Overview

Descended from the F4F Wildcat (and sometimes called the Wildcats big brother), the Grumman F6F Hellcat debuted with the Pacific Fleet in mid-1943 and soon was taking on Japanese Zero fighters. Over the next two years, the Hellcat proved to be the most successful fighter aircraft in naval history--with more than 5,000 air-to-air kills in the Pacific, and the highest kill/loss ratio of any American fighter plane in Army, Navy, or Marine service during World War II. Taking advantage of the Hellcats combination of easy handling and lethality, more than 300 of its pilots achieved ace status. This lavishly illustrated book offers a thrilling look at the Hellcat at war--from its first action in September 1943, when fighters off the USS Independence shot down a spying seaplane, to its service with the British Fleet Air Arm and its part in the invasion of Southern France. Detailing the Hellcats design and development, telling its pilots war stories, and tracing the aircrafts adventures through the end of World War II, this book is a fitting and fascinating tribute to a fighter plane whose performance in a few short years remains unmatched in the annals of naval warfare.

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9780760333068

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Reviews

WWII History Magazine A new addition to Zenith's outstanding 'At War' series, F6F Hellcat at War is bound to get any naval aviation buff's blood stirring. Over 100 photos, many in color, present the complete history of this legendary carrier-launched warbird from its initial design and development in the mid-1940s by Grumman Aircraft Corporation at its Long Island factory to its successful combat career in the Pacific... Through compelling accounts, previously unpublished photos, and detailed engineering drawings, Graff does an excellent job of tracing the Hellcat's lineage and manufacture, then its roles as one of the most feared fighters of the war.

Author Information

Cory Graff is the Military Aviation Historian at the Flying Heritage Collection museum in Everett, Washington. In his free time, he works on aviation-related history projects, including exhibits and books. His articles have been published in Air & Space Smithsonian magazine and the Museum of Flight's Aloft magazine. Graff is the author of five previous aviation books, including Shot to Hell: The Stories and Photos of Ravaged WWII Warbirds, Strike and Return: American Air Power and the Fight for Iwo Jima, and P-47 Thunderbolt at War. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

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