USMC night-fighter squadron VMF(N)-513 was still flying the F7F-3N in the early stages of the Korean War. They flew night interdiction and classic fighter missions. They managed to shoot down two Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes, as the only combat use ever of the aircraft. But surprisingly its long career was with the USN, not the USMC with old F7F-2Ns modified as done controllers for advanced combat training with their iconic twin bubble canopies, the upper, rear one (from an F8F) for the drone controller. It was also common to the F7F-2D used for pilot transitioning. Amazingly, the ones that lasted the longest, until the 1970s were modified F7F-2D with their bright colors that, in addition to their underwing drones, also ironically guided F6Fs drones to their doom. Officially, apart these variants, the F7F was retired, declared "limited standard" in 1952, killed by the new jet-powered Grumman Panthers.
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