Grumman Hellcat F6F-3On 30th June, 1941, the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation signed a contract with United States Air Force to produce a new carrier based fighter. The Grumman Hellcat F6F-3 flew on 30th June, 1941 but was not delivered to the USAF until October 1942. The Grumman Hellcat F6F-3 had a top speed of 376 mph and had a range of 1,090 miles. It was 33 ft 7 in long with a wingspan of 42 ft 10 inches. The aircraft was armed with 6 machine-guns. During the last two years of the Second World War the Grumman Hellcat became the most important aircraft with the carrier fleet and in 1943 a total of 2,545 were delivered to the USAF.
SW |
Vought CorsairThe United Aircraft Corporation began work on the fighter, the Vought Corsair in 1938. Vought Corsair test flights were highly impressive and on 1st October, 1940, it became the first American fighter to reach a speed of 400 mph (643 km). Over the next few years a total of 12,571 were produced. As well as the United States Air Force the Royal Air Force also received 2,012 of these aircraft. The Vought Corsair had a maximum speed of 425 mph and had a range of 1,015 miles. It was 33 ft 1 inches long with a wingspan of 41 ft. The aircraft was armed with 6 machine-guns and could carry 2,000 pounds of bombs. In the Pacific War it downed 2,149 enemy aircraft while only 189 Vought Corsair were lost during 64,051 missions. This kill ratio is the greatest recorded in the history of air warfare.
SW |