Grumman F6F Hellcat  

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Grumman F6F Hellcat

DDIJ00016

China

USN VF-25, USS Santee, 1945 The Grumman F6F Hellcat was a United States Navy carrier based fighter aircraft developed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat. Although the F6F bore a family resemblance to the Wildcat, it was a completely new design powered by a 2,000 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800. Some tagged it as the "Wildcat's big brother" . The Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair were the primary USN fighters during the second half of World War II. The Hellcat proved to be the most successful aircraft in naval history, destroying 5,171 aircraft while in service with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps (5,163 in the Pacific and eight more during the invasion of Southern France), plus 52 with the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during World War II. Postwar, the Hellcat aircraft was systematically phased out of front line service, but finally retired as late as 1954 as a night-fighter in composite squadrons. Developed by Grumman to combat the Japanese Zero, the carrier-based F6F Hellcat was first flown on June 26, 1942. The Hellcat was a far more potent force than its predecessor, the Wildcat. It had increased fuel capacity, a low-mounted wing, wide landing gear, strengthened cockpit armor plating, and increased ammunition capacity. The big Double Wasp engine was set three degrees off the center axis, giving the aircraft a tail-down attitude in flight. Pilots' stories of "mostly holes where the airplane used to be" underscore the Hellcat's ability absorb unbelievable punishment and still return to the ship.