Air Power Series>1:72 die-cast display model>F6F>HA1113

General Background

The F6F Hellcat was basically designed as the “Zero Killer”. It could fly about an average 55 mph faster than the Zero and it was heavier and more powerful than the Zero. The Hellcat also had the highest kill ratio of any American fighter plane during WWII (19 to1). US Navy pilots referred the Hellcat as the "Aluminum Tank".

The Hellcat could carry two 1,000 pound bombs with its most destructive weapons being six 5-inch HVAR's (High Velocity Aircraft Rockets). It could also carry a torpedo under the fuselage but this was never seen in combat. When it was all over the F6F was one of the most feared and successful planes in WWII.

The Aircraft

Incredibily, of the six Luftwaffe aircraft claimed by the gunnery-spotting VOF-1 during Operation Dragoon, this Hellcat was involved in the destruction of four of them- Ens Wood shared in the destruction of two He 111s near Vienne on 19 August, and Ens Olszewski downed a pair of Ju 52s near Orange two days later. Both pilots went on to scorre kills in the Pacific with the redesignated Voc-1 in 1945.

Specifications :

Total production :	F6F-3 (4,403), F6F-5 (7,870)
Powerplant :	Single 2,000-horsepower 18-cylinder, Pratt and Whitney R-2800-10W air cooled radial engine
Climb rate to 14,000 ft. :	6 minutes 42 seconds
Wingspan :	42 ft. 10 in. (13.1 m)
Length :	33 ft., 7 in. (10.2 m)
Height :	13 ft., 1 in. (4.0 m)
Weight :	9,238 lb. empty
Maximum speed :	380 mph at 23,400 ft.
Ceiling :	37,300 ft.
Range :	945 miles
Armament :	six .50-caliber M2 Browning machine guns
	a 2,000 lb. bomb load, or six 5-inch rockets