The most successful fighter of the Pacific campaign, shooting down 5156 Japanese aircraft for the loss of only 270 of its own number in air-to-air combat; the F6F was designed from the spring of 1941 as an F4F successor.

F6F Hellcat hanging from the roof.

It was in effect an enlarged and better streamlined F4F with a considerably more potent engine, and the XF6F-3 first prototype flew in June 1942. The F6F-3 initial production model (4402 aircraft including 205 F6F-3N night-fighters and 18 radar-equipped F6F-3E night intruders) entered combat in August 1943, and soon revealed a superb balance of high performance, hard-hitting firepower, great strength and adequate agility. Some 252 of the standard fighters were transferred under Lend-Lease to the UK for service with the Fleet Air Arm with the designation Gannet Mk I soon changed to Hellcat Mk I.

Country of origin: USA
Type: (F6F-3): single-seat carrierborne fighter and fighter-bomber
Powerplant: one 2000hp (1491kW) Pratt & Whitney R-2800-10 or-10W Double Wasp 18-cylinder two-row radial engine
Performance: maximum speed 603km/h (375mph); initial climb rate 1067m (3500ft) per minute; service ceiling 11705m (38,400ft); range 2559km (1590 miles)
Weights: empty 4128kg (9101lb); maximum take-off 7025kg (15,487lb)
Dimensions: span 13.06m (42ft 10in); length 10.24m (33ft 7in); height 3.99m (13ft tin)
Armament: six 0.5in fixed forward-firing machine guns in the leading edges of the wing, plus an external bomb load of 454kg (1000lb)

Text from: Aircraft of WWII by Chris Chant (Fiedman/Fairfax, 1999, ISBN: 1-58663-303-1), a handy book with specs for 300 aircraft.

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