General Motors FM-2 Wildcat - Unsung Hero of the Pacific

Would you like to see this in-game?
  • Yes
  • No
0 voters

General Motors FM-2 Wildcat

   Hello! I’d like to introduce and suggest the General Motors FM-2 Wildcat for the US aviation tech tree in War Thunder. I am surprised this aircraft isn’t in the game despite being the most produced Wildcat variant, with 4,437 built for the US Navy plus 340 for the Royal Navy. Historically, the FM-2s were delivered overseas in the Atlantic and Pacific to serve on escort carriers where the F6F and F4U fighters could not operate. In one case, the FM-2 Wildcats took off from the escort carriers to strafe the approaching Japanese surface fleet, including the Yamato battleship, during the famous Battle of Samar.


Key Characteristics

  • Naval fighter
  • Last and most numerous major production variant based on an XF4F-8 prototype
  • Powered by beefier 1,350-hp Wright R-1820-56 air-cooled, water-injected, radial piston engine
  • Taller tail to counteract the torque
  • Four .50-cal. HMGs with 1,720 rounds as a total
  • New wing racks for two 250-lb bombs or six 5-inch HVAR rockets

History

Design and Development

Although Grumman had moved to concentrate on developing and producing the new F6F Hellcat fighters, the US Navy still needed small and nimble fighters to fill their new escort carriers. The US Navy allowed General Motors Eastern Aircraft Division to take over the production of the Wildcats. The first FM-1 was produced and delivered in August 1942; at the same time, General Motors developed a newer and improved version - the FM-2 - based on an XF4F-8 prototype.

The XF4F-8 prototype had its vertical tail enlarged and featured a lightened airframe to optimize the takeoff performance from the escort carriers. It had a more powerful 1,350-hp R-1820-56 Cyclone 9 radial engine with a turbocharger, increased by 150 hp.

The first one of two XF4F-8s made its first flight in November 1942 with a shortened tailfin. It was revealed that the torque of the bigger engine affected handling, so another one was constructed with a taller tailfin. The changes proved satisfactory, and the variant immediately got accepted and became the Eastern Aircraft FM-2 before it was ordered into production in early 1943. The letter M in the aircraft’s designation is the company code for the Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors.

Production & Operational Service

The FM-2 had different cowling and omitted the belly windows. It had a new straight-up radio mast instead of a forward-canted radio mast as fitted to earlier Wildcat variants; it had a newer oil cooler system and deleted the oil coolers under the wings as fitted to the earlier Wildcat variants. New FM-2s received a production R-1820-56W with a wet injection system to help boost short-term engine output. Later models featured launch stubs for HVAR rockets used in close support and anti-submarine operations. All these new changes made FM-2 the faster and more agile variant than all of the Wildcat variants. It also had a much superior rate of climb and a higher ceiling.

Around the early to middle of 1943, General Motors switched its production from FM-1 to FM-2. The FM-2 would become the most produced variant of the Wildcat fighter, with 4,127 FM-2s made for the US Navy and 340 made for England.

These FM-2 Wildcats were delivered and assigned to escort carriers in both the Pacific and Atlantic. Their duties were convoy protection, anti-submarine operations, and support in amphibious operations. They also flew out on combat air patrols to protect convoys and warships from anti-shipping or kamikaze aircraft. The FM-2s proved worthy for the USN pilots on the escort carriers since their slower landing speed and maneuverability made them more suitable for landing and takeoff from small deck escort carriers.

During the Battle off Samar on October 25, 1944, the FM-2 Wildcats and TBM Avengers took off to cover the amphibious landings in the Philippines. Soon, they were facing a dangerous Japanese surface fleet accompanied by a Yamato battleship. The escort carriers from Taffys 1, 2, and 3 scrambled the aircraft. These aircraft had no choice but to strafe the warships to dissuade them. The FM-2s were strafing and damaging Yamato’s bridge despite the heavy and thick flak bursts from the anti-air guns. Combined with the fierce resistance of USN destroyers, they inflicted significant damage enough to confuse and dissuade the Japanese, who eventually withdrew from the battle. The surviving aircraft were routed to land at Leyte to rearm and refuel.

