The Bearcat concept began during a meeting between Battle of Midway veteran F4F Wildcat pilots and Grumman vice president Jake Swirbul at Pearl Harbor on 23 June 1942.

At the meeting, Lieutenant Commander Jimmie Thach emphasized one of the most important requirements in a good fighter plane was "climb rate".

[2] Climb performance is strongly related to the power-to-weight ratio, and is maximized by wrapping the smallest and lightest possible airframe around the most powerful engine.

After intensively analyzing carrier warfare in the Pacific Theater of Operations for a year and a half, Grumman began development of the G-58 Bearcat in late 1943.

Structurally, the fuselage used flush riveting and spot welding, with a heavy-gauge 302W aluminum alloy skin suitable for carrier landings.

An additional benefit of the inward-retracting units was a wide track, which helped counter propeller torque on takeoff and gave the F8F good ground and carrier deck handling.

As development continued, this was found to be impossible to achieve, as the structure of the new fighter had to be made strong enough for aircraft carrier landings.

Weight-saving measures included restricting the internal fuel capacity to 160 US gallons (610 L) and limiting the fixed armament to four .50 cal Browning M2/AN machine guns, two in each wing.

Normally, the hinge system would have to be built very strong to transmit loads from the outer portions of the wing to the main spar in the inner section, which adds considerable weight.

The outer portions were more lightly constructed, and designed to snap off at the hinge line if the force exceeded 7.5 g. In this case, the aircraft would still be flyable and could be repaired after returning to the carrier.

Testing demonstrated a number of problems, notably a lack of horizontal stability, an underpowered trim system, landing gear that could be extended only at slow speeds, an unreliable airspeed indicator, and a cramped cockpit.

Among the changes were a modified cowling design, taller vertical fin, and the slightly more powerful R-2800-30W engine producing 2,240 hp (1,670 kW).

[13] This was replaced with an explosives system to blow the wingtips off together, which also worked well, but this ended when a ground technician died due to an accidental triggering.

[15] The Blue Angels flew the Bearcat until the team was temporarily disbanded in 1950 during the Korean War and pressed into operational combat service.

[16] The Vietnamese Bearcats were retired from 1960 onwards, replaced with Douglas A-1 Skyraiders and North American T-28 Trojans as the Vietnam War (1957–1975) continued.

A stock Bearcat flown by Mira Slovak and sponsored by Bill Stead won the first Reno Air Race in 1964.