The word “hellcat” brings to mind a beast of a particularly ferocious temperament. In an aviation context, this is a good thing, especially when the fury is unleashed in support of the Allied cause in the Pacific Theatre of WWII. It was the F6F Hellcat fighter plane that finally gave U.S. Navy aviators the upper hand against Imperial Japan’s Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter, which had been the terror of the skies in the first years of the Pacific conflict.

Let’s take a closer look at our heroic F6F Hellcat.

Making the F6F Hellcat

The Grumman F6F Hellcat made her maiden flight on June 26, 1942, and was officially introduced into service with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps the following year. The F6F was the direct descendant of Grumman’s F4F Wildcat, which, though technically inferior to the Zero, doggedly held the line in important naval engagements such as the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway.

The Wildcat produced its fair share of aces, including John Thach of “Thach Weave” fame and Joe Foss. Later down the road, Grumman – now known as Northrop Grumman – would continue the proud naming tradition of feline fighter planes in the guise of the F8F Bearcat and F-14 Tomcat.

The Hellcat’s superiority over the Zero expressed itself in three crucial categories: a maximum airspeed of 376 miles per hour at 23,400 feet vs. 350 mph at 20,000 feet; a service ceiling of 37,300 feet vs. 33,000 feet; and superior durability. The American warbird had armor and self-sealing fuel tanks that could absorb heavy punishment. The Zero lacked such protection and tended to light up like a tinderbox when hit with a solid burst of machine gun fire.