Help identify F6F-5 vertical or horizontal stabilizer?

[MissingAirCrew.com]

Re: Trying to identify F6F-5 Hellcat wreckage (Is this a piece of the vertical or horizontal stabilizer?)

All;

Please see the attached pictures of possible F6F-5 Hellcat wreckage found near Yap Island. Is this piece of wreckage part of the vertical or horizontal stabilizer?








Please let me know if anyone has any detailed pictures of a disassembled vertical or horizontal stabilizer on a F6F-5 Hellcat.

Thanks for the help!

Respectfully,

-Pat

[Trey Carroll]

My vote goes to the vertical stabilizer.

[Mudge]

Again, we're a little out of my area of expertise here but I'm gonna' guess vertical stabilizer, too. My reasoning: The piece seems to be symmetrical.
ie. no airfoil shape. Wouldn't the horizontal stabilizer have an airfoil shape?
Don't know if that's a valid reason or not but it's mine.

Mudge the surmicious
(Yes...I made up that word. It means "one who surmises". )

Last edited by Mudge on Sat Nov 25, 2006 5:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Chad Veich]

[quote="Mudge"]Wouldn't the horizontal stabilazer have an airfoil shape?
[\quote]

Yes it does, but it's entirely symmetrical as is the airfoil of the vertical tail.

[visaliaaviation]

Don't tell any of the many Boeing designs (ie B-17) that have symetrical NACA wing sections they don't have airfoils. They might start falling out of the sky!

[Don Martin]

Pat, you should contact Larry Webster at the Quanset Air Museum in RI. He has A LOT of EXPERIENCE with little pieces of airplane including F-6Fs. I do have to say that piece does look like tail-feathers to me, also.
Don

[Jim MacDonald]

Pat,

I looked at a copy of the Illustrated Parts Manual and it looks like the lightening holes in the 1st rib in the piece you have match the illustration for rib station 35 3/4 on the F6F's vertical stabilizer. Tomorrow I'll see if I can pull out the microfilm engineering drawings I have for the Hellcat & try to get a better match. I'm not sure if I'll have the time though. I PCS the day after tomorrow for Korea, so I'm not sure I'll be able to get to it tomorrow.

I'll give it a shot.

Mac