Grumman F6F Hellcat

• Role: single-seat naval fighter
• Conception: Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
• Production: 12,272 planes built from 1942 to 1945
• First flight of prototype: with R-2600 engine: June 26th, 1942; with R-2800 engine: July 30th, 1942.

Successor of the Grumman F4F Wildcat, the F6F Hellcat corrected most of the weaknesses of his predecessor: the F6F offered more power, more ammunition, a better range, a wide landing gear for easier carrier landings... Designed to be a Zero killer, it was very manoeuvrable too.
About 6,000 planes were shot down by the Hellcat; the best result ever for a Navy fighter.

Development

• The first Hellcat prototype, called the XF6F-1 and powered by a 1,600 hp Wright R-2600 engine, was first flown on June 26, 1942. Grumman also tried the more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine in a second prototype, the XF6F-3, which flew one month later.
• The F6F-3 was the first production Hellcat, powered by a 2,000 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800-10 radial engine, and delivery to the Navy started in January 1943. Contrary to the technically innovative F4U-1 Corsair and thanks to Grumman's experience with the F4F Wildcat, the Hellcat was easy to build and to maintain, reliable, and ready from the start to serve aboard carriers. The F6F-3 soon rolled out of the factories in huge numbers; 4,402 were built until April 1944, including 18 F6F-3E (with AN/APS-4 radar) and about 200 F6F-3N (with AN/APS-6 radar) night fighters.
  252 were delivered to the British Fleet Air Arm, who baptised it the Gannet Mk.I; the Royal Navy switched to the American Hellcat nickname in 1944.
  Late-production F6F-3 had some features that would become standard on the F6F-5, like the water-injected R-2800-10W engine or the modified canopy.
  

Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat, 1943

• Grumman's XF6F-2 prototype, powered by a turbo-supercharged Wright R-2600 engine, had been proposed at the same time as the other prototypes. When the time came for the Navy to ask for a better Hellcat, it was finally tested, then tested again with a turbo-supercharged Pratt & Whitney R-2800. The gain in performance of these turbo versions was not interesting enough for the plane to enter production.
• The XF6F-4, powered by the updated R-2800-27, had new weapons: it was armed by four 20mm cannons. It first flew on October 3, 1942, but never went into production.
• The F6F-5 replaced the F6F-3 on the factory line in the Spring of 1944, and was built until the end of the war. It featured a modified cowling and canopy, and the P & W R-2800-10W engine with a water injection boost system. The F6F-5 was able to carry external fuel tanks, rockets, or a pair of 450 kg (1,000 lb) bombs. It was called Gannet Mk.II and later Hellcat Mk.II by the British Fleet Air Arm.
  7,870 were built, including a few interesting subversions: the F6F-5E (with the AN/APS-4 radar) and F6F-5N (with the AN/APS-6 radar) were night fighters, armed with two 20 mm cannons and four 12.7 mm (0.50 cal) guns; 1,434 were built. The F6F-5P was a photographic reconnaissance version.

	Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat
	Engine	Pratt & Whitney R-2800-10W Double Wasp, 18-cylinder radial	2,200 hp
	Weight	empty: 4,100 kg (9,040 lb) - with full load: 6,000 kg (13,225 lb)
	Armament	6x 12.7 mm (.50cal) wing-mounted Browning machine guns
	Performance	Max speed: 612 km/h (380 mph)	Ceiling: 11,430 m (37,500 ft)

• The two XF6F-6 prototypes were powered by the uprated Pratt & Whitney R-2800-18W with a four-bladed propeller. The end of the war eliminated the need for more Hellcats, and this version able to fly at 671 km/h (417 mph) was cancelled.

A XF6F-6 prototype at the Naval Air Test Center in Patuxent River, Md. (Dec. 20, 1944)

You can also have a look at my War Paints: Hellcat page.

Stof's notes about this plane in iMOL's WarBirds

The opinions expressed below are only my own, and nothing more...

Strong points:

• Really good overall: good top speed and turning abilities, good firepower and ammunition load.

Weak points:

• The roll rate is not impressive, especially when compared to the Corsair's.
• If you look behind you, you see nothing but a head cushion... No back view at all !