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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 .
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.
Historically significant U.S. Navy aircraft recovered include the Douglas SBD Dauntless Dive Bomber Bureau Number 2106 which survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway, [10] [11] the only Vought SB2U Vindicator Scout-Bomber known to exist, [12] [13] the Grumman F6F Hellcat Fighter Bureau Number 25910, [14] and an extremely rare early "Bird Cage" Vought F4U-1 Corsair.
Alex Vraciu's most famous Grumman Hellcat, an F6F-3, survived the war and now flies with The Fighter Collection in the UK. It was restored using parts from multiple aircraft (taking on the serial number of an F6F-5K for convenience according to TFC) and painted in the markings it wore when serving with VF-6.
File: Burning Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat of VF-2 aboard USS Enterprise (CV-6) on 10 November 1943 (80-G-205473).jpg
U.S. Navy Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat, BuNo 66237, c/n A-1257, 'Z 11', suffers engine failure on functional check flight out of Naval Air Station San Diego, North Island, California, pilot Ens. Robert F. Thomas ditches in the Pacific Ocean ~12 miles (19 km) from the base, gets clear of sinking airframe and survives to become an ace in the Pacific ...
VF-2 Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat crash-lands aboard USS Enterprise, 10 November 1943. VF-2 was established on 1 June 1943, at Naval Air Station Atlantic City. VF-2, known now as the "Rippers," became the first World War II fighting squadron to bear the same designation as a previous unit in the war. Several pilots came from VF-6 and VF-10.
This influenced the development of the Hellcat which was an improvement over the Grumman F4F Wildcat. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Duncan, then an Ensign, [ 1 ] scored his first and second aerial victories in the Hellcat on 5 October 1943, the second being Japanese flying ace Warrant Officer Toshiyuki Sueda, who previously had downed nine American aircraft ...