@ Watsonville, CA
July 2026
This Grumman F8F Bearcat gets put away after a day of static display during the 2026 Watsonville Airport Open House. Surplused in 1959, one of the postwar owners began racing this aircraft for almost ten years. The Bearcat became part of the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum (Michigan) collection from 1977-2009 before changing hands again. First flown in 1944, the war was over by the time Bearcats came into service. This was the first aircraft type flown by the newly formed Blue Angels (1946). They were used by several countries other than the US and were flown by the South Vietnamese Air Force until 1961.