Grumman had been working on a successor to the F4F Wildcat since 1938, and the contract for the prototype XF6F-1 was signed on 30 June 1941. Design and development XF6F Unpainted XF6F-1 prior to its first flight (1942) F6F-3 aboard USS Yorktown has its " Sto-Wing" folding wings deployed for takeoff ( circa 1943-44). After the war, Hellcats were phased out of front-line service in the US, but radar-equipped F6F-5Ns remained in service as late as 1954 as night fighters. This was more than any other Allied naval aircraft. Marine Corps, and Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA). Hellcats were credited with destroying a total of 5,223 enemy aircraft while in service with the U.S. In total, 12,275 were built in just over two years. It subsequently established itself as a rugged, well-designed carrier fighter, which was able to outperform the A6M Zero and help secure air superiority over the Pacific theater. The F6F made its combat debut in September 1943. Some military observers tagged the Hellcat as the "Wildcat's big brother". Powered by a 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp, the same powerplant used for both the Corsair and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters, the F6F was an entirely new design, but it still resembled the Wildcat in many ways. In gaining that role, it prevailed over its faster competitor, the Vought F4U Corsair, which initially had problems with visibility and carrier landings. Designed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United States Navy's dominant fighter in the second half of the Pacific War. The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II.
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