Grumman Hellcat
F6F-5 VBF-87
CFS3 - V4.00.168

This aircraft was built by  GregoryP using version 4.00.168 of the AvHistory 1% Assembly Line process.  It is based on the outstanding F6F-5 visual created by  Anthony GRAMPS Sullenger.

Nigel 'ndicki' Dickinson created the VBF-87 which flew from the  USS Ticonderoga in May 1945. This aircraft was the 10,000th Hellcat built by the Grumman Aircraft Company.



The "O-1 Driver" effects team installed the lights & exhaust flames.

In early May, 1945 the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga (CV14), the Big T, stood out to sea off Pearl Harbor and shaped a course to the war zone in the western Pacific. Aboard was the 10,000th Hellcat fighter built assigned Air Group 87. After a short stop at Ulithi atoll in the western Caroline Islands, to join Task Force 38.4, It transited to Okinawa, where VBF-87 first tasted combat.



When Okinawa had been secured they moved offshore from the Japanese home islands, where they remained, making frequent strikes against airfields and anything that moved. After the atomic bombs were dropped and the surrender signed, the Ticonderoga entered Tokyo Bay to join the Battleship USS Missouri.



Much has been made of the Corsair's 20 mph speed advantage over the Hellcat, thing is late in the war, Grumman was given an F4U to test, and Chance Vought an F6F. Grumman discovered that, in side by side flight, although their airspeeds were identical, the F4U was reading 20 mph faster! The reason? The airspeed sensors were placed differently on the two aircraft.



Grumman came up with an F6F-6 late in the war, which outperformed the Corsair, but it was never put into production because the great F8F "Bearcat" was nearly ready, and it was decided not to change the production line for what would be a very brief run.



There are few variants because the standard version was so successful. Grumman produced F6F-5's beginning in April 1944. Credited with 5,156 air-to-air kills (over 75% of all USN).

The 10,000th Hellcat was delivered to the US Navy in March 1945 and final production amounted to 12,275.

BEAR
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