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United States' Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter^1,2,3

Grumman F6F Hellcat:
United States' Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter

Design

The F6F Hellcat was designed after Pearl Harbor and was rushed into production.¹

The fuel tanks were self sealing.¹

Cockpit

There was armor for the pilot.¹

Pilots took off with the canopy open in case of a takeoff accident they could make their escape.¹

Fuselage

The plane was built around very strong central spars.¹ The F6F Hellcat was very strong and could withstand a lot of punishment.¹

Prototype

On June 26, 1942 the XF6F-1 prototype made its first flight.^1,2,3

Production

Five weeks after to prototype flew production models (F6F-3) were delivered.²

At its New York plant Grumman produced 12,275 Hellcats from June 1942 to November 1945.¹ This was the largest number of fighters produced in a single factory.¹

The F3F-3 first flew in October 1942.³ The F6F-5 first flew in April 1944.³

XF6F-1: 1³
XF6F-3: 1³
F6F-3: 4,403³
F6F-5: 6,435², 6,681³
F6F-5N: 1,189^2,3
Total: 12,275^1,2,3

Variants

XF6F-1: Prototype.² Had Wright R-2600 Double Cyclone (1,700 HP).³
XF6F-2: Prototype with R-2800 engine.³
XF6F-3: Prototype.³ Had Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp engine.³
XF6F-4: Prototype with R-2800 engine.³
XF6F-6: Prototype with R-2800 engine.³
F6F:
F6F-3 / Hellcat Mk I: Initial production model.²
F6F-3E: Night fighter.^2,3 Radar was located in a pod on the wing.²
F6F-3K: Drones that were used to gather particles from the atomic cloud during the atomic tests in 1946 at Bikini atoll.¹
F6F-3N: Night fighter.^2,3 Radar was located in a pod on the wing.²
F6F-5 / Hellcat Mk II: Could carry 2,000 lb / 907 kg of bombs.^2,3 Some models had two 20 mm cannons replacing the two inboard 12.7 mm MGs.² Cowling was changed.³
F6F-5N: Night fighter.^2,3
F6F-5P: Photo reconnaissance.³

Usage

Out of the 6,477 planes shot down by US Navy pilots, 4,947² (76%) were in Hellcats.¹

First Action

The USS Essex had some of the initial F6F-3s assigned to its VF-5 / VF-9 squadron which used them on August 31, 1943.²

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom used 252 Hellcat Mk Is (F6F-3s) and 930 Hellcat Mk IIs (F6F-5s).^2,3 175 of those were converted to F6F-5N night fighters.³

The Tirpitz was attacked by Royal Navy Hellcats on April 3, 1944, at Kaafjord, Norway.¹

Korean War

The final Hellcats in service with the US Navy were used at unmanned flying bombs.¹

	Grumman F6F Hellcat³	Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat³	Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat^1,2,3
Type	Carrier based fighter³		Carrier based fighter^1,2
Crew	1³		1^1,2
Engine (Type)	Pratt & Whitney R-2800-10 Double Wasp³		Pratt & Whitney R-2800-10W Double Wasp piston¹ Pratt & Whitney R-2800-10W piston²
OR	Pratt & Whitney R-2800-10W Double Wasp³
Cylinders	Radial 18³		Radial², Radial-18¹
Cooling
HP	10: 2,000³ 10W: 2,200³		2,000^1,2
Propeller blades	3³		3¹
Dimensions
Span	42' 10"³ 13.05 m³		42' 10"^1,2 13.05 m², 13.08 m¹
Length	33' 7"³ 10.24 m³		33' 7"^1,2 10.23 m^1,2
Height	13' 1"³ 3.99 m³		13' 1"^1,2 3.99 m^1,2
Wing area			334 ft² ^1,2 31.03 m² ^1,2
Weight
Empty		9,042 lb³ 4,101 kg³	9,200 lb¹, 9,238 lb^2,3 4,190 kg^2,3, 4,191 kg¹
Loaded		12,186 lb³ 5,527 kg³
Maximum load		13,228 lb³ 6,000 kg³	15,400 lb¹, 15,413 lb^2,3 6,991 kg^1,2,3
Performance
Speed			380 mph¹ 602 kph¹
Speed at sea level			324 mph³ 521 kph³
Speed @ 23,400' / 7,130 m			380 mph² 612 kph²
Speed @ 23,400' / 7,132 m			380 mph³ 611 kph³
Cruising speed			168 mph³ 270 kph³
Climb			2,980'/minute^2,3 908 m/minute^2,3
Service ceiling			37,300'^2,3, 37,500'¹ 11,370 m^2,3, 11,500 m¹
Range			945 miles^2,3, 1,040 miles¹ 1,520 km³, 1,529 km², 1,675 km¹
Armament
Wings	6: 0.5" MG³		6: 12.7 mm Browning M2 MG¹ 6: 12.7 mm MG²
OR			2: 20 mm² 4: 12.7 mm MG²
Bombs			2: 1,000 lb² 2,000 lb¹ 2: 454 kg² 907 kg¹
Rockets			6: 5"¹ 6: 127 mm¹
Bombs under fuselage	2,000 lb³ 907 kg³
OR
Rockets - under wings	6³

Sources:

Aircraft of WWII, General Editor: Jim Winchester, 2004
Fighting Aircraft of World War II, Editor: Karen Leverington, 1995
Aircraft of WWII, Stewart Wilson, 1998