İlk 1954 Temmuz’unda uçan “Tiger”lar, “Blue Angels” donanma akrotiminde de on yıl süreyle görev almıştır. “Tiger”lar F8U “Crusader”larla değiştirilmiştir. Kısa süreli ön saf görevinden sonra eğitim komutanlığına gönderilmiştir.

Designed as a lightweight, air-superiority fighter, the F11F-1 "Tiger" was the last fighter produced by Grumman Aircraft Corporation until its introduction of the F-14 "Tomcat". The "Tiger" was intended to be a simple, lightweight, air superiority, day interceptor to protect the fleet. Like the F8F "Bearcat", it was the smallest airframe possible designed around a given engine. The aircraft was so small that only the tips of the wings folded and folding was accomplished manually.

Thin swept wings incorporating spoilers instead of ailerons coupled with an area-rule (coke-bottle fuselage) design enable the "Tiger" to achieve a top speed of over 900 mph and became the Navy's first operational supersonic fighter. Two variants of the aircraft (F11F-1F) with a more powerful engine and a retractable refueling probe reached a speed of 1386.47 mph in level flight and achieved a world altitude record of 76,828 feet.

First flown in July 1954, nearly 200 "Tigers" were produced with some going to the Blue Angel flight demonstration team who retained them for ten years. The balance were assigned to six day-fighter attack squadrons. Having been replaced by the F8U "Crusader", the F11Fs saw only brief front-line service and were ultimately sent to Advanced Training Command and Reserve squadrons.