F-11 Tiger



Design and development


The design's potential for supersonic performance and reduced transonic drag stirred interest in the Navy. By 1953, redesigns led to a completely new aircraft bearing no more than a familial resemblance to the Cougar. The new wing had full-span leading edge slats and trailing edge flap with roll control achieved using spoilers rather than traditional ailerons. For storage on aircraft carriers, the F-11 Tiger's wings manually folded downwards. Anticipating supersonic performance, the tailplane was all-moving. The aircraft was designed for the Wright J65 turbojet, a license-built version of the Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire.


The F-11 Tiger is noted for being the first jet aircraft to shoot itself down. On 21 September 1956, during a test firing of its 20 mm cannons, pilot Tom Attridge fired two bursts mid-way through a shallow dive. As the velocity and trajectory of the cannon rounds decayed, they ultimately crossed paths with the Tiger as it continued its descent, disabling it and forcing Attridge to crash land the aircraft. The pilot survived.

F11F-1F Super Tiger

In addition to the F-11A (F11F-1) fighter, Grumman also proposed a more advanced version of the airframe known as the F11F-1F Super Tiger. This was the result of a 1955 study to fit the new General Electric J79 engine into the F-11 airframe. The Navy was sufficiently interested to authorize modification of two production F11F-1 with enlarged air intakes and YJ79-GE-3 turbojet, with the result being designated the F11F-2. The aircraft first flew on 25 May 1956, reaching Mach 1.44 in one of the flights. After addition of 60° wing root fillets, a 13.5 in (35 cm) fuselage extension, and an uprated J79 engine, F11F-2 reached an impressive Mach 2.04 and an altitude of 80,250 ft (24,466 m). Unfortunately, the U.S. Navy did not order it into production. F11F-2 was then redesignated F11F-1F, indicating production F11F-1 with a special engine fit. Failing to secure the Navy contract, Grumman marketed the Super Tiger to foreign customers. The German Luftwaffe, Japan Air Self Defence Force and Royal Canadian Air Force showed considerable interest but eventually the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was chosen. This outcome, however, was skewed by the Lockheed bribery scandals, in which huge sums were paid to influential politicians in those countries to ensure the adoption of the Starfighter.

Operational history

Seven U.S. Navy squadrons flew the F11F-1: VF-21 and VF-33 in the Atlantic Fleet and VA-156 (redesignated VF-111 in January 1959), VF-24 (redesignated VF-211 in March 1959), VF-51, VF-121, and VF-191 in the Pacific Fleet. In service, the Tiger operated from the carriers , , , , and . The F11F's career only lasted four years because its performance was inferior to the Vought F-8 Crusader and the J65 engine proved unreliable. Thus, the Navy cancelled all orders for the F11F-1P reconnaissance version and only 199 F11F-1 (F-11A) fighters were built. The aircraft was withdrawn from carrier service by 1961. However it was used in the training command in south Texas, Beeville and Kingsville, until the late 1960s. Students performed advanced jet training in the F-9 Cougar, and upon completing that syllabus, were given a brief taste of supersonic capability before transitioning to fleet fighters.

While the F-11's fighter career was short, the Blue Angels performed in these aircraft from 1957 until 1969, when the Tiger was replaced by the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.


YF9F-9: Original designation.F-11F-1: Single-seat fighter version for the U.S. Navy. later redesignated F-11A in 1962.F11F-1P: designation of cancelled Navy reconnaissance version.F-11F-1F Super Tiger: F11F-1 fitted with the J-79-GE-3A engine.F-11F-2: Alternate designation of the F11F-1F.


Specifications (F11F-1/F-11A)

See also




  • Gunston, Bill. Fighters of the Fifties. Oscela, Wisconsin: Specialty Press, 1981. ISBN 0-93342-432-9.

External links

Search another word or see F-11_Tigeron Dictionary | Thesaurus |Spanish
Copyright © 2014, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature