Dogfights: The Zero Killer Part 5

The Grumman F6F Hellcat was a carrier-based fighter aircraft developed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat in United States Navy service. Although the F6F bore a family resemblance to the Wildcat, it was a completely new design powered by a 2,000 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800. Some tagged it as the "Wildcat's big brother".[2] The Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair were the primary USN fighters during the second half of World War II.

The Hellcat proved to be the most successful aircraft in naval history, destroying 5,271 aircraft[3] while in service with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps (5,163 in the Pacific and eight more during the invasion of Southern France, plus 52 with the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during World War II.)[4] Postwar, the Hellcat aircraft was systematically phased out of front line service, but remained in service as late as 1954 as a night-fighter in composite squadrons.

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[furiouswings]

hahaha!!! ahhh, denial...how cute. F-15 kill ratio of 107:0 and F-14 ratio of 146:1 all on soviet aircraft. Sounds like mig killers to me.

[4ivIV]

During the first Gulf War, I was at my father's house and wondered what the WWII pilots felt like seeing modern jet jockeys kill from 70 miles. The phone rang and it was one of the few who could tell me. Mel Malone, a pilot of an F6F-3N nightfighter, was calling Pop, who was duty officer for VF-81 on the Wasp. I put the question to him.

"Take 'em anyway you can get them" he replied. They are just glad it is the bogies going down regardless of the distance.

Jock Ellis

[thepollywog1]

I think that stratigic wins are almost always logistics based. Battles may be based on individual bravery and Initiative but wars are won on logistics. Such as the PBY patrol in the Aleutions.Then a trained enginering crew ready to analize the Zero. Aircraft enginers recieve and react to this information. And so on, to trained pilots and machanics on aircraft carriers on the far side of the pacfic with a support fleet. In 8 months. That will win a war.

[williepayt01]

@furiouswings Two best fighters in my opinion. F/A-18 is okay but doesn't have the balls that the Tomcat had and the Eagle has.

[Zooni2]

So what the pilot is saying is the Hell cat had the best kill ratio to date. They had the best plane of the pacific.

[SuperYT4Ever]

Boy, I sure would've loved to been in a Hellcat shooting down the Jap Zeros!

[sherman3211]

@rexregum

Oh yeah? Like the Russian pilots flying MiG 21s in Vietnam vs. the Phantoms? Those are inexperienced pilots flying "monkey migs" you refer to? We wiped the floor with them in the air war. Get real you fool, our record is proven.

[010bobby]

that is how USA won the war in the Pacific..Best planes,best pilots and best equiptments overall..To those who claimed that Zero is the best, Sayonara!!!!

[navnig]

@stormyk6 you're bang on right, but all those kills weren't all in the same conflict or for the same air force.

[geomodelrailroader]

correct and they are also made by the same company Grumman (now Northrup Grumman Aerospace)

[stormyk6]

i believe the F-15's kill ratio is about 105 to 0. Am I wrong?