Type: twin-engined airborne early warning aircraft
Bureau Number: 147225
Powerplant: two 1137-kW (1525-hp) Wright R-1820-82 or -82A radial piston engines
Maximum speed: 451 km/h (280 mph) at 1220 m (4000 ft)
Cruising speed: 269 km/h (167 mph)
Climb rate: 594 m/min (1950 fpm)
Range: 1785 km (1105 miles)
Ceiling: 7560 m (24,800 ft)
Weights: empty 7544 kg (16,600 lb); maximum take-off 11,158 kg (24,548 lb)
Payload: nine passengers on rearward-facing seats or up to 1588 kg (3495 lb) of freight
Dimensions:
Span 21.23 m (69 ft 8 in)
Length 12.80 m (42 ft)
Height 4.97 m (156 ft 4 in)
Wing Area 45.06 m2 (485 sq ft)
The carrier based E-1B Tracer provided critical early warning and guidance support. Its four man crew was able to remain in flight up to seven hours. The most distinguishing feature of the E-1B is the enormous aerodynamic radome over the truck of the aircraft.
With the delivery of the E-1B Tracer, Grummen delivered to the Navy an aircraft with a single purpose; airbourne early warning. Entering service in 1954, the E-1B was a derivative of the still relatively new S-2 Tracker. But the Tracer was distinct in its appearance because of its top mounted radome, a strong but electronically transparent thin shell that housed radar equipment.
When it came to the colorful collaberation that yields aircraft nicknames, the E-1B took a backseat to no one. Since the S-2 was nickmaned STOOF, quite naturally the E-1B became the "Stoof with a Roof". However, the best known E-1B nickname was derived from the Navy's original WF aircraft designation. Willie Fudd became a permanent fixture in the Navy Patrol Squadron vernacular and would remain in service until the early 1970s.
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The USS Yorktown participated in the recovery of NASA's Apollo 8 crew in 1968.
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