By
Scott Schwartz
Although famous
for being the plane that turned the tide against the Mitsubishi Zero, the F6F
Hellcat was not designed specifically for that purpose. This may come as a surprise to many, but the
Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation (as it was known at the time) was
working on a replacement for the F4F Wildcat long before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Most
of the development work revolved around producing more powerful versions of the
basic F4F fighter. While not a bad airplane, the Wildcat was hampered by
relatively low speed, and short range.
The idea was to capitalize on the Wildcat’s ruggedness and firepower,
but give it more range and higher speed.
Experiments centered primarily on the installation of the powerful
Wright R-2600 fourteen cylinder engine.
Readers will recall that the Grumman-built Wildcats flew with 1200hp
Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engines which put out 1200 hp. The R-2600 produced
roughly 1700 hp.
Experiments with
the Wright engine led to the development of the “Model 50”. The Model 50 was an R-2600 powered Wildcat,
which was so altered, that it looked like a different airplane. In fact, it
looked sort of like a scaled – down Hellcat. But of course, it wasn’t. The bigger engine improved performance dramatically,
but the Model 50 was still basically a Wildcat. As such, it retained many of
the Wildcat’s limitations – such as limited fuel capacity. Still, the R-2600 engine showed promise, so
it should come as no surprise that Grumman opted to design a whole new airplane
around this engine. The result was the
XF6F-1, which first flew in June of 1942.
Ironically, by
the time the XF6F-1 was ready for flight, the Navy’s requirements had changed
in response to combat experience against the Mitsubishi Zero. The Zero, while
not equipped with armor plating, nor self-sealing fuel tanks, was highly
maneuverable, and had a far greater combat radius than the Wildcat. Plus, the Zero was 20 mph faster.
Although the
XF6F-1 flew well, it didn’t fly or climb fast enough to ensure air superiority
over the Zero. More power was
needed.
One solution took
the form of the XF6F-2, which sported
an exhaust-driven turbo-charger.
Clearly, this was not the answer, as the performance improvement was
negligible.
By coincidence,
the huge Pratt & Whitney R-2800 eighteen cylinder engine, which was slated
for the F4U Corsair and P-47 Thunderbolt became available, due to delays in the
production of these airplanes.
Grumman installed
an R-2800 in the XF6F-1, which now became the XF6F-3. All it took was one 15 minute flight
(which took place on July 30, 1942) to demonstrate that the new engine was the
answer.
With a top speed
of 380 mph, six .50 caliber machine guns, and a combat radius of over 800nm,
the Navy finally had a carrier-based fighter that could turn the tables on the
Japanese.
“Carrier-based” is an important
distinction; while the Corsair was faster and served well from land bases,
technical difficulties kept it from being used on aircraft carriers until
1944.
Deliveries of the
production F6F-3 began in 1943. The
Hellcat’s first combat occurred in September of that year, when a group from
the light carrier Independence shot down a Japanese sea plane.
In truth, the
Hellcat was not as maneuverable as the Zero. Even in the F6F, American pilots
engaged in twisting-turning dogfights at their peril. The Hellcat, like most American fighters of
the period was a heavily armored flying gun platform, that could fly at
extremely (for the time) high altitudes.
Accordingly, a favored combat tactic was to make diving attacks from
20,000 feet against Japanese formations, with guns blazing. Pursuing Japanese fighters – including
improved versions of the Zero, simply could not dive fast enough to keep up
with the Hellcats.
From 1943 on,
F6F’s flew 66, 530 combat missions, and achieved a “kill ratio” of 19:1. In other words, Hellcats destroyed 5,163
enemy planes (of all types, not just fighters, and of course, some of these
enemy planes were destroyed on the ground during strafing attacks on
airfields), while losing only 270 of their own.
Nevertheless, nearly every WW 2 U.S. Navy fighter ace became one at the
controls of a Hellcat. The Japanese did
eventually deploy newer fighters that could challenge the Hellcat. However, these were too few to make much of
an impact, and most were flown by inexperienced pilots. By 1944, most of Japan’s experienced pilots had been
killed.
Two main Hellcat
variants were used in combat; the F6F-3, and the F6F-5. The “5” model had an improved cowling for
better engine cooling, all metal control surfaces, additional armor plating, a
windshield with less “framework” for better visibility. Many of these were
converted into fighter bombers by the Navy.
Radar equipped night fighter versions of both variants were built and
flown by Marine and Navy squadrons.
Two more
experimental versions were built, but never put into production. One was the XF6F-4, which was used to test
the installation of an R-2800 engine with an integral two-speed supercharger,
and cannon armament. This airplane was
actually the XF6F-3 air frame. After
these tests were completed, the airplane was converted into a “regular” F6F-3
and delivered to the Navy.
The last
experimental Hellcat was the XF6F-6, which used more powerful version of the
R-2800 engine, and had a four bladed prop.
The Navy actually planned to produce the -6, but the war ended before
production could begin.
Once the war
ended, F6F’s were used by naval reserve squadrons and for training purposes
through the late 1940’s. The British Fleet Air Arm, which had received over
1200 Hellcats, which gave the German ME-109 pilots a run for their money. The French even used a few Hellcats during
their Indochina war, and the Uruguayan Navy
used them as front line fighters until the early 1960’s.
Although the
Hellcat had been largely phased out of U.S. Navy service by 1950, a few
lingered on as target drones and miscellaneous test aircraft. This may seem like a sad ending for a great
airplane. But, over twelve thousand were produced, and a small number of Hellcats are
flying to this day.
The world has
changed since the days when the Grumman “Iron Works” was cranking out
Hellcats. The very buildings where
Hellcats were once built are now occupied by an insurance company. Many of the
men who flew these planes in combat have gone West.
Fortunately, we
can still be treated to the sight and sound of carefully preserved Hellcats at
air shows. Perhaps, the rumble of the
Hellcat’s massive R-2800 engine will serve to remind us of a time when men and
women toiled to build the weapons that helped defeat a ruthless enemy. One that was Hell – bent on enslaving much of
the world.
Statistics, Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat:
Length: 33 ft, 7 in.
Wing Span: 42 ft., 10
in.
Empty Wt: 9238 lbs.
Max. T/O Wt: 15,415
lbs.
Engine: 1 Pratt &
Whitney R-2800 supercharged 18 cylinder radial, producing 2,000 hp.
Propeller: 3-blade Hamilton-Standard constant speed.
Max. Speed: 380 mph.
Service Ceiling:
37,300 ft.
Armament: Six .50
cal. machine guns, plus up to 4,000 lbs of externally mounted weapons (bombs,
torpedoes). Many F6F-5’s were fitted
with rocket rails under their wings, as well.
