×
Aircraft / Aviation Vehicles & Artillery Infantry Arms Warships & Submarines Military Ranks Military Pay Chart (2024)
HOME
AVIATION INDEX
MODERN AIR FORCES
AIRCRAFT BY COUNTRY
AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURERS
COMPARE AIRCRAFT
AIRCRAFT BY CONFLICT
AIRCRAFT BY TYPE
AIRCRAFT BY DECADE
COLD WAR AIRCRAFT
VIETNAM WAR AIRCRAFT
Aviation / Aerospace

Grumman WF-2 / E-1 Tracer


Carrierborne Airborne Early Warning (AEW) Aircraft [ 1958 ]



The Grumman E-1 Tracer AEW platform was based on the Grumman C-1 Trader carrier-based transport line.



Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 05/15/2018 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

VIEW SPECIFICATIONS [+]
With the rise of the aircraft carrier in World War 2 and advances in radar technology, the United States Navy entered into a period of adopting piston-powered, twin engined aircraft specially designed and outfitted for the Airborne Early Warning (AEW) role. These aircraft were appropriately modified for life at sea, particularly over-water operations and carrier take-off, landing and storage. Such was the Grumman E-1 "Tracer" line of the 1960s and 1970s which was born from the transport-minded Grumman C-1 "Trader" family. The original Trader was adopted as an at-sea aircraft carrier transport platform in 1952 and served across 83 examples into the late 1980s. The E-1 represented a successful conversion of this line and saw her first flight on December 17th, 1956. The series was formally introduced into USN service in 1958 and managed a service life into 1977 across 88 examples before being officially replaced by the modern and more advanced Grumman E-1 "Hawkeye" line appearing in 1964.

The E-1 was born as the XTF-1W prototype and featured a twin rudder tail configuration, two underslung engine nacelles along a pair of high-mounted wing assemblies. The wings were designed to fold sideways via a hinge system. The sideways method was forced by the addition of the large radome over the fuselage. The cockpit was held well-forward in the design aft of a short nosecone assembly. The fuselage was tear-drop shaped in its side profile and offered the required aerodynamics. The prototype lacked the electronics of the finalized models and carried the serial number of 136792. The undercarriage was wholly retractable and arranged in a tail-dragger configuration, using two main front landing legs and a small tail wheel, giving the airframe a pronounced "nose-up" appearance when at rest. A tail hook was added under the empennage for carrier-based landings. One of the most obvious features of the design was its large radome fitted atop the fuselage spine at midships as part of the Hazeltine AN/APS-82 system. The radome was supported by a shallow framework of struts and designed in an aerodynamically refined way. This installation made the E-1 family highly recognizable on the decks of American carriers of the period. The standard crew arrangement for Tracers was four personnel to include two pilots and a pair of RADAR/Interceptor Controllers.

Power for the E-1 was served through 2 x Wright R-1820-82A Cyclone series 9-cylidner radial piston engines, each developing up to 1,525 horsepower driving three-bladed propeller assemblies. This provided the aircraft with a maximum speed of 240 miles per hour with a cruising speed of 160 miles per hour. Range was 1,035 miles with a mission endurance time of nearly 7 hours. The aircraft could reach service ceilings of 15,800 feet at a rate-of-climb nearing 1,120 feet per minute.©MilitaryFactory.com
Structurally, the E-1 was given a running length of 45 feet, 4 inches, a wingspan of 72 feet, 4 inches and a height of 16 feet, 10 inches. Empty listed weight was 20,640lbs with a maximum take-off weight of 26,600lbs.

The XTF-1W product was eventually redesignated under the XWF-1 identifier and entered production as the WF-2 under the then-current USN aircraft naming convention. The XTF-1W itself was then converted back to its C-1A Trader form while still holding on to its twin-fin tail arrangement. In the 1962 reorganization, the WF-2 was redesignated as the E-1B.

Tracers were still in use by the time of heavy involvement of American forces in the Vietnam War (1955-1975). E-1s in the war served in the Combat Air Patrol (CAP) role alongside fighter groups where they could relay enemy positions/activity and arrange ground strikes. Tracers were involved until about 1973 and the American commitment in the region ended in 1975. All Tracers were effectively removed from the USN inventory by 1977, bringing an end to their often overlooked contribution to American naval aviation. One claim to fame of the series was its status as a trend-setting carried based AEW platform - a category of naval aircraft that remains in play to this day (2013).

