Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat
Grumman · USA · first flew 1942 · fighter
The F6F-3 is the initial production Hellcat, the aircraft that turned the Pacific air war in favour of the USN, featuring the massive R-2800 Double Wasp engine in a big, rugged airframe with a lower main gear fold for stable carrier operations.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Mid-mounted, tapered |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, nose-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 10.24 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Six .50 cal M2 Browning guns in the wings with three muzzles visible per side in the leading edge — no cannon, no underwing pylons on the F6F-3
- Curved Plexiglas windscreen front panel — the F6F-3 has a curved perspex panel; the F6F-5 replaced it with a flat armoured-glass panel that looks more angular from the side
- Kinked gull-wing undercarriage bay — the main gear folds rearward with a distinctive kink in the wing at the folding point, creating the low-slung appearance
Against F6F-5: the F6F-3 has a curved Plexiglas front windscreen panel vs the F6F-5's flat armoured-glass panel — visible from the side as a rounder vs more angular windscreen profile. The F6F-3 also retains rear canopy quarter-windows deleted mid-way through F6F-5 production, and lacks the F6F-5's underwing HVAR stubs. Cowling differences between late F6F-3 and F6F-5 are too subtle for reliable field identification. Against the F4U Corsair: the Hellcat has straight (not inverted gull) wings and a less prominent cowling.
Specifications
- The Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat has a length of 10.24 m (34 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 13.06 m (43 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 621 km/h (386 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
First flown 3 October 1942; 4,403 built. The F6F-3 entered combat in August 1943 and immediately proved superior to the A6M Zero in most regimes. USN squadrons flying F6F-3s achieved phenomenal kill ratios; it was the primary US Navy fighter through mid-1944. The Fleet Air Arm received 252 as the Hellcat Mk.I.
Variants
F6F-3N (night fighter, APS-6 radar pod on starboard wing), F6F-3E (experimental radar), F6F-5 (improved successor).
Where you'll see it
USN carrier squadrons 1943–1944 in the frontline, training use to 1945. FAA as Hellcat Mk.I. Survivors at National Naval Aviation Museum Pensacola, NASM Washington, and several airworthy examples at US airshows.
Related aircraft
- F6F Hellcat
- Grumman F7F Tigercat
- Grumman XP-50
- Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat
- Aichi E16A Zuiun
- Bell P-59 Airacomet
- Bell P-63 Kingcobra
- Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1
Compared head-to-head
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