Let Let Let – Warplanes

After early US Navy experience in the Pacific in the early months of WWII, and after consultation with Allied air forces in the European theater, Grumman began to develop a successor to their Wildcat fighter, to be called the Hellcat. Major design changes from the Wildcat included a low-mounted wing, wider landing gear which retracted into the wings, more powerful engine, improved cockpit armor plating, and increased ammunition capacity. Built specifically to counter the Japanese Zero, the Hellcat filled the bill, and earned the nickname “ace maker.” The Hellcat proved to be the most successful aircraft in naval history, destroying 5,171 aircraft in service with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps (5,163 in the Pacific and eight more during the invasion of Southern France), plus 52 with the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm during World War II.

Design and Development

Although the F6F had been on the drawing boards at Grumman, even before Pearl Harbor, the advent of the war gave great impetus to the development of the replacement for the Wildcat. From the start it was a much bigger airplane. Leroy Grumman, and his two top engineers, Leon Swirbul and Bill Schwendler, laid out a plane with higher performance, more fuel & ammunition, and huge wings. The wings extended over 334 square feet; the average was less than 250 sq. ft. Most of these were the requirements of the Us Navy pilot’s whose opinion was of great influence for Grumman design team.

The first prototype, the XF6F-1, was under development when the war started. Based on combat experience against the Zero and the intact A6M captured in the Aleutians, it was clear that speed and better climb would be needed from the Hellcat. Test pilot Robert L. Hall first flew the XF6F-1 in late June, 1942. Powered by a Wright Cyclone R-2600-16 engine (1,600 horsepower), the aircraft didn’t have the needed performance. Grumman proposed the Pratt & Whitney 2800 Double Wasp (2,000 horsepower). Equipped with the P&W 2800, the original prototype airframe became the XF6F-3. A month later, on 30 July 1942 Bob Hall flew the new configuration. He had to land the machine on a Long Island farm field on 17 August due to an engine failure, but the development effort continued with little disruption, though was Hall replaced as the test pilot. Despite a crash of the XF6F-3 in August, the Navy placed an order. Neither prototype was armed. The only major problem encountered during the test flights was tail flutter, which was fixed by reinforcing the rear fuselage.

Related posts:

1. Eduard Grumman Hellcat 8433
2. F6F Hellcat at War
3. Grumman Hellcat from Eduard 1/48
4. Flying Legends Air Show 2007
5. Grumman F-14 Tomcat MDF 15 book

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