infamous locations such as Guadalcanal and Rabaul.
It is a testament to the success of this rugged little fighter that the design remained basically unchanged until the end of the war, and the last Wildcat to roll off the General Motors production lines in 1945.
Model features
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Fully detailed and animated F4F undercarriage
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Folding wings (F4F-4 and Martlet MkIV) with detailed mechanisms and correct wing stay rods when folded
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Fully detailed split flaps
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Opening dinghy storage area
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Accurate and detailed radial engines
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Operating tail hook and lockable tail wheel
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Realistic animated pilot in a choice of uniforms to suit the aircraft
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Retractable landing lights
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Animated cowl flaps in correct configurations for each type
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Authentic pre-war and wartime liveries
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Choice of aircraft with tanks or no tanks
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Fully compatible with Acceleration carrier operations
Virtual Cockpit features
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Highly detailed Virtual Cockpit
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Every switch, knob and lever is animated and most are fully functional
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Switchable and dimmable gunsight reticles
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Choice of British and US gunsights, compasses etc.
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Working checklist gauge
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Separate VCs for US and British types and different layouts for F4F-4 and F4F-3
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Fluid 3D gauges with accurate readings
Included models
F4F-3 F-15 - flown by Lt (jg) E H 'Butch' O'Hare, perhaps the Wildcat's most famous ace. O'Hare was, in fact, the US Navy's first aerial ace and was flying this machine when he shot down five Japanese bombers in one engagement in 1942, 400 miles from Rabaul. The action earned him the first military Congressional Medal of Honor. O'Hare was killed just one year later in a Grumman Hellcat during the battle for the Gilbert Islands - ironically, by friendly fire.
F4F-3 3-F-9 - belonged to Fighting Squadron VF-3 flying from USS Saratoga in the Spring of 1941. Overall light grey paint scheme.
F4F-4 'White 18' - flown by AP/1c Howard Stanton Packard of VF-6, USS Enterprise, August 1942. Enterprise was the most decorated ship of the US Navy in WWII; it was at Midway with the Yorktown and was the departure base for the famous Doolittle raid in retaliation for Pearl Harbor.
Martlet MkI - EJ569 F - flown by Sub Lt Parke, RNVR, when he, along with another Martlet pilot, scored the very first aerial victory for the F4F series in WWII. The action took place near the Orkney Islands in Scotland early in 1940 and the result was that one JU88 was destroyed.
MartletI MkIV - 'That Old Thing' - Nose art of any type was usually strictly frowned upon by Naval 'brass' but this Martlet flew from HMS Tracker during Operation Overlord, D-Day and the invasion of France in June 1944.