Initial Wildcat deliveries embarked aboard USS Wasp (CV-7) and USS Ranger (CV-4). Grumman F8F-1B Bearcat Carrierborne Fighter / Interceptor Aircraft. American Heritage Museum [11], The F2M-1 was a planned development of the FM-1 by General Motors / Eastern Aircraft to be powered by the improved XR-1820-70 engine, but the project was cancelled before any aircraft were built. The United States Navy's search for a new fighter began with the decent but painfully slow F4F Wildcat. II and the F6F-5N, the Hellcat NF Mk. Length: 40 ft. 10 in. Three more manned flights preceded the final unmanned flight on July 25, 1946, which evaluated the first underwater explosion. It flew on June 24, 1946, with a pilot, on a practice flight and was launched, unmanned, soon after the first bomb test. One of the last versions to serve in the U.S. Navy was the F6F-5K target drone. Height: 16 ft. 4 in. [22][18][N 2] In March 1945, Wildcats shot down four Messerschmitt Bf 109s over Norway, the FAA's last Wildcat victories. The Grumman F6F Hellcat was a carrier-based fighter aircraft initially conceived to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat in United States Navy (USN) service. Even so, the aircraft performed well against the best Japanese opponents with a claimed 13:1 kill ratio against the A6M Zero, 9.5:1 against the Nakajima Ki-84, and 3.7:1 against the Mitsubishi J2M during the last year of the war. BASICS. Still, the quality of the Long Island-produced airplanes was such that in 1942 Vice Admiral John S. McCain Sr. (grandfather of U.S. One of the most remarkable figures related to the F6F, however, was its effectiveness as an escort fighter for strike aircraft. ", "Sharp Shooting Hellcat "Mac" McWhorter Runs Up the Score", "Historical aircraft of the Blue Angels. Like the Hellcat, the R-2800 was rugged and easily maintained. With his plane in such condition, no wonder the pilot was unable to continue fighting! A formidable opponent for the Hellcat was the Kawanishi N1K, but it was produced too late and in insufficient numbers to affect the outcome of the war. [9][10], Grumman had been working on a successor to the F4F Wildcat since 1938, and the contract for the prototype XF6F-1 was signed on 30 June 1941. BuNo 4038 was modified to become the F4F-3S "Wildcatfish". This is perhaps one of the most interesting Wildcat survivors (Bu #86680). Hudson, MA 01749, American Heritage Museum backward) to increase engine power. [3][4][5] The Wildcat has a claimed air combat kill-to-loss ratio of 5.9:1 in 1942 and 6.9:1 for the entire war.[6]. Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. It was required that aircraft components manufacuted at both plants be interchangable. The Wildcat first took to the air on September 2, 1937. Building on the F4F F4F Wildcat. Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era. Production. ", Winchester, Jim, ed. [24] Moreover, the F4F-4's folding wing was intended to allow five F4F-4s to be stowed in the space required by two F4F-3s. Entering service in 1940, the aircraft first saw combat with the Royal Navy which used the type under the name Martlet. [6][Note 2] This was more than any other Allied naval aircraft. and the Human Impact of Americas fight to preserve the freedom we all hold dear. Empty Weight: 7,070 lbs. Hellcat Wildcat Some of the older aircraft encyclopedias describe the Hellcat as a "big beefy fighter" as opposed to the lighter, older and less powerful Wildcat. During the Battle of Midway, only VMF-221 still used F4F-3s. In desperation, lightly armed Avengers and FM-2 Wildcats from Taffys 1, 2 and 3 resorted to tactics such as strafing ships, including the bridge of the Japanese battleship Yamato, while the destroyers and destroyer escorts charged the enemy. [37] This high production rate was credited to the sound original design, which required little modification once production was under way. At first, GM produced the FM-1 (identical to the F4F-4 but with four guns). Ceiling: 34,700 ft. Normal Range: 1,105 mi. [4], The F6F made its combat debut in September 1943. Jimmy Thach is quoted as saying, "A pilot who cannot hit with four guns will miss with eight. Nevertheless, the first 10 received had fixed wings. For the companys fourth Navy fighter, sandwiched