F4F-3 Wildcat

The Cradle of Aviation Museum’s Wildcat has undergone major restoration work. In 1989 the museum got permission from the Navy to recover the aircraft from Lake Michigan.

The Wildcat which was pulled out of the Lake was previously flown by Ensign Horace Little. On his approach for his first carrier landing, Little got a wave-off signal. He pulled back on the stick and applied full throttle, but the plane’s arresting hook caught a deck cable and dragged the pilot and Wildcat over the port side of the USS Sable.Ensign Little was quickly hauled aboard the Sable as his plane slowly sank in 125 feet of water where it was to remain for 45 years.

The Northrop-Grumman Restoration Team in Bethpage has done the majority of the restoration work on the plane, though the final work and paint job was completed at the Cradle.

On a visit to see his airplane under restoration, Horace Little noted, "It looks a lot better now than it did when I last saw it." The Wildcat will be seen in the museum flying high over a simulated carrier deck in our World War II gallery.