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(Edition No.355) Without Doubt, One of the Most Important Fighter Aircraft of the Second World War Was the Grumman F6F Hellcat of the US Navy

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(Edition No.355) Without Doubt, One of the Most Important Fighter Aircraft of the Second World War Was the Grumman F6F Hellcat of the US Navy (Edition No.355) Without doubt, one of the most important fighter aircraft of the Second World War was the Grumman F6F Hellcat of the US Navy. Probably not high on the list of many people’s favourite aircraft of WWII, the Hellcat made such an impact when it entered service in 1943, it almost singlehandedly reduced Japanese air operations to futile gestures and took such a withering toll of enemy aircraft, that Japanese military personnel would call every US single engined aircraft they saw a ‘Grumman’, such was the reputation it gained. Built around the massive 2,000 hp Pratt & Whitney R- 2800 Double Wasp radial engine, the Hellcat could almost be described as a Wildcat on steroids, but that is in no way a negative statement – both aircraft were extremely rugged, easy to maintain and operate, could absorb significant battle damage and were ideally suited to carrier operations. These aircraft were ‘no frills, just get on with the job’ type of fighters – just what the US Navy needed at this time. Incidentally, the same radial engine was also used in the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and the contemporary of the Hellcat, the gull winged Vought F4U Corsair and although these other aircraft could be described as being a little more enigmatic, the Hellcat really did show them both a clean pair of combat heels! The F6F entered US Navy service with just one aim in mind – to wrestle air superiority of the Pacific Theatre from the excellent Mitsubishi A6M Zero, an aircraft which was very much the equal of anything the US could put in the air at that time. Unlike the Corsair, the Hellcat design allowed for an extremely easy service introduction, as its simple, rugged and workman-like design was ideally suited to carrier- borne operations. Importantly, the Hellcat started to score air combat victories as soon as it entered theatre and it quickly grew in the affections of both pilots and deck handlers alike. The Zero had met its match and they began to fall from the skies in large numbers – the Hellcat would now dictate the terms of air combat in the Pacific Theatre. Despite its clear combat advantage, US pilots were trained not to get carried away when in combat with the Zero. In the hands of a skilled pilot, it was still a very dangerous opponent and he would try to lure the Hellcat into a slow, turning dogfight, where the Zero could easily turn the tables on an over-eager US Navy pilot. If they used the speed, power and firepower advantages possessed by the Hellcat, there was every chance that they would emerge from the engagement with a victory. Indeed, there were some startling combat statistics when the Hellcat met the Mitsubishi Zero in the air – the Hellcat enjoyed a 13:1 kill ratio against the Zero in the Pacific Theatre, which really does show how dominant this aircraft was. For US pilots, the Hellcat was the ‘most ace making aircraft’ in the US wartime inventory, with no fewer than 305 Hellcat pilots gaining ace status. Its overall combat kill ratio when pitched against Japanese aircraft was 19:1 – no wonder the Japanese hated the Hellcat. Much more than just a rugged and dependable gun platform, the Hellcat was one of the most important aircraft in the history of warfare – it accounted for 5,168 Japanese aircraft in the PTO, which was 56% of all US Navy and Marine Corps victories – not bad for a big Wildcat! THE ULTIMATE HELLCAT Over the past few years, the die-cast aviation enthusiast must have been thinking that he (or she) had won the lottery, with the number of magnificent models that have been produced for their delectation. At the very head of this illustrious pile is the new 1/32nd scale Grumman F6F tooling from Hobbymaster, which can only be described as superb. The first release was the famous mount of David McCampbell, the top scoring US Navy ace of WWII and very few of these beautiful models made it to the UK, but release number 2 is going to be even more sought after – The Fighter Collection’s ‘White 19’. The star of many Duxford Airshows, this beautiful aircraft is the only example flying outside the US and is in the markings of US Navy ace Alex Vraciu, who actually flew this aircraft. This will be a highly prized model in any collection, but from a worldwide production run of just 450 models, very few are heading to the UK. The only way to ensure that this stunning piece of die-cast resides in your display cabinet is to reserve your example by clicking on this TFC HELLCAT link – don’t miss out on this beauty! ANNIVERSARY NEWSLETTER COMPETITION You may recall that Newsletter Edition No.350 included an aircraft recognition competition to celebrate this landmark occasion for Flying Tigers and better late than never, we are about to announce the winner. With the new website launch and a number of other technological issues over the past few weeks, I am afraid that this is the first opportunity we have had to finalise our competition, but as you can see from the picture opposite, it is rather fitting that we are announcing it this week. As indicated by the circle and as many of you correctly identified, the close up image was that of The Fighter Collection’s Grumman F6F Hellcat G-BTCC, pictured at a Duxford Airshow a number of years ago. I am extremely grateful to the hundreds of readers who took the time to enter our competition, which was just a little bit of fun, but is made all the more enjoyable when so many of you had a go. So who is the lucky winner – all the winning entries were folded, mixed and placed in a box, before being drawn in a random ‘World Cup’ style by an independent non Flying Tigers employee and our lucky winner is Mr Keith Dodge, from Plymouth. Hopefully by the time he reads this, I will have already made contact with him and this will not be such a shock – congratulations to Keith and thank you to everyone who took part. LATEST MODELS Our weekly update on all the latest die-cast aviation releases begins with the much anticipated arrival of the latest Hobbymaster 1/48th scale Supermarine Spitfire Mk.VIII, which was the mount of the famous Australian ace Clive ‘Killer’ Caldwell. This modified tooling release has been pre- ordered in very large numbers, with quite a number of them heading for the Antipodes, for obvious reasons. With his undoubted combat prowess, Caldwell may have ended the War as the highest scoring British and Commonwealth ace, had he been allowed to ply his trade in Europe, but this will now always be open to debate. What is not open to debate is the quality of this latest release, which will definitely become one of the most sought after models in the months and years to come – don’t miss out and grab one of our remaining models by clicking on this NEW RELEASES link. Whilst there, you will also find this unusual, but absolutely stunning BAe Hawk T2 in McLaren motor racing team colours and the latest release in the unbelievably successful Hobbymaster F4 Phantom series, which this time presents us with this handsome US Navy ‘Jolly Rogers’ F-4B – the smart collectors by them at our discounted price, before they start going for stupid money on the secondary market. The final model featured opposite is the first release from the new Northrop F-5F Tiger II tooling, with this first model being a VFC-111 ‘Sundowners’ aircraft, which is based at NAS Key West, Florida. This US Naval Reserve Adversarial Squadron operates some of the most striking aircraft in US Navy inventory and these always make for an attractive addition to any model collection. All these and more can be viewed by clicking on THIS LINK! We hope that you enjoy reading the latest edition of our Flying Tigers Newsletter MJC Unfortunately due to the downsizing of our Squadron Dispatches Newsletter images for display on standard computer screens, some loss in quality has to be expected. The Flying Tigers Newsletter and all images contained within it are subject to international copyright law and must not be copied, used or distributed under any circumstances without prior permission being obtained from Flying Tigers Ltd. All rights are reserved. Copyright Flying Tigers Ltd MMXIV. .
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