AF Guardian

AF Guardian

Infobox Aircraft
name= AF Guardian


caption= Hunter-Killer team of AF-2W (lower) and AF-2S
type= Anti-submarine aircraft
national origin= United States
manufacturer= Grumman
designer=
first flight= 19 December 1945
introduced= October 1950
retired= 31 August 1955
status=
primary user= United States Navy
more users=
produced=
number built= 389
unit cost=
developed from =
variants with their own articles=

The Grumman AF Guardian was the first purpose-built anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft system to enter service in the United States Navy. It consisted of two airframes, one for detection gear, the other for weapons. It was replaced by the S-2 Tracker, the first purpose-built single airframe ASW airplane to serve the U.S. Navy.

Design and development

The original design, the XTB2F of 1944, was to be a twin-engined aircraft with a 3,600-pound (1,633 kg) warload and a range of 3,700 miles (5,950 km). This was considered to be too large for practical use from an Essex class aircraft carrier, and was canceled in 1945, replaced by a modified F7F Tigercat, the XTSF-1.

However, another alternative, the internally-developed Model G-70, was selected instead, and given the Navy designation XTB3F. This was designed as mixed-power aircraft, with a Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp radial engine in the nose and a Westinghouse turbojet in the tail. This was found to be unsuitable and the jet engine was removed without ever having been used in flight. The XTB3F-1S carried a crew of two seated side-by-side and an armament of two 20 mm cannon and 4,000 pounds (1,814 kg) of bombs, torpedoes and/or rockets, and made its first flight on 19 December 1945.

On 24 December 1945, the Navy changed the role of the aircraft from torpedo-bomber to anti-submarine warfare. All the required equipment could not be fitted into a single aircraft, consequently two variants would be produced, one as a "hunter" and another as a "killer." The "hunter" aircraft would not carry any armament, [Donald, p. 46 ] but instead two additional crew members and a ventral radome for APS-20 search radar. This aircraft, the XTB3F-1S, first flew in November 1948.

The "killer" deleted the cannon of the torpedo bomber, but retained the bomb bay, added a third crewmember, a searchlight, and short-range radar, and (as the XTB3F-2S) first flew in January 1949.

Operational history

Redesignated as AF-2W (TB3F-1S) and AF-2S (TB3F-2S), the Guardian entered service in October 1950 as the largest single-engine, piston-engined aircraft ever used by the US Navy. A total of 193 AF-2S Guardians were built.

In 1952, the "hunter" AF-3S was introduced, fitting a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) for the detection of submerged submarines; 40 of this variant were built. The last Guardian was delivered to the Navy in March 1953, with a total of 389 built.

The Guardian saw service in the patrol role during the Korean war, however, shortly afterwards, it began to be replaced by the Grumman S2F Tracker, with the last AF retired on 31 August 1955.

The Guardian was used as a landbased and carrier ASW aircraft by the US Naval Air Reserve during the period just prior to its replacement by the Grummann S2F Tracker and in conjunction with the Lockheed P2V (P-2) Neptune. It was used extensively on the East Coast for ASW Patrol and training for the Naval Reserve, Willow Grove NAS being one of the main training bases for the central East Coast area.

Several Guardians saw service in civilian hands as water bombers, and one is on display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida.

Operators

;USA
* United States Navy
* Aero Union

pecifications (AF-2S Guardian)

Aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop

crew=3-4
length main=43 ft 4 in
length alt=13.21 m
span main=60 ft 8 in
span alt=18.49 m
height main=16 ft 2 in
height alt=5.08 m
area main=560 ft²
area alt=52.03 m²
empty weight main=14,580 lb
empty weight alt=6,613 kg
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
max takeoff weight main=25,500 lb
max takeoff weight alt=11,567 kg
engine (prop)=Pratt & Whitney R-2800-48W "Double Wasp"
type of prop=radial engine
number of props=1
power main=2,400 hp
power alt=1,790 kW
max speed main=274 knots
max speed alt=315 mph, 507 km/h
range main=1,304 nm
range alt=1,500 mi, 2,415 km
ceiling main=32,500 ft
ceiling alt=9,900 m
climb rate main=1,850 ft/min
climb rate alt=9.4 m/s
loading main=
loading alt=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
bombs=4,000 lb (1,814 kg) of bombs, torpedoes, and depth charges
rockets=16× 5 in (127 mm) unguided rockets

ee also

aircontent
related=

similar aircraft=
* Breguet Vultur
* Fairey Gannet
* Fairey Spearfish

lists=
* List of attack aircraft
* List of military aircraft of the United States

see also=

References

Notes

Bibliography

*
* Gunston, Bill. "Grumman: Sixty Years of Excellence". New York: Orion Books, 1988. ISBN 0-517-56796-2.
* Thruelsen, Richard. "The Grumman Story". New York: Praeger Publishers, Inc., 1976. ISBN 0-275-54260-2.

External links

* [http://www.vectorsite.net/avguard.html Grumman AF Guardian at Greg Goebel's Air Vectors]
* [http://www.arizonawingcaf.com/pages/guardian.html AF2S Guardian at Arizona Wing Commemerative Airforce]


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