Flying Tiger

To its growing arsenal of supersonic warplanes, the U.S. last week added still another jet fighter,-this one for the Navy. At Calverton, L.I., Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. lifted the security lid for a quick view of its F9F9 "Tiger." The plane looks as ferocious as its name. Designed for carrier operations, it has a short, solid snout, an undulating, "coke bottle" fuselage, and drooping, knife-thin wings. For armament, it will carry air-to-air rockets, possibly Sperry Gyroscope Co.'s new Sparrow missile, now in mass production. Top speed: top secret, but the plane weighs less than 20,000 Ibs. and packs a burly 7,800-lb. -thrust J65 Sapphire engine with afterburner, more than enough to drive it through the sonic barrier in level flight.

Though the Tiger has only flown a few times, the Navy is so impressed that it has already given Grumman a $40 million experimental and production contract for an estimated 40 to 50 planes. The company cannot say when the first production model will roll off the lines. But Grumman, which had its famed World War II Hellcat in Navy squadrons before the roof was even on its Bethpage, L.I. plant, managed to turn out the Tiger prototype in just 15 months, has designed it specifically for fast, easy production.

Britain last week rolled out its first truly supersonic jet. Built by English Electric, maker of the Canberra twin-jet bomber, the new P. 1 is a stubby, delta-winged interceptor, with a double-barreled Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire power plant turning out a total of 20,000 Ibs. of thrust. All English Electric will say is that the plane can fly faster than sound in level flight, and that 20 have been ordered to short-cut the time lag between prototype and production models. At the news, most of Britain's newspapers went all out, claimed speeds of 1,000 m.p.h. or better. Streamered the Daily Mail: FASTEST YET--AND BRITISH. But some, remembering how few of Britain's shiny prototypes ever see squadron service, were less enthusiastic. Said the Manchester Guardian: "The [Hawker] Hunter and the [Supermarine] Swift, according to Government statements two years ago, were going to be 'the finest day fighters in the world.' . . . [But] by midsummer of 1954, only a few Hunters had reached squadrons, and the Swifts were all grounded, because of technical troubles. By the time [the P. i] comes into general service, if it ever does, it too may be behind the best . . . The R.A.F would do better to concentrate on fewer machines and get them into service faster."

* Supersonic aircraft already in production or being tested for the Air Force: North American's F-100, McDonnell's F-101, Convair's F-102, Lockheed's 104 For the Navy: Douglas' F4D Skyray.

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