Let Let Let – Warplanes

Some 179 F6F-5 and F6F-5N were delivered to French who used these aircraft to equip units fighting in Indo-China and Aeronautique Navale units. The first party of French Navy pilots went to the US for training in the Spring of 1950 and their Hellcats were ferried to Bizerte, Tunisia on board FS Dixmunde (ex H.M.S BITER) for service with Flotilles 1F and Flotilles 12F where they replaced Seafires. Three Groupes de chasse were equipped with Hellcats in Indo-China where they joined by Flotille 1F aboard Arromanches (R95) in August 1951.

US transferred ten F6F-5 to Argentina in 1947 after while a number of the Argentinean aircraft were transferred to Paraguay. Ten F6F-5 were ferried to Uruguay from US in April 1952. The last was retired in 1961

F6F-5 USS Essex in flight over Japan after signing Japanese Instrument of Surrender just ten days earlier aboard USS Missouri 12 Sept 1945 [US Navy]

Conclusion

By November of 1943, 400 Hellcats per month were being pumped out of the Grumman assembly lines that were located in Baldwin, Long Island. At peak proficiency (March, 1945) 605 Hellcats were produced in a single month. Grumman ran a very efficient operation and they produced a top quality product as well. War records would show that Hellcats had a 95% maintenance-free rate. This meant that Hellcats were ready to fly 95% of the time. This is a remarkable feat. Other aircraft were not even close and could only boast of rates of 75-80% at the highest. The Hellcat was a sturdy and reliable aircraft and their pilots loved them. The Hellcat no doubt came as a nasty surprise to Japanese pilots, since it looked enough like a Wildcat to be confused for one at a distance, but was a substantially more dangerous adversary, every bit as tough as the Wildcat but faster and more heavily armed. It was still no match for the Zero in terms of agility and couldn’t outclimb the “Zeke”, but the Hellcat could almost always escape by going into a dive.

Darko Mladenovic

Photo credit- Grumman, USN, Joe Genne, Paul Whiteing Color profile- Srecko Bradic

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2. F6F Hellcat at War
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4. Flying Legends Air Show 2007
5. Grumman F-14 Tomcat MDF 15 book

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