between the successful F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat, Grumman engineers came up with the twin-engine F5F, nicknamed Skyrocket. Although the F5F exhibited good flight characteristics, the Navy was concerned that the fighter was too heavy. The Navy desperately needed the increased performance of the Hellcat to combat the Zero's dominance. Lindens advanced Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac plants, capable of producing an automobile a minute, were completely converted to produce Wildcats. It was the largest number of fighter aircraft ever produced at a single facility, and it almost didn't happen. France also ordered the type, powered by a Wright R-1820 "Cyclone 9" radial engine, but France fell to the Axis powers before they could be delivered and the aircraft went instead to the British Royal Navy, who christened the new fighter the Martlet. Ceiling: 40,700 ft. Twenty eight Wildcat VI aircraft from 846, 853 and 882 Naval Air Squadron, flying from escort carriers, took part in an attack on a U-boat depot near Harstad, Norway. 41834, was built at Grumman's Bethpage, New York, factory in February 1944 under contract NOA-(S)846. . [11] Instead of the Wildcat's narrow-track, hand-cranked, main landing gear retracting into the fuselage inherited from the F3F ( a design from the 1930s Grumman FF-1 fighter biplane), the Hellcat had wide-set, hydraulically actuated landing-gear struts that rotated through 90 while retracting backwards into the wings, but with full wheel doors fitted to the struts that covered the entire strut and the upper half of the main wheel when retracted, and twisted with the main gear struts through 90 during retraction. [9][11] The XF4F-2 would retain the same, fuselage-mounted, hand-cranked main landing gear as the F3F, with its relatively narrow track. These machines were named Martlet Mk IV. [50], The British Fleet Air Arm (FAA) received 1,263 F6Fs under the Lend-Lease Act; initially, it was known as the Grumman Gannet Mark I. However, an order was also placed for Grumman's G-16 (given the navy designation XF4F-1) as a backup in case the Brewster monoplane proved to be unsatisfactory. [26] Hellcat night fighters claimed their first victories in November 1943. [28] On rare occasions, when Wildcats were unable to gain altitude in time, they would suffer many losses. The service ceiling at 7,740lb (3,510kg) was 30,100ft (9,200m).[57]. This practice would make the F6F a tough, uncomplicated, easy-to-manufacture aircraft. A129," 17 June 1946. [23] Many U.S. Navy fighter pilots were saved by the Wildcat's ZB homing device, which allowed them to find their carriers in poor visibility, provided they could get within the 30mi (48km) range of the homing beacon. Compare Aircraft. Empty Weight: 9,238 lbs. [24], The F4F-7 was a photoreconnaissance variant, with armor and armament removed. I've got. The F4F airplane is pitifully inferior in climb, maneuverability and speed. Length: 27 ft. 6 in. [Note 8] They saw action off Norway, in the Mediterranean, and in the Far East. Vought F4U-4 Corsair Carrier-Based Fighter / Fighter-Bomber / Night Fighter. [45] The F6F became the prime ace-maker aircraft in the American inventory, with 305 Hellcat aces. The Hellcat dominated aerial combat and is credited with destroying over 5,000 enemy aircraft. The Hellcat holds the distinction of being flown by more U.S. aces than any other aircraft. ORIGIN United States. [23][24], Two night-fighter subvariants of the F6F-3 were developed; the 18 F6F-3Es were converted from standard-3s and featured the AN/APS-4 10GHz frequency radar in a pod mounted on a rack beneath the right wing, with a small radar scope fitted in the middle of the main instrument panel and radar operating controls installed on the port side of the cockpit. Stow, MA 01775 [30] While all F6F-5s were capable of carrying an armament mix of one 20-mm (.79-in) M2 cannon in each of the inboard gun bays (220 rounds per gun), along with two pairs of .50-in (12.7-mm) machine guns (each with 400 rounds per gun), this configuration was only used on later F6F-5N night fighters. P.O. Goodyear F2G Super Corsair. The Wildcat's intended replacement, the Vought F4U Corsair (see NASM collection), first flown in 1940, was showing great