F9F Panther/Cougar, Illustrated

By Lou Drendel

The Grumman F-9F Panther was the first US Navy jet fighter, and it was fitting that Grumman Aircraft Engineering was the designer/builder. Grumman had established a reputation as a reliable and effective manufacturer of Naval Aircraft with the World War II series of “cat” fighters, the Wildcat, Hellcat, Tigercat, and Bearcat. All of those fighters were powered by increasingly powerful radial piston engines, which defined their blunt lines. In the Panther, Grumman came up with sleek, curvaceous design. That sleek design belied the inherent strength of the Panther, which took its place in the “Grumman Ironworks” firmament of tough airplanes. When jets first went to combat, the Panther scored the first jet versus jet victory, downing a MiG-15. And when the Navy’s aerial demonstration team, the Blue Angels, went from propellers to jets, they did so in the Panther. Two of the most famous astronauts, Neil Armstrong and John Glenn, both flew the Panther in combat. As a first, the Panther did not offer a great deal of potential for additional development, but adding swept wings produced the next cat, the F9F Cougar. Both the Panther and the Cougar are covered in detail in this latest “Illustrated” title, with as much color as I could find.