File:Grumman US-2A Tracker FAA Reg. Number N486GT - 51168246649.jpg

By the late 1940s, the United States Navy (USN) identified a need to replace its antisubmarine warfare (ASW) hunter-killer teams of TBM-3W2 and TBM-3S Avenger and AF-2W and AF-2S/AF-3S Guardian aircraft. With the team concept one aircraft found the submarine, the second aircraft made the attack. The Navy wanted to incorporate the hunter-killer team into one aircraft. In January 1950, the USN issued an Invitation to Bid for US aircraft manufacturers to come up with a design for the new aircraft. Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation won the competition in June 1950 with its Model G-89, beating out 17 other manufacturers and 23 other designs.

The G-89 was a twin-engine aircraft with a crew of four that could carry a variety of torpedoes, depth charges, and mines in an internal bomb bay or on wing racks. It could also carry 5-inch rockets on the latter. The aircraft carried sonobuoys, used to detect submarine sounds and transmitting them by radio, in the rear of the engine nacelles. Initially named the Sentinel, the G-89 was renamed Tracker before entering USN service. The Navy designated the plane S2F-1, and it soon earned the nickname “Stoof” (S-two-F). The S2F-1 first flew in December 1952, and the first Navy squadrons were outfitted with the plane in February 1954. Grumman built 1,169 Trackers between December 1952 and December 1967, and de Havilland of Canada built another 100 under license. In September 1962, all USN S2F-types were re-designated S-2s.

A highly successful design, the Tracker series of aircraft flew over 22 years in the active US Navy. Eight S-2 squadrons flew in the Vietnam War. The last deployment of Trackers aboard an aircraft carrier in an ASW role was in 1975. The Naval Air Training Command retired their TS-2A’s in 1979, and the last flight of a Tracker in US naval service was in 1986. Export versions served with 14 foreign air arms, and Argentina flew S-2E Trackers in the 1982 Falklands War. Some foreign service aircraft were re-engined with turbine-propeller power plants. Today, several privately owned Trackers may be seen on the airshow circuits. Both radial engine and turboprop versions have flown as forest fire-fighters in the United States, Canada, and France.

Combat Air Museum’s US-2A was built as an S2F-1 at Grumman’s Bethpage, Long Island, New York factory, the famous “Bethpage Iron Works.” Assigned USN Bureau Number (BuNo) 136486, it was accepted by the Navy May 31, 1956. The plane flew over 24 years with the US Navy and Navy Reserves and served its final three years of naval service as a non-flying instructional airframe. The aircraft was modified to an S2F-1S in 1959 with the installation of AQA-3 Jezebel long-range acoustic search equipment and an improved Julie explosive echo-ranging system. In September 1962, the S2F-1S designation became S-2B. In 1963, the plane’s designation became S-2F with further updating of the Jezebel/Julie installation. 136486’s last conversion came in 1968. All ASW gear was removed, and it became a target towing utility transport, designated US-2A. In February 1972, the plane made an unintentional wheels-ups landing, causing extensive structural damage to its lower fuselage. It was repaired and returned to flying duties several months later. 136486’s naval flying career ended in 1980 when assigned to Naval Air Reserve Training Center, Olathe (Gardner), Kansas.

Olathe used the Tracker as a “training device” until declaring it surplus in October 1982. On January 23, 1983, the Naval Air Systems Command placed the US-2A on loan to Combat Air Museum. Two Museum members flew the aircraft to Forbes Field on September 24, 1983. In January 1989, Naval Air Systems Command transferred the aircraft to the General Services Administration and the Kansas State Agency for Federal Surplus Property, who, in turn, placed the Tracker on Conditional Transfer to Combat Air Museum. The Museum became sole owner of the BuNo 136486 in July 1986.

This aircraft is owned by Combat Air Museum.

Assignments

June 1956 Air Antisubmarine Squadron VS-31, the Topcats, Naval Air Station (NAS) Quonset Point, Rhode Island Deployments aboard ASW Support (CVS) aircraft carriers USS LEYTE (CVS 32) and USS WASP (CVS 18) May 1958 Air Antisubmarine Squadron VS-32, the Norsemen, NAS Quonset Point. Deployments aboard USS WASP (CVS-18) June 1959 Overhaul and Repair (O&R), Bureau of Aeronautics (BUAER) Maintenance and Supply (M&S) and Bureau of Weapons (BUWEPS) Fleet Reserve (FR), NAS Pensacola, Florida March 1960 VS-31, NAS Quonset Point June 1960 Air Antisubmarine Squadron VS-28, the Hukkers, with deployments aboard USS WASP (CVS 18) July 1962 Naval Air Reserve Training (NART), NAS Willow Grove, (Horsham) Pennsylvania February 1963 O&R BUWEPS FR, NAS Pensacola October 1963 NART, NAS Willow Grove July 1966 Military Aircraft Storage and Disposal Center, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AFB), (Tucson) Arizona December 1967 Naval Air Rework Facility (NARF), NAS Pensacola March 1968 NAS Quonset Point March 1970 Naval Air Facility (NAF) Washington, D.C., located at Andrews AFB, (Camp Springs) Maryland May 1972 NARF, NAS Quonset Point July 1972 NAF Washington, D.C. July 1973 NAF Detroit, (Mount Clemens) Michigan January 1975 Naval Air Reserve Unit (NARU), NAF Washington, D.C. March 1975 NAS South Weymouth, Massachusetts May 1975 NARU, NAS Point Mugu, California September 1975 NARU, NAS Whidbey Island, (Oak Harbor) Washington March 1976 NAF Detroit July 1980 Naval Air Reserve Center Olathe, (Gardner) Kansas September 1983 Combat Air Museum

TECHNICAL NOTES

S-2A Manufacturer: Grumman Basic Role: Antisubmarine Search and Strike aircraft Crew: Pilot, co-pilot/navigator, radio/radar operator, MAD (Magnetic Anomaly Detector) operator Power Plant: Two 1,525 hp (1,137kW) each Wright Cyclone, R-1820, nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engines Maximum speed: 272 mph (438km/h) Cruising speed: 149 mph (240km/h) Service ceiling: 22,800 ft (6,949m) Wingspan: 69 ft 8 in (21.23m) Length: 42 ft (12.8m) Height: 16 ft 3.5in (4.97m) Wing Area: 485 sq ft (45.06 sq m) Weights: Empty: 17,357 lbs (7873kg) Combat: 22,222 lbs (10.080kg) Gross: 24,408 lbs (11,071kg) Range: 968 miles (1,123km) Armament: Maximum weapons load: 4,810 lbs (2,182kg); Fuselage weapons bay for one Mk 34, or one Mk 41, or two Mk 43 torpedoes, or one Mk 24 mine; Six underwing stores for four Mk 19 mines, or four Mk 43 torpedoes, or four Mk 54 depth charges, or six high velocity aircraft rockets (HVARs); Eight sonobuoys in each engine nacelle. Serial number: US Navy BuNo. 136486 FAA Reg. Number N486GT