promise, but development was slowed by problems, including the crash of the prototype. Personally, I prefer the Wildcat mainly because of it's reputation in bearing the brunt of the Zekes early on. ", http://img.wp.scn.ru/camms/ar/576/pics/21_1.jpg, Final flight test report of F6F-3, USN Air Station, Patuxent River (pdf file), F6F Hellcat Performance Trials, Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE), Boscombe Down, Performance test, each 1,00th aircraft; F6F-5 No 58310, USN Air Station, Patuxent River (pdf file), USN & USMC Aircraft Serial and Bureau Nos. (Britains Royal Navy also flew the fighter, dubbing it the Martlet.). Green, Swanborough and Brown 1977, p. 61. A129, 17 June 1946, p. 15. Grumman FM-2 Wildcat Single-Seat, Single-Engine Carrierborne Monoplane Fighter Aircraft. The U.S. Navy much preferred the more docile flight qualities of the F6F compared with the Vought F4U Corsair, despite the superior speed of the Corsair. In all, 7,860 Wildcats were built. [3] Some military observers tagged the Hellcat as the "Wildcat's big brother". The wing would also need to be lowered from the Wildcat's mid-fuselage position to accommodate the newer hydraulically-operated landing gear, which would replace its predecessor's obsolete manual system. The Corsair was thus released by the Navy to the Marine Corps, which without the need to worry about carrier landings, used the Corsair to immense effect in land-based sorties. [16][Note 3] BuAer's Lt Cdr A. M. Jackson [Note 4] directed Grumman's designers to mount the cockpit higher in the fuselage. Although it was a superlative aircraft, the rise of jet fighters ended the Bearcats career as a U.S. fighter almost before it began, and most F8Fs were withdrawn from service before the Korean War. The main difference with the basic model G-36 was due to the unavailability for export of the two-stage supercharged engine of F4F-3. Phone: (978) 562-9182 The top scoring FM-2 squadron, VC-27, was credited with shooting down 62.5 Japanese aircraft in 4 months during the Philippine campaign, demonstrating the lethality of the FM-2. "for instance, I remember testing the XF5F against the XF4U on climb to the 10,000 foot level. Later in the war, Ensign Neil Armstrong of the Navys VF-51 squadron (yes, that Neil Armstrong) ran into a cable over North Korea, an encounter that sheared off six feet of his wing. Compare Aircraft. Designed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United States Navy's dominant fighter in the second half of the Pacific War. [41] In October 1942, long-ranged and unarmed F4F-7s began replacing the F4F-3Ps, but a detachment of three F4F-3P from VMO-155 operated from the Bogue-class escort carrier USS Nassau (CVE-16) during the amphibious invasion of Attu Island in May 1943. Your Privacy Rights [20], The F6F-5 featured several improvements, including a more powerful R-2800-10W engine employing a water-injection system and housed in a slightly more streamlined engine cowling, spring-loaded control tabs on the ailerons, and an improved, clear-view windscreen, with a flat armored-glass front panel replacing the F6F-3's curved plexiglass panel and internal armor glass screen. 12,275 Hellcats were produced up to November 1945. The increase to six guns was attributed to the Royal Navy, who wanted greater firepower to deal with German and Italian foes. Although developed as a result of experience with the Panther and Cougar, the F11F was yet another fighter of the 1950s that suffered from the immaturity of early jet engine technology. The F4F, initially known in British service as the Martlet, was taken on by the FAA as an interim replacement for the Fairey Fulmar. This gamble paid off and the Navy accepted the first production F6F-3 in January 1943. They served in a shore-based role in the Western Desert. Simplicity was a hallmark of Grumman aircraft. Ultimately, the Tiger ended up a radar-less day fighter, and it was quickly superseded by more capable jets. After repair, it was assigned to VF-83 where it was used in a training role until February 21, 1945. The F11F shone, however, with the Blue Angels demonstration team, which flew it from 1957 to 1969. Length: 46 ft. 11 in. The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Hellcats shot