WWII main menu

American WWII's aircraft

QUICK LINKS

Grumman F6F Hellcat

The F6F design began as a development of the F4F powered by the R-2600 engine, but soon evolved into a much larger and more capable aircraft, with the R-2800 engine. The F6F was designed and put into service in a very short period, assuring the ascendance of the USN over the A6M 'Zero' from the second half of 1943 onwards. It was credited with 76% of all aircraft destroyed by USN carrier fighters. In line with Grumman tradition, the F6F was a rugged aircraft that lacked easthetic appeal. Typical features were a tail-down attitude in level flight, because of the engine trust line, and the biggest wings fitted to a WWII fighter. Some were converted into unmanned flying bombs, used in Korea.

General characteristics F6F-5
Primary function	Fighter
Contractor	Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
Power plant	One Pratt&Whitney R-2800-10W engine
Thrust	2,173 HP		1,620kW
Wingspan	42.8 ft		13.06 m
Length	33.6 ft		10.24 m
Height	13.1 ft		3.99 m
Wingarea	334 sq ft		31.03 sq m
	empty	9,154 lb	4,152 kg
Weight	max.	14,205 lb	6,443 kg
Max. speed	380 mph		611 km/h
Initial climb rate	3,250 ft/min		990 m/min
Ceiling	37,400 ft		11,400 m
Max.range	1,305 miles		2,100 km
Armament	2x 20 mm cannons, 4x 12.7mm machine gun (400 rounds each), 6x rockets and 2x 454 kg bombs
Crew	One
Date deployed	1942
Number built	12,275

Jirka Wagner

Comment this page now or read other comments!

Please let us know if you find any mistake or problem. If you would like to help me or if you have pictures or anything interesting for these pages, write me.

Our other websites: Agile Factory | Beatles | Military Video

Last updated 19.11.2011