Flightdeck Friday: The F6F-3/-5 Hellcat – Scourge of the Pacific
5,156 victories (4797 by carrier-based F6F’s) vs 270 lost in air-to-air combat (19.1:1 kill ratio) 305 Aces 55 per cent of all aircraft destroyed by Navy/Marine aviators for all of WW2 When WW2 began, the US fighter force (land- and sea-based) was woefully inadequate. Slow in speed and maneuvering, out powered in the climb, often…