Finding origin of a Navy aircraft

Factual Questions
1

While on vacation I happened upon a park in upstate New York that has an old figher jet on display. I got curious about its origins, and did find a web site explaining a bit about it.

But what I would like to do is find out exactly what this aircraft did while in service. I have the plane’s bureau number, but haven’t yet found a way to look it up online. The Navy’s history department web site wasn’t much help, nor was the town hall where the park is located. Can anyone help me?

Here’s the information I have from the Blue Angels alumni site:

Type: TF9J (F9F-8T) Grumman Cougar
Bureau #: 142442

The plane is painted in Blue Angels livery, but according to the web site it never actually was in service with the Blues. It was painted that way to honor them. This also makes me wonder if the bureau number is genuine.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

2

For information or a copy of the aircraft’s history card you can mail a request to:
United States Navy
Naval Aviation History Office
Building 157-1
Washington Navy Yard
901 M St, SE
Washington, DC
20374-5060
Phone: 202-433-4355

or you can try your luck with the Smithsonian: http://www.nasm.si.edu/nasm/arch/info/achistory.htm

3

Oh, and according to this .pdf document: http://www.history.navy.mil/avh-1910/APP09.PDF

Bureau numbers 142437-142532 were all Grumman F9F-8Ts