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Squadron Signal F9F Cougar Walk Around


Julien

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F9F Cougar Walk Around Book
Squadron Signal


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The Grumman F9F Cougar was the US Navys first swept wing aircraft. The aircraft was in fact a Grumman Panther with the straight wing replaced with a swept one. The USN considered the Cougar an updated version of the Panther hence why they are both designated F9F with the Cougar starting at F9F-6.

The aircraft was developed by Grumman in a fairly short span of time, first flying on 20th September 1951. Deliveries commenced in mid 1952 and ran to 1954 with 646 being built. In addition a further 377 two seat trainers were delivered between 1956 and 1960. The type was too late to see combat in Korea but did have a fairly short combat career with the TF-9J trainer being used as a fast FAC in Vietnam between 1966 and 1968. Cougars were withdrawn from front line service in 1958/59 to be replaced by F11F Tigers and F8U Crusaders. Trainer versions lasted until 1974.


The book is on the standard Squadron Signal format of landscape A4. The author is Ken Neubeck and most of the photographs in the book are his as well. The pages are glossy and most are in full colour (except where Black & White pictures are used), there is some great artwork from Don Greer on both the front and back covers.

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The book starts with a one page introduction to the Cougar, and then follows with specification pages for the different designations. Following this there is a page showing all the different nose and canopy variations of the aircraft.

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The book has photos mainly of aircraft preserved in museums so the modeller needs to bear this in mind. All photos are captioned so you are in doubt what you are looking at. The cockpit photos are very clear and some are from the Grumman archive so there can be doubt if they are authentic.

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Conclusion
I had not seen one of these books for a while and this one was very good. I like the layout and the quality of the photos (Well done Ken!). With all the details, internal and external; you are presented with an overall comprehensive look at the Cougar. This will be of great help to the modeller, interest to the US Navy fan, or general aviation buff. These books are the next best thing to having access to an actual aircraft.


Highly recommended





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Available in the UK from Hannants.


Review sample courtesy of
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