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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 .
File: Burning Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat of VF-2 aboard USS Enterprise (CV-6) on 10 November 1943 (80-G-205473).jpg
Other single-engine delivery aircraft included the Vought F4U Corsair, Grumman F6F Hellcat, Grumman TBF/TBM Avenger, and Curtiss SB2C Helldiver. Twin-engine aircraft sometimes armed with HVARs included the Lockheed P-38 Lightning , North American PBJ Mitchell bomber and the Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon bomber.
Grumman's Wildcat production ceased in early 1943 to make way for the newer F6F Hellcat, but General Motors continued producing Wildcats for both U.S. Navy and Fleet Air Arm use. Late in the war, the Wildcat was obsolescent as a front line fighter compared to the faster (380 mph/610 km/h) F6F Hellcat or much faster (446 mph/718 km/h) F4U Corsair.
VF-1 operating the Grumman F6F Hellcat was embarked on the USS Yorktown (CV-10) on its shakedown cruise in the Caribbean in June 1943. VF-1 was transferred to Kaneohe Naval Air Station in August 1943. [2] VF-1 was assigned with Carrier Air Group 1 (CVG-1) to USS Yorktown from May to August 1944.
Grumman Martlet (later Wildcat) The Martlet was a carrier fighter, armed with four 0.5 inch M2 Browning heavy machine guns, in widespread use from September 1941. The Martlet was the British name for Grumman G-36A and G-36B aircraft in British service. Later in the war new acquisitions (FM-1 and FM-2) used the US Wildcat name. [11] [12]
Grumman company test pilot Tom Attridge shoots himself down in a Grumman F11F Tiger, BuNo 138620, during a Mach 1.0 20 degree dive from 22,000 feet (6,700 m) to 7,000 feet (2,100 m). He fires two bursts from the fighter's 20 mm cannon during the descent and as he reaches 7,000 feet (2,100 m) the jet is struck multiple times, including one shell ...
A Fleet Air Arm Grumman Hellcat. It formed part of the 5th Naval Fighter Wing, along with 1839 Naval Air Squadron, and was initially equipped with ten Grumman Hellcat, an American carrier-based fighter aircraft. [2] These were the F6F-3 variant, designated Hellcat F. Mk. I by the Fleet Air Arm. [4]