Warbird Information Exchange

VF-11 Santa Rosa




USS Shangri-La 1945


NY Naval Reserve 1948












USS Cabot 1950




USS Hornet 1945 VF-11 Sundowners, one of the two photos above could be my Dad but not sure. he had these photos in his locker box.
Pilots flew different Hellcats depending on what was ready to go on missions.
I believe the top of the two Hellcats usually belonged to one of the aces of VF-11. J Cook knows much more than I


USS Essex 1944






USS Hornet 1945


USS Essex 1944




Moffett Field 1945


Moffett Field 1945

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“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”

Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat of the NARB St Louis








USS Hornet 1944




USS Lexington 1944


USS Lexington 1945








USS Enterprise 1944

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“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”

The Pt. Mugu bird was an F6F-K drone (here with a pilot) and was used in flight testing of the SPARROW AAM and was painted bright red. I believe the first test firings were done unmanned as a 'just in case' safety move.

LK 17 being towed backwards is interesting since it's 5N but has a standard exhaust not the flutted dampeners

K 21 looks like a F-1 pit stop

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

USS Yorktown CV-10 VF-1 F6F-3 Hellcat


















Carrier Air Group CVG3 aircraft 1946

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“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”

another gr8 collection of photos! a very interesting photo of the Hellcat headed down to the hangar deck w/o the use of the elevator. A dangerous business for sure.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

A neat looking aircraft.
Back in the mid-90s, I photographed for FlyPast magazine the rarely seen one on a pylon on the Navy side of Andrews AFB....where the VIPs never tread.

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

I agree! Another great set of shots. The first photo in the second set, looks like they're using the old girl to dig a swimming pool!!
Leroy Grumman built the Hellcat, so that a two hundred hour pilot, could take off, from a carrier, at night, engage the enemy, and have a reasonable chance of getting back on board the ship alive.
Could you imagine letting a two hundred hour pilot loose in a Hellcat?

Thanks again Mark. Oh, and you're not the only one who misses Jacks' posts. It's too bad he got driven off by Trolls!!

Andy Scott

Gotta wonder what some of those guys are thinking. My personal favorites have to be the 2 nose-stand pictures. The first one looks like an "action" shot. (Below the picture marked St. Louis)


Looks like the propeller was still turning in the picture - those guys were darn lucky!

On a similar note, gotta give a shout out to the heroics of the deck crew in the pictures with the a/c on fire. (Below the Lexington '44)

What's with "428" spray-painted on the cowl? Or is that written on the photo itself? (Below the Essex '44)

Did the Hellcat have a structural weakness problem immediately behind the cockpit? (Hornet '44, Lexington '44 & '45)

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Tri-State Warbird Museum Collections Manager & Museum Attendant

Warbird Philosophy Webmaster

I believe the numbers were sprayed on @ Bethpage so delivery pilots got in the correct airplane amid a sea of dark blue look-a-likes. I've seen photos of simular freehanded numbers on CORSAIRS on the delivery line.

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

Cool, I'd never heard of that - I see why it could be a problem! I actually just noticed that there is more than one example of "nose-numbers" in the above pictures.

What's it really matter which aircraft went to which unit though? As long as Carrier Air Group 3 received the correct number of F6Fs who cares which ones they were? (I'm assuming the pilots were smart enough to tell a Hellcat from a Corsair ) As long as the Bu Nos were written down and maintenance records begun after they arrived, it seems like it wouldn't matter. (I'm playing devil's advocate. I can think of a few reasons myself - I just don't know if they're the best explanation.)

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Tri-State Warbird Museum Collections Manager & Museum Attendant

Warbird Philosophy Webmaster

Love the the last one with a Wildcat, Helldiver, TBM and Bearcat all in the same group!! It is amazing that how many guys walked away from those landings that didn't go so well.

Tom P.

Pair of Grumman F6F-3 Hellcats


Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat




Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat

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“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”

Mark:

These are outstanding pictures of my favorite airplane. Thanks for posting them. Have you any pictures of Navy Reserve Squadron VF-771 out of NAS Los Alamitos?

This was an Xmas request by a couple Hellcat fans (myself included) .... Best I start a new thread

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“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”