The FM-2 Wildcat production ceased in August 1945. By the end of the war, the sum of the FM Wildcat victories was 432; many of the victories were kamikazes. This FM-2 variant earned its informal nickname - Wilder Wildcat. Many of FM-2 Wildcats survived the war and remained airworthy as airshow warbirds.


Specifications

General Motors FM-2 Wildcat

General Characteristics

  • Crew: 1 (Pilot)
  • Length: 28 ft 10.625 in (8.8 m)
  • Height: 13 ft 6.5 in (4.13 m)
  • Span: 38 ft (11.58 m)
  • Wing Area: 260 sq ft (24.15 sq m)
  • Powerplant: Wright R-1820-56W Cyclone air-cooled, water-injected, radial piston engine
    → 1,350 hp (1,007 kW)
  • Internal Fuel: 126 US gal. (477 L)
  • Oil Tankage: 11 US gal. (41.6 L)
  • Empty Weight: 5,448 lb (2,471 kg)
  • Gross Weight: 7,487 lb (3,396 kg)

Engine Ratings

  • Takeoff:

    → 1,350 BHP @ 2,700 RPM @ sea level

  • War Emergency:

    → 1,360 BHP @ 2,600 RPM @ sea level
    → 1,300 BHP @ 2,600 RPM @ 1,500 ft (457 m)
    → 1,200 BHP @ 2,600 RPM @ 4,000 - 7,500 ft (1,219 - 2,286 m)
    → 1,000 BHP @ 2,600 RPM @ 13,300 - 14,700 ft (4,054 m - 4.480 m)

  • Military:

    → 1,300 BHP @ 2,600 RPM @ sea level - 1,500 ft (457 m)
    → 1,000 BHP @ 2,600 RPM @ 9,000 ft - 14,700 ft (2,743 m - 4,480 m)

  • Normal:

    → 1,200 BHP @ 2,500 RPM @ sea level - 2,700 ft (823 m)
    → 900 BHP @ 2,500 RPM @ 11,000 - 17,500 ft (3,353 - 5,334 m)

Performance @ War Emergency

  • Power-to-Weight Ratio: 0.18 hp/lb (295.9 W/kg)
  • Sea Level Speed: 306 mph (492 km/h)
  • Critical Altitude Speed: 326 mph @ 10,700 ft (525 km/h @ 3,261 m)
  • Stall Speed:
    • Gross Weight: 75.6 mph (121.6 km/h)
    • Empty Fuel: 71.6 mph (115.2 km/h)
  • Wing Loading: 28.8 lb/sq ft (140.6 kg/sq m)
  • Takeoff Distance - Calm: 489 ft (149 m)
  • Rate of Climb: 3,650 fpm (18.5 m/s)
  • Time to Altitude:
    • 3.2 minutes to 10,000 ft (3,048 m)
    • 7.5 minutes to 20,000 ft (6,096 m)
  • Service Ceiling: 34,700 ft (10,577 m)
  • Range: 900 miles (1,448 km)

Armament

  • 4 x .50-cal. M2 Browning machine guns (430 rpg; 1,720 rounds)
  • 2 x 250-lb bombs
  • 6 x 5-inch (127-mm) HVAR/FFAR rockets
  • 2 x 58-gal drop tanks

Supplemental Data


Diagrams


Cockpit


FM-2 Livery Examples --- Illustrations

Atlantic Scheme - Dark Gull Gray over Insignia White

Tricolor Scheme - Semi Gloss Sea Blue, Intermediate Blue and Insignia White

GM-FM-2-VC79-USS-Sargent-Bay1945

Final Factory Scheme - overall Gloss Sea Blue

Trainer Scheme - Silver Lacquer with a Flat Black anti-glare panel and windshield frame


Images


Conclusion | Why it should be in the game

   I made this suggestion because the FM-2 Wildcat is overdue and awaiting addition to the US aviation tech tree. I want to bring your attention to this because the FM-2 Wildcat deserves its place in War Thunder. The FM-2 is the most produced Wildcat variant with a powerful engine and improved flight performance. It has access to new ground weaponry. This suggestion also calls for expanding WW2 aircraft content in the game, especially for the US naval fighter line in the tech tree. This FM-2 would make a welcoming addition to the Wildcat family. It could be foldered with the F4F Wildcats or separated between the F4F series and F6F.


