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Description
| Manufacturer: | Grumman |
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| Base model: | F-9 | ||
| Designation: | TF-9 | ||
| Version: | J | ||
| Nickname: | Cougar | ||
| Equivalent to: | F9F-8T F9F8TF9F-8T | ||
| Designation System: | U.S. Tri-Service | ||
| Designation Period: | 1962-Present | ||
| Basic role: | Fighter | ||
| Modified Mission: | Trainer | ||
| See Also: |
Specifications
| Length: | 44' 4" | 13.5 m | |
| Height: | 12' 3" | 3.7 m | |
| Wingspan: | 34' 6" | 10.5 m | |
| Wingarea: | 337.0 sq ft | 31.3 sq m | |
| Empty Weight: | 12,787 lb | 5,799 kg | |
| Gross Weight: | 16,698 lb | 7,572 kg | |
| Max Weight: | 20,574 lb | 9,330 kg | |
Propulsion
| No. of Engines: | 1 | ||
| Powerplant: | Pratt & Whitney J48-P-8A | ||
| Thrust (each): | 7,250 lb | 3,287 kg | |
Performance
| Range: | 600 miles | 966 km | |
| Cruise Speed: | 475 mph | 764 km/h | 412 kt |
| Max Speed: | 630 mph | 1,014 km/h | 548 kt |
| Climb: | 4,800 ft/min | 1,462 m/min | |
| Ceiling: | 43,000 ft | 13,106 m | |
Recent comments by our visitors
| Phil Burke Taylorville, IL | I worked in the Para Loft in VT-21 in late 61 to early 64. When they had an empty seat I went along for the ride in the chase plane several times. The single seater was the AF-9J and the dual seat version was called the TF-9J as I recall.. 09/07/2008 @ 16:10 [ref: 22628] |
| greg beach estero, FL | i saw old emasculated cougars at memphis while at adj school,tires flat ,paint faded-never dreaming i would get orders to spend 2 more years working on real ones with vt21 in kingsville.worked on the line for awhile,then in oma tearing the j-48's down looking for compressor cracks.then into the engine shop doing repairs and trouble shooting till the ta4's came in.love to see pictures of those ta and tf-9's.got some pics in my scrapbook ,but don't know how to share em by computer.thanx for the site. 09/21/2007 @ 17:18 [ref: 17985] |
| Bill Lagler Atlanta, GA | I was stationed at Kingsville from 1965-69, worked in the j-65 & J48 jet shop and test cell @ AMD I also remember the Gost Couger It was cleaned up checked out an put back into service. 07/13/2007 @ 18:14 [ref: 17089] |
| Goebel Berry Loganville, GA | stationed with vt-23 1968-70.plane captain and later AE shop.I remember the christansen guy who also posted on this site.Flew back seat as troubleshooter.good memories. 07/07/2007 @ 15:01 [ref: 17033] |
| Rich Vandiver , TX | I had the pleasure of flying the TF-9J in Advanced Flight Training at Kingsville, Texas (VT-21) and with H&MS-11 in DaNang.I flew many FAC and close air support missions with this aircraft. They don't call it the "Grumman Iron Works" for nothin'! 10/27/2006 @ 20:12 [ref: 14592] |
| Lance Christiansen North Manchester, In., IN | As a young airman attached to Ground Support Equipment, I towed VT23 Cougars around NAAS Kingsville, Texas in "67-68". I remember when someone thought it would be cool to paint the Blue on the noses. I saw a lot of these planes crash, be repaired and put back in the air. I remember the one where the pilots ejected and the plane continued into the south texas desert; bellied in, and was recovered by an Air Force Skycrane helo. I think it was TF9J #314,and came back as 344 to fly again. This was a tough aircraft that maintenance workers could walk all over it and not dent anything. 06/19/2006 @ 07:38 [ref: 13546] |
| Bryan Pennington Middleburg, FL | In 1974 I was a TF-9J plane captain at Naval Station Pensacola, Sherman Field and launched one of the last four Cougars to the bone yard during the final ceremony commemorating the Cougar (I am not the guy in the paper photograph shown but, think he is Mike Good). For memory sake I have held on to the Daily/Preflight deck I used that day ; somewhere there is a pissed off tech pub librarian. I retired after 30 years as CWO4 9/30/2002 held each rank from E-1 to W4, experienced every job/position from First Lieutenant to Maintenance Material Control Officer and worked T-2C, TF-9J, TA-4J, F-4N, F-4J, P-3C, SH-3H, HH-60H, SH-60B and SH-60F aircraft. God, do I miss the Navy!! 11/30/2005 @ 15:50 [ref: 11849] |
| Larry Powell Jacksonville, FL | For C.G.Reichelderfer. I also served with VT-4 in Pensacola, as an ADJ, from 1972 to 1976. Worked in Powerplants and the check crew - tearing down and rebuilding the J48, then re-installing in the aircraft and taking it to high power. Dove the duct quite a few times to bleed the fuel pumps and make adjstments to the fuel control. Lots of hard work, but it was fun. Can remember the emergency ignitors going off several times in the hanger. I do remember an incident next door (hanger) at VT-86. Plane was manned up for a flight (student and Instructor pilot). The plane captain gave the signal to close the canopy, and the student pulled the face curtain. Both pilots were ejected from the aircraft and survived. Never had the opportunity to fly in a TF-9, but flew later in the T2 and TA-4. By the way, I was there when they retired the last TF9J. 10/04/2005 @ 12:56 [ref: 11402] |
| Michael F. Vandenberg Pensacola, FL | First, the picture submitted by Flash of Houston is an RF-9 Cougar as the camera bulge on the nose indicates. It was assigned to a training squadron, but was not a TF-9, which was a two-seat tandem-cockpit aircraft, as shown in the Grumman photo and the shot of the one hanging fom the deck of the Lexington by its tailhook. I also remember a TF-9J landing so hard on the Lexington's flight deck that one of the mainmounts punched right through the wing. A forklift with some matress-covered pallets was used to get it to Elevator 3 and into the hangar bay until we got back in to NAS Pensacola, where it was off-loaded with the A&B crane onto a long flatbed trailer to go to NARF for repair. 07/12/2005 @ 12:17 [ref: 10724] |
| Rod Bailey El Monte, CA | I was stationed at Chase Field, from 1956 till 1959. At that time, we were ctu-213. At first we had TV-2s, then we switched over to cougars. For me it was a pleasure to work on. As a ADJ, I worked in power plant department. When our F9s went out to the carrier to qualify pilots, we had one drop down after being ejected off the deck. His wheels touched the water, but he recovered. Pilot said his throttle went back to idle. Another aircraft tailpipe hit the deck on takeoff and lost thrust and went in the water. A third aircraft's hook, didn't work properly and it only slowed it down. And it went in the water. The good news was all the pilots were ok. The bad news was we were minus two aircraft. Also worked at Corpus Christie navy base. We had men from both units and we set up a assembly line to tear down J48 engines. As the compressor blades had cracks. I was there for about three months. We were located in the civilian O/R. If we were short on nuts or bolts, a few of us would go in early. And go over to the civilian side to get what we needed. That way we had no down time and didn't need to do any paper work on ordering. Overall, had a great time and good memories of Chase Field and our cougars. 12/14/2004 @ 01:14 [ref: 8860] |
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