In all, some 88 WF-2/E-1B aircraft were produced. Due to its original "WF" designation, Tracers were nicknamed "Willy Fudd". Similarly, E-2 Hawkeyes were known under the nickname of "Super Fudd". The USN currently (2013) enjoys AEW capabilities through its E-2D "Advanced Hawkeye" platform and is one of the few propeller-driven airframes still operating on modern carrier decks.©MilitaryFactory.com
Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

Specifications



Service Year
1958

Origin
United States national flag graphic
United States

Status
RETIRED
Not in Service.
Crew
4

Production
88
UNITS


National flag of the United States United States
(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)
Special-Mission: Airborne Early Warning (AEW)
Specially-equipped platform providing over-battlefield Command and Control (C2) capability for allied aerial elements.
Special-Mission: Electronic Warfare (EW)
Equipped to actively deny adversaries the ElectroMagnetic (EM) spectrum and protect said spectrum for allied forces.
Maritime / Navy
Land-based or shipborne capability for operating over-water in various maritime-related roles while supported by allied naval surface elements.


Length
42.3 ft
(12.90 m)
Width/Span
69.6 ft
(21.20 m)
Height
16.1 ft
(4.90 m)
Empty Wgt
18,748 lb
(8,504 kg)
MTOW
29,150 lb
(13,222 kg)
Wgt Diff
+10,401 lb
(+4,718 kg)
(Showcased structural values pertain to the base Grumman WF-2 / E-1 Tracer production variant)
Installed: 2 x Wright R-1820-82WA Cyclone 9-cylinder radial piston engines developing 1,525 horsepower each.
Max Speed
287 mph
(462 kph | 249 kts)
Ceiling
15,748 ft
(4,800 m | 3 mi)
Range
1,300 mi
(2,092 km | 3,874 nm)
Rate-of-Climb
1,120 ft/min
(341 m/min)


♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)
Sub
Trans
Super
Hyper
HiHyper
ReEntry
RANGES (MPH) Subsonic: <614mph | Transonic: 614-921 | Supersonic: 921-3836 | Hypersonic: 3836-7673 | Hi-Hypersonic: 7673-19180 | Reentry: >19030


(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base Grumman WF-2 / E-1 Tracer production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)
None.


Supported Types




(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)
XWF-1 - Design Study Designation based on S2F-1 Tracker modified for the Airborne Early Warning role.
WF-2 - Original Production Model Designation; based on TF-1 Trader; redesignated to E-1B beginning in 1962; 88 examples produced.
E-1B - Redesignation from WF-2 beginning in 1962.


Military lapel ribbon for Operation Allied Force
Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War
Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Britain
Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Midway
Military lapel ribbon for the Berlin Airlift
Military lapel ribbon for the Chaco War
Military lapel ribbon for the Cold War
Military lapel ribbon for the Cuban Missile Crisis
Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft
Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War
Military lapel ribbon for the French-Indochina War
Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight
Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War
Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars
Military lapel ribbon for the Iran-Iraq War
Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War
Military lapel ribbon for the 1982 Lebanon War
Military lapel ribbon for the Malayan Emergency
Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft
Military lapel ribbon for the attack on Pearl Harbor
Military lapel ribbon for the Six Day War
Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War
Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War
Military lapel ribbon for the Suez Crisis
Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War
Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War
Military lapel ribbon for Warsaw Pact of the Cold War-era
Military lapel ribbon for the WASP (WW2)
Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1
Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2
Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War
Military lapel ribbon for experimental x-plane aircraft


Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.

Images Gallery



1 / 10
Image of the Grumman WF-2 / E-1 Tracer
Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.
2 / 10
Image of the Grumman WF-2 / E-1 Tracer
Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.
3 / 10
Image of the Grumman WF-2 / E-1 Tracer
Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.
4 / 10
Image of the Grumman WF-2 / E-1 Tracer
Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.
5 / 10
Image of the Grumman WF-2 / E-1 Tracer
Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.
6 / 10
Image of the Grumman WF-2 / E-1 Tracer
Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.
7 / 10
Image of the Grumman WF-2 / E-1 Tracer
Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.
8 / 10
Image of the Grumman WF-2 / E-1 Tracer
Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.
9 / 10
Image of the Grumman WF-2 / E-1 Tracer
Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.
10 / 10
Image of the Grumman WF-2 / E-1 Tracer
Image courtesy the United States Navy.

Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Cookies

2024 Military Pay Chart Military Ranks DoD Dictionary Conversion Calculators Military Alphabet Code Military Map Symbols

The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com. No A.I. was used in the generation of this content; site is 100% curated by humans.

Part of a network of sites that includes GlobalFirepower, a data-driven property used in ranking the top military powers of the world, WDMMA.org (World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft), WDMMW.org (World Directory of Modern Military Warships), SR71blackbird.org, detailing the history of the world's most iconic spyplane, and MilitaryRibbons.info, cataloguing military medals and ribbons. Special Interest: RailRoad Junction, the locomotive encyclopedia.


©2023 www.MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • Content ©2003-2023 (20yrs)