With a Pratt & Whitney R2800 18 cylinder 2300hp radial engine, the Grumman F8F-2P Bearcat is considered to be among the most challenging of all the fighters in the Collection, it is capable of outperforming most of the early jet fighters and the type accounted for a number of jets in the limited confrontations in which it been operated.

N700HL, BuNo 121714 and manufacturers number D-1088, was built in 1945 and operated with the United States Navy for about ten years. It was acquired by Ed Maloney of the Planes of Fame Air Museum in 1957 where it flew very little but was registered as N4995V.

The machine was bought by Harold "Bubba" Beal and Charles Smith of Knoxville, TN, in 1972 when the machine was re-registered as N1YY. It is not clear yet whether the aircraft was used for air racing by these two gentlemen - they certainly treated other Bearcats to a 'turn round the park' during the time they owned this machine.

A complete rebuild was undertaken in 1977 following which the machine was re-registered as N700HL - the registration it currently wears in the UK. Beal and Smith, who actually owned TFC's other Bearcat at the same time, sold the aircraft to The Fighter Collection in 1981, and after some work was undertaken in the USA, it became part of the Collection in the UK in early 1982. It was initially painted in the colours of the famous Red Rippers, US Navy squadron VF-41.

Although the Bearcat was devised and developed too late for operational service in WWII, it was used to great effect in combat in French Indo-China by the French Air Force. Extremely powerful and incredibly agile - because of its very short dimensions and outstanding power to weight ratio, the F8F Bearcat is still a major attraction where ever it appears.