Grumman E-1

Grumman WF / E-1 tracer
Grumman E-1B "Tracer" of the US Navy
Type:	Early warning aircraft
Design country:	United States
Manufacturer:	Grumman Aerospace Corporation
First flight:	March 1, 1957
Commissioning:	1958
Number of pieces:	88

The Grumman E-1 Tracer was the first carrier-based early warning aircraft in the US Navy that was specially built for this purpose.

Development history

The Grumman E-1B Tracer was developed from the Grumman C-1 Trader , which in turn was derived from the Grumman S-2 . The first units entered service in 1958. They were replaced from 1970 by the Grumman E-2 C Hawkeye .

Her previous name was WF , which earned her the nickname Willy Fudd . The Grumman S-2 Tracker , formerly called S2F , was nicknamed Stoof . With its distinctive radome on its back, the E-1B Tracer was nicknamed Stoof with the Roof .

The traders as well as the trackers were shoulder- wing planes with two radial engines in nacelles, in which the main landing gear is also retracted. For the further development of the Trader to become a tracer , a large radome was mounted on the fuselage, which took up the antenna of the AN / APS-82 radar. The antenna was 5.12 × 1.52 m in size and rotated six times per minute. The vertical stabilizer was removed and a new one was installed on the horizontal stabilizer. This "ugly duck" completed its maiden flight on March 1, 1957. The engine power of the tracer was not increased; the power reserves of the Wright Cyclone R-1820-82WA did not allow this. The WF-2 Tracer was actually the US Navy's first pure AEW aircraft, while the TBM-3W Avenger and the AD-3W / -4W / -5W Skyraider were also responsible for searching for submarines. However, this was only possible when the submarines surfaced, as they did not emit an echo under water for radar devices. The crew of the WF-2 consisted of a pilot, a co-pilot and two, if necessary three, radar operators.

The AN / APS-82 radar had a range of 320 km and could also locate targets over land. The E-1B Tracer also had a data connection to the home carrier, which was able to support the E-1B Tracer in the hunter control. From February 1958, the E-1B Tracer gradually replaced the AD-5W (EA-1F) Skyraider in the AEW squadrons. The US Navy had only two AEW squadrons until the mid-1960s, these were the VAW-11 Early Eleven (tail unit code RR) on the Pacific coast and the VAW-12 Bats (tail unit code GE) on the Atlantic coast. These squadrons placed a detachment of three to four aircraft on each carrier.

On April 13, 1967, the seasons were renamed. The VAW-11 became the VAW-111 Hunters and the VAW-12 became the VAW-121 Griffins . The other VAW-11 and VAW-12 detachments, renamed as independent squadrons, were all converted to the E-2A Hawkeye . VAW-111 and -112 followed in 1975. The last carrier mission of the Tracer was in 1977 on board the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt with the reserve squadron RVAW-110 Firebirds . One of the last E-1B tracers of the Squadron VAW-121, Bureau Number 148146 (tail unit code AE-711) of the Carrier Air Wing Six , deployed on the Roosevelt in 1975 , was taken to the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola (Florida, USA ), where it can still be seen today.

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data
length	13.26 m
span	22.13 m
height	5.05 m
Engines	2 × Wright R-1820-82 piston engines
power	2 × 1525 hp
Top speed	450 km / h
Service ceiling	6095 m
Range	1290 km

gallery

• 

  A WF-2 of the VAW-11 unfolds the wings for takeoff in 1962

• 

  E-1B of the VAW-121 Squadron in 1970 on the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt

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  E-1B of the VAW-111 Squadron of the USS Hornet 1970

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  Three Willy Fudd of the VAW-11 Early Eleven

Web links

Commons : Grumman E-1 Tracer  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• http://www.wings.de.ms