Grumman TF Trader
The Grumman TF Trader was a carrier-based transport derived from the S-2 Tracker anti-submarine aircraft. Its fuselage was widened into a pod-like cabin for passengers and cargo, but the Tracker’s twin tail booms and radial engines remained. The Navy used it to move crews and stores between shore bases and carriers before the C-2 Greyhound arrived. Only 87 were built, and its strange combination of airliner cabin and warplane tail makes it an especially memorable rarity.
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Did you know?
Its boxy cabin grafted onto the S-2 Tracker's twin-boom, radial-engine airframe gives the Trader an unmistakably mismatched silhouette.
Specifications
| Length | 13.3 m (43 ft) |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 22.1 m (73 ft) |
| Height | 5 m (16 ft) |
| Maximum passengers | 12 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Maximum take-off weight | 14 t |
| Range | 1,000 NM (1,852 km) |
| Maximum speed | 245 kt (454 km/h) |
| Service ceiling | 22,000 ft (6,706 m) |
| Optimum ceiling | 21,000 ft (6,401 m) |
| Rate of climb | 1,950 ft/min (9.9 m/s) |
| Engines | 2x Wright R-1820-82 |
| Units built | 87 |
Curated by CatchFlights from manufacturer documents, ICAO Doc 8643 and reference works; values are left out where no source could confirm them. Sources are listed on our credits page.
In CatchFlights
In CatchFlights the Grumman TF Trader starts as a Legendary catch. The tier is an editorial judgement of how special a sighting of this type is. The more often you catch it, the closer it moves to Common for you. The first catch of a legendary type pays a bonus of its own.
A catch counts for the manufacturer Grumman, the TF Trader family and the model in your collection, and the daily Type Rating quiz asks about the types of each family.
Catch it yourself.CatchFlights shows the aircraft flying near you on a radar, so a type like this one is only a catch away when it passes overhead. Explore CatchFlights.
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