Hellcat and Sea Fury restorations

[LegendaryWings]

Hello everyone! This is my first post! (From a long time lurker)

Does anyone know the current status of F6F-3 Hellcat 08825 (N4965V) (being restored by Vintage Airframes in Caldwell, Idaho for Allied Fighters) and Sea Furies WG599 (G-SEAF) and VZ345 (G-VZSF) (both being restored at Chino for the Fighter Collection at Duxford)?

[Jack Cook]

08825 is about 60% completed and will be the ''Dottie Mae'' of Hellcats when finished.

[Jim MacDonald]

Good to see that you're still alive & kicking, Jack.

Does anybody know if there is a website featuring the Hellcat's restoration?

Thanks,

Mac

[LegendaryWings]

08825 is about 60% completed and will be the ''Dottie Mae'' of Hellcats when finished.

When do you expect 08825 to be completed?

[LegendaryWings]

Does anybody know if there is a website featuring the Hellcat's restoration?

As far as I know, there isn’t a website featuring this Hellcat’s restoration, and that is why I asked about its status.

[Jim MacDonald]

Thanks for the info, Tom. I looked & couldn't find any either. I was hoping somebody had the inside dope & might know where a site was hiding out.

Mac

[DH82EH]

08825 is about 60% completed and will be the ''Dottie Mae'' of Hellcats when finished.

When do you expect 08825 to be completed?

I seem to recall, that somebody somewhere, said "Tuesday". So....

[JohnB]

Speaking of Hellcats...

Does anyone know if there are any/many Hellcat airframes available for restoration?

With Spitfires and Mustangs, there is an industry building new assemblies, plus both types had substantial international use, so there were always airframes, or parts thereof, popping up.

So, aside from someone with deep pockets doing a dataplate rebuild, what are the prospects for more flying Hellcats in the future?

[Dan Jones]

What’s the current story with #70185?

[Matt Gunsch]

08825 is about 60% completed and will be the ''Dottie Mae'' of Hellcats when finished.

When do you expect 08825 to be completed?

I seem to recall, that somebody somewhere, said "Tuesday". So....

It's Thursday

[Matt Gunsch]

d2525d3b15321895867f8456d61be155.jpg (22.13 KiB) Viewed 2337 times

Last edited by Matt Gunsch on Tue Jun 27, 2023 4:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Warbirdnerd]

Anyone know who ended up with the stash of Hellcat drone wreckage that has bounced around for years?
I think at one point they were part of the Jim Frye/ NPA Holdings collection of Corsair/P-38/etc wreckage.

[JohnTerrell]

There are 7 Hellcat wrecks/identities registered to Artemis Aviation (Jeff Thomas), which a couple years ago the magazine Aeroplane listed six of those as being under restoration to airworthy. All of them are ex-Uruguayan Navy and ex-French Navy. There have been a number of statements that indicate that Vintage Airframes is working on the airworthy restorations/rebuilds of as many as 4-5 Hellcats over the past few years, not just BuNo.08825.

[Jack Cook]

There are 7 Hellcat wrecks/identities registered to Artemis Aviation (Jeff Thomas), which a couple years ago the magazine Aeroplane listed six of those as being under restoration to airworthy. All of them are ex-Uruguayan Navy and ex-French Navy. There have been a number of statements that indicate that Vintage Airframes is working on the airworthy restorations/rebuilds of as many as 4-5 Hellcats over the past few years, not just BuNo.08825.

3

[JohnB]

That is welcome news.

For all its military success, the F6F is woefully underrepresented in the warbird community.

They are rare, I was surprised to see the static example at Andrews AFB in the late '90s.

I wonder what is the condition of the projects from overseas?