Grumman designed the Wildcat, but most of them weren't built by Grumman. Wikipedia says nearly three-quarters of the 7,860 came from the Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors, which took over production in 1942.
That shows on the register: 15 of the 16 active Wildcats are General Motors FM-2s. On the survivor list, all but 1 airworthy Wildcat is in the United States.
Register as of October 15, 2026. Survivor list as of December 16, 2025.
The General Motors Wildcat
Grumman stopped building Wildcats in early 1943 to make room for the F6F Hellcat. General Motors carried on, first with the FM-1 and then the FM-2, which Wikipedia says was tuned for small escort carriers, with more engine power and a taller tail.
The same General Motors division also built Avengers, as the TBM. On the FAA register today, 15 of the 16 Wildcats are FM-2s and the rest is a Grumman F4F.
Two ways to count Wildcats
The FAA register and the survivor list answer different questions, and each has blind spots.
| Count | Wildcats | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| FAA active registrations | 16 | United States only. Includes aircraft under restoration, in storage or on display. |
| Survivor list, listed airworthy | 17 | Volunteer-edited, not an official record. The list covers 3 countries. |
| Survivor list, US airworthy | 16 | The US share of the list's airworthy aircraft. |
| Survivor list, all statuses | 44 | 17 airworthy, 24 on display, 2 under restoration or in storage, 1 with no status given. |
Where the airworthy Wildcats are
Listed as airworthy by country, volunteer list revision of December 16, 2025
Who holds them
3 of the 16 registered Wildcats belong to an individual. 8 are registered to limited liability companies and 4 to corporations, and 1 is co-owned.
Who the Wildcats are registered to
Active US registrations by registrant type, October 15, 2026
Where they're registered
Registered addresses span 13 states. Delaware has 3, Texas 2 and Maine 1. The register records the owner's registered address, which isn't necessarily where the aircraft is kept.
Wildcats by state of registered address
Top states, active US registrations, October 15, 2026
What powers them
Of the 16 registered Wildcats with an engine on record, 9 list a Wright R-1820, 6 a Wright C9 series radial and 1 a Pratt & Whitney R-1830.
The airworthiness date records the date on each aircraft's current airworthiness record. 15 of the 16 registrations have one, and 1 have none recorded.
Decade of the airworthiness date on record
15 of 16 registrations have a date
Which airworthiness category they hold
12 of the 16 Wildcats, 75 percent, hold a Limited-category certificate. Under 14 CFR 21.189, the FAA issues one when an aircraft conforms to a limited-category type certificate and is in a good state of preservation and repair, and the FAA prescribes the limitations and conditions for operating it. 2 are Experimental, a category the FAA issues for purposes that include exhibition and air racing under 14 CFR 21.191.
The accident record: 3 events
The NTSB database holds 3 Wildcat accident records from 1983 to 2003. Of those, 2 were fatal, with 2 deaths in all. None of today's 16 registrations appears on an accident record. That's a count, not a rate, and with this few events it shouldn't be read as a trend.
More from the same maker: Grumman warbirds on the US register.
The Warbirds in America hub breaks down all 36 types by purpose of flight, phase of flight and pilot experience.
An American survivor
The British flew the Wildcat as the Martlet, and the survivor list has Wildcats on display in the United Kingdom and the Solomon Islands. Of the 44 on the list, 17 are marked airworthy.
16 of those are in the United States, where the FAA register holds 16 Wildcats and 12 hold a Limited-category certificate.
Questions people ask
How many Wildcats are still flying?
No official body publishes a count of airworthy Wildcats. A volunteer-edited Wikipedia list (revision of December 16, 2025) shows 17 listed as airworthy worldwide, 16 of them in the United States. The FAA register shows 16 active US registrations, which includes aircraft under restoration, in storage or on display.
How many Wildcats were built?
Wikipedia counts 7,860 Wildcats built in all, nearly three-quarters of them by the Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors.
Can a private individual own a Wildcat?
Yes. The register shows 3 registered to individuals, 8 to limited liability companies and 4 to corporations.
What engine does a Wildcat use?
Of the 16 registered Wildcats with an engine on record, 9 list a Wright R-1820, 6 a Wright C9 series radial and 1 a Pratt & Whitney R-1830.
How many Wildcats have been in accidents?
The NTSB database holds 3 Wildcat accident records from 1983 to 2003. Of those, 2 were fatal, with 2 deaths in all. That's a count, not a rate, because the database has no flight hours.
What's the difference between an F4F and an FM-2?
The F4F was Grumman's Wildcat. The FM-2 was the improved version General Motors built after the FM-1, with more engine power and a taller tail for small escort carriers, Wikipedia says. 15 of the 16 Wildcats on the US register are FM-2s.
Download the data
The counts on this page are available as a CSV: Wildcat register summary. A table covering every warbird type is on the hub. To cite this page: PlanePassion, "How many F4F Wildcats are still flying?", based on FAA, NTSB and public records, November 4, 2026.