Grumman F8F Bearcat Flight Demonstration - MONSTER Radial Sound !!!

Back


This video was taken at the 2006 airshow at Jacqueline Cochran Airport in Thermal, California. This Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat is a member of the Southern California Wing of the Commemorative Air Force and is based in Camarillo, Calif. Their Grumman Hellcat also attended the show. These aircraft attend most SoCal airshows, even the very small ones. This is at no small expense. Thank you very much!

This is my favorite Grumman "Cat" and I think the video really illustrates Grumman's "smallest possible airframe built around the P&W R-2800 engine" concept. What a beast! This thing is ALL engine. This aircraft was run at a substantially higher power setting than what you would normally see at an airshow, much to the benefit of us warbird enthusiasts! Enjoy the great sights and sounds. I got a little buffeted by the prop wash and also had to wash the oil droplets off my lens filter after the engine startup. Ah, y-e-s!

The town of Thermal was not so named because it is the most temperate spot in California, but is rather often the hottest place in the USA in the summer. Thermal is located approx. 33 miles southeast of Palm Springs and is in the central bowels (and I do mean bowels) of the California low desert :).

However, this airshow is held in November and the weather is just delightful. This is a relatively small, predominantly warbird-oriented show and being in SoCal, many nearby warbirds attend. Definitely worth going to if you live in SoCal or are visiting! Warbirds from the Planes of Fame Museum (Chino, Calif.), the Palm Springs Air Museum and the Southern California wing of the Commemorative Air Force attend, along with modern U.S. military aircraft and other historic, privately-owned warbirds (see my other videos).

If you'd like, please also check out my other warbird videos. Thanks and happy warbirding!

Channel: Autos & Vehicles
Uploaded: June 10, 2007 at 4:55 am
Author: octane130

Length: 00:02:29
Rating: 4.82
Views: 200923

Tags: WW2 WWII Grumman Bearcat Spitfire Chino Zero P-38 Mustang Hellcat P-51 P-47 P-40 B-17 B-24 B-25 Duxford Japanese Harley

Video Comments:
3fitzgrld (November 14, 2008 at 9:49 am)
SAAWEEEET!
knightspy (November 7, 2008 at 6:24 am)
FreddyTuber, shut the f**k up you treehugger. If the WW2 gas hogs wouldn't have existed you wouldn't even be here you idiot-nice response to ole freddy , i guess he dosnt even consider the fuel rate a jet plane uses, compared to jets WW2 planes are far more economical
knightspy (November 7, 2008 at 6:11 am)
YAK 3?the climb /manuver, the japanese had several planes that would out climb and out turn the yak 3 , at 1200-1300hp, the last model zeros would have gave it a scare, but the japs had even better planes, the yak 3 is not even comparable to the spitfire,mustang, corsair, or hellcat, or folke wolf 190, the bf 109 k model would easly out perform it , you need to get to the yak 7s to even start to get comparable performance,
knightspy (November 7, 2008 at 5:58 am)
of planes that really fought in the war &where in production, the p51 H model ran 472mph , the p47 m 467mph &could break of combat from any prop plane by diving at near the sound barrier, & the bf109k could reach 452mph maybe not the best but theres no dispute the world greatest fighter ace flew it with 352 kills shot down twice 2 fight again &survived the war, i don t think manuer speed of any plane of that era beats a good pilot , as proved by the man with a record never to be beat
wilmanric1 (November 7, 2008 at 2:15 am)
"Agility means nothing"??? You might want to run that one past the guys who fought against the Spitfire, buddy.
wilmanric1 (November 7, 2008 at 2:13 am)
Ummnn..I know a heavily modified one currently holds the record at around 528 mph, but I think you are otherwise wrong about production machines. A production Bearcat did about 455; fast, but not the fastest. The prototype Spiteful did 595 and the Hawker Sea Fury was almost as fast. They were both faster than the Bearcat.
wilmanric1 (November 8, 2008 at 12:48 am)
That should be 494.
skipplet (October 30, 2008 at 3:34 am)
Gawd what an awesome sound. Gives me chills thinking about it.
skipplet (October 30, 2008 at 3:32 am)
You're a fuckin idiot freddytuber.
jolupapi (October 28, 2008 at 5:53 am)
FreddyTuber, shut the f**k up you treehugger. If the WW2 gas hogs wouldn't have existed you wouldn't even be here you idiot. Be more grateful to these great war birds from the WW2 era.