DIECAST MODEL,DISPLAY STAND,1/100 SCALE

The F9F Panther was Grumman’s first jet fighter. The aircraft needed a more powerful engine so a Rolls Royce “Nene” was made under license in the US. Ironically Russia was also making this engine under license for their Mig-15 that would be one of the F9F’s main Korean adversaries. There were 101 F9F-2s produced including the F9F-2P aerial reconnaissance variant. The Panther flew over 78,000 sorties in Korea and the Panther became the first carrier jet to engage a jet-powered enemy, a MIG-15 that lost the duel.
The F9F-2P aerial reconnaissance version of the Panther had the 4 x 20mm nose guns replaced with cameras leaving them defenseless. Wearing white letters PP on the tail and wings VC-61, “Eyes of the Fleet” were assigned this task during the Korean Conflict. VC-61 flew over enemy territory, took pictures and returned them to be analyzed. Armed aircraft would deploy to destroy the targets and once more VC-61 Panthers would fly over the target taking pictures so the extent of damage could be determined. VC-61 lost 4 pilots while performing their duty