See Also


Sources


Thank you for taking the time to read my suggestion! 😃

9 Likes

The extra power and bigger tail alongside the armament changes make it more worthy for a place than the FM-1.

Maybe foldered seperately with the F6F leaving the standard F4Fs (and maybe the FM-1) to their own.

4 Likes

Glad to see that

i love these late wildcats, i hope britain gets this one as the Marlet Mk VI

1 Like

I’d love to see this plane in game, and I don’t think we are the only ones who want it, as it’s been suggested quite a few times in the past. In fact, it seems one of those suggestions was passed to developers for review some 9 years ago

@Nostalgistic Can you fix the photos? All of the photos are broken in this suggestion

Fixed & reuploaded. Thank you.

More images:

1 Like

Great Work! I really want to see this thing in game, I’m waiting for this thing for so long. I’d fly this thing regardless of how competitive it is at the BR. I really love to have thing thing in the game.

2 Likes

Me like new skins

To be honest, it’s ridiculous that this is not in the game yet while we have SIX Corsairs in the tree, some with barely any difference, three P-36s, two PBJs, and the list goes on. Corsairs aside, we get so many planes that were barely a footnote in WWII but the FM-2 has never been added despite its widespread use and heavy interest from players for nearly a decade. What gives?

I saw some skin suggestions and I would at least want the overall glossy sea blue. We already have an Atlantic option for the F4F-4. The tri-color is cool too (don’t even get me started on how the only skin for the F4U-1C is the tri-color when only the prototype had that paint scheme….). I think the FM-2’s finest hours in the closing stages of WWII in the overall glossy sea blue should be represented. Besides, it’s the easiest to add. Ralph Elliott and Joe McGraw are to pilots with good skin options too in the overall glossy sea blue.

The FM-2 would be very fun to play. It may also come as a surprise to players used to fighting the Grumman Wildcats vs this Eastern Wildcat which was an absolute brawler. Its kill ratio was the best of any at the end of the war, however this included a large number of kamikazes which waters it down heavily. However, more than one well-flown A6M who were in it to fight were caught off-guard by the FM-2’s performance in a dogfight and paid the price. Check out VC-10 pilot Joe McGraw’s Zero dogfight story for details.

IT IS TIME!

2 Likes

One more thing on Eastern Wildcats — I don’t think the FM-1 should be added. From memory, it was just an F4F-4 with four guns. If anything else, it wasn’t much different. The Atlantic skin option for the F4F-4 serves this purpose well enough.

The FM-2 is quite literally the “Wilder Wildcat” and is a great disappointment for not being in the game at the moment. Though, by the time it finally gets added (if ever) I probably won’t be playing anymore! Lol.

Fun fact, the first pilot to score the first jet vs. jet kill was U.S. Navy Commander William T. Amen on 9 November 1950 in an F9F Panther. Five years earlier as a Lieutenant, he led a fighter sweep to Chichi Jima on 19 February 1945 at the beginning of the Iwo Jima invasion campaign. He was flying FM-2 Wildcats with VC-82 off the USS Anzio (CVE-57).

2 Likes

At last, I have reorganized and updated the FM-2’s specs, including data on engine ratings. Added supplemental data & diagrams. The specs are much more elaborate and precise now.

Well said. I am in 100% agreement with you. Hope it comes to War Thunder sooner.

1 Like

Oh yes please, a +1 from me!