Grumman AF-2S Guardian - Pima ASM, Tucson, AZ - Static Aircraft Displays on Waymarking.com

The Grumman AF Guardian was the first purpose-built anti-submarine warfare (ASW) carrier-based aircraft to enter service with the US Navy. It consisted of two airframes, one for detection gear (AF-2S), the other for weapons (AF-2W). The Guardian remained in service until August 1955, when it was replaced by the twin-engine Grumman S-2 Tracker. The Guardian was the largest single-engine piston-powered carrier aircraft ever to see service.

The original design concept for the aircraft that would become the Guardian, the XTB2F of 1944, was to be a twin-engined aircraft with a 3,600lb (1,633kg) warload and a range of 3,700mi (5,950km). 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 Grumman F7F Tigercat, the XTSF-1.

However, this too was considered impractical, and another alternative, the internally-developed Grumman Model G-70, was selected instead, being 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 19XB 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 20mm cannon and 4,000lb (1,814kg) 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 "guppy" (hunter) and another as a "scrapper" (killer). The hunter aircraft would not carry any armament, but instead two additional crew members and a ventral radome for APS-20 search "eyes" (radar) and Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) "ears", consisting of an APR-98 Countermeasures Receiver and AP-70 Bearing Indicator. 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.

Redesignated as AF-2W (TB3F-1S) and AF-2S (TB3F-2S), the Guardian entered fleet service on 27 September 1950 with three aircraft delivered to VS-24, with full service introduction shortly after with VS-25. A total of 193 AF-2S Guardians were built. In 1952, the AF-3S (hunter) 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 maritime patrol role during the Korean War, however it proved unpopular with pilots, being underpowered and heavy on the controls; the aircraft suffered from a severely high accident rate. Shortly after the end of the war, it began to be replaced by the Grumman S2F Tracker, the first purpose-built single airframe ASW airplane to serve the US Navy. The last AF retired from active service on 31 August 1955, but it remained in service with the US Naval Air Reserve until 1957.

Source: Wikipedia

Type of Aircraft: (make/model): Grumman AF-2S Guardian Tail Number: (S/N): BuNo 129233 Construction:: original aircraft Location (park, airport, museum, etc.): Located at Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, AZ inside / outside: outside Other Information:: Pima Air & Space Museum 6000 E Valencia Rd Tucson, Arizona 85756 Phone 520-574-0462 Open 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Daily Last admittance at 4:00 PM $15.50-Adults $12.50-Pima Co Residents $12.75-Seniors $ 9.00-Children FREE---Children 6 & under $ 7.00-AMARG $13.50-Group Rate Access restrictions: None

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