File:Hellcats_F6F-3,_May_1943.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Grumman F6F Hellcat
Sign in to saveAlso known as F6F, Grumman Fighter Type 6, Hellcat aircraft, Grumman Hellcat, Grumman Gannet, Gannet aircraft, Grumman G-50 Hellcat, Grumman G-50
1942 fighter aircraft family by the Grumman Corporation
Key facts
- Type
- Carrier-based fighter aircraft
- National origin
- United States
- Manufacturer
- Grumman
- Primary users
- United States Navy United States Marine Corps Royal Navy French Navy
- Number built
- 12,275
- Manufactured
- 1942–1945
- First flight
- 26 June 1942
- Retired
- 1961 Uruguayan Navy
via Wikipedia infobox
~34 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. 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. In gaining that role, it prevailed over its faster competitor, the Vought F4U Corsair, which initially had problems with visibility and carrier landings.
Powered by a 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp, the same powerplant used for both the Corsair and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters, the F6F was an entirely new design, but it still resembled the Wildcat in many ways. Some military observers tagged the Hellcat as the "Wildcat's big brother".
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Grumman F6F Hellcat” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.