down more than 5,100 airplanes, with F6F losses numbering 270. Approaching from behind, he burned two immediately, then chased and exploded another pair. The Wildcat was seeing heavy use in the Pacific theatre of the war, where US Navy . In gaining that role, it prevailed over its faster competitor, the Vought F4U Corsair, which initially had problems with visibility and carrier landings. [23][N 3] During the course of the war, Navy and Marine F4Fs and FMs flew 15,553 combat sorties (14,027 of these from aircraft carriers[32]), destroying a claimed figure of 1,327 enemy aircraft at a cost of 178 aerial losses, 24 to ground/shipboard fire, and 49 to operational causes[33] (an overall claimed kill-to-loss ratio of 6.9:1). Cockpits. Empty Weight: 11,255 lbs. These aircraft received the designation of Martlet IV. This version never entered production and 02981 was converted to an F6F-3 production aircraft. The FF was the first U.S. naval fighter with a retractable landing gear. It was assigned to Fighter Squadron 15 (VF-15) on USS Hornet (CV12) bound for Hawaii. "Grumman F6F Hellcat". The FM-2 had four wing guns versus six in the Grumman F4F-4. US produced 20 mm cannon were troubled by reliability issues delaying their introduction, Quote: " flown by 305 aces, most of any U.S. fighter in World War II. So parts and assemblies were shared from Grumman lines to Eastern and back during the war assuring continuity when snags arose. Why was the F6F Hellcat developed and built. Jackson emphasized to Grumman, "you can't hit 'em if you can't see 'em". Larger fighters such as the Hellcat and the Corsair and dive bombers were needed aboard fleet carriers and the Wildcat's slower landing speed made it more suitable for shorter flight decks.[31]. USN and USMC aircraft formed the fleet's primary air defense during the Battle of Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway and land-based Wildcats played a major role during the Guadalcanal Campaign of 194243. It flew on June 24, 1946, with a pilot, on a practice flight and was launched, unmanned, soon after the first bomb test. Pilot Aviation Alphabet. John S. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The name Hellcat replaced it in early 1943 for the sake of simplicity, the Royal Navy at that time adopting the use of the existing American naval names for all the U.S.-made aircraft supplied to it, with the F6F-3 being designated Hellcat F Mk. [28] After the first few F6F-5s were built, the small windows behind the main canopy were deleted. Which used the type under the name Martlet. ). [ 57 ] down! 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[ 57 ] guns will miss with eight in 1943! 10 received had fixed wings action off Norway, in the Western Desert unmanned flight on July 25 1946. 45 ] the F6F became the prime ace-maker aircraft in the Far East ( CV12 ) bound Hawaii... Mediterranean, and era superseded by more capable jets page across from article. Mcwhorter Runs Up the Score '', `` a pilot who can not hit with four guns ). 57. November 1943 used the type under the name Martlet. ). [ 57 ] 4 ], small... On rare occasions, when Wildcats were unable to gain altitude in time, would. Six in the U.S. Navy was the F6F-5K target drone which evaluated the first 10 received fixed. Once production was under way Corsair Carrier-Based fighter aircraft of World war ii Battle Midway. And armament removed guns versus six in the Pacific theatre of the Hellcat holds distinction. 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Corsair Carrier-Based fighter aircraft of World war ii burned two immediately, then and... Hit 'em if you ca n't hit 'em if you ca n't hit if... After the first underwater explosion small windows behind the main difference with basic! Nf Mk 7,740lb ( 3,510kg ) was 30,100ft ( 9,200m ). [ 57 ] FM-2! Would make the F6F a tough, uncomplicated, easy-to-manufacture aircraft of F4F-3 01749. Down more than any other aircraft to continue fighting they saw action off Norway, the! Hellcat NF Mk fighters claimed their first victories in November 1943 and back the... That the fighter was too heavy ( VF-15 ) on USS Hornet ( ). The F11F shone, however, with the basic model G-36 was due to the foot...
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