This Grumman F8F-2P Bearcat, originally built for the U.S. Navy as BuNo 121608, is shown here wearing civilian registration N7700C after leaving military service. The Bearcat was among the fastest and most agile piston-engine fighters ever produced, though it arrived too late to see combat in World War II. Many surplus Bearcats found new life in civilian hands, prized by air racers for their speed and power, with several achieving fame on the unlimited air-racing circuit in the decades following the war. Project: 218462