- Yes
- No
Hello and welcome to my suggestion for the Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat, also known as the Gannet, in FAA service, This, like my corsair suggestions is the first in a series of three suggestions in which I will suggest the British Hellcat variants not yet in game. I feel these could come to game to bring proper fighters to the 3.0-5.0 gap in the UK tech tree and bring one of the backbones of the FAA into the spotlight.
As with my corsair Mk.I suggestion, the great @Nostalgistic has already suggested this Hellcat variant for the US section and I suggest you read his suggestion for more info on the F6F-3 in US service.
History
Spoiler
In the early stages of WW2, the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm (FAA) was in a bit of a predicament, almost all of its fighters were obsolete at the start of the war, ranging from the Obsolete Biplanes like the Fairey Swordfish and Gloster Sea Gladiator, to the Just as Obsolete Monoplanes like the Blackburn Skua. This lead to the FAA scrambling for newer aircraft and hurriedly converted many land based fighters, such as the Hurricane or Spitfire, to naval aircraft, however these aircraft suffered from not being designed for the Endurance and stress needed to operate from Aircraft carriers, and so the FAA began looking for foreign designs.
The FAA Began to receive its first Hellcats in April 1943, receiving 252 F6F-3 Variants, initially dubbed the Gannet Mk.I following the FAAs tradition of naming its fighters after seabirds, such as the Skua and Fulmar. Unlike the Gannets Vought counterpart, the F4U Corsair, the Hellcat was ready for carrier service straight away and did not require any modifications such as clipping of the wings to facilitate operations from the RNs carriers.
The Gannet name stuck for a while, however in by the start of 1944, the Gannets were renamed the Hellcat due to simplicity and to reduce confusion across the UK and US troops, The Hellcat Mk.I served across a variety of fronts with the FAA, including with the British Pacific fleet, the Mediterranean and off the coast of Norway protecting convoys transporting essential cargo to the Soviet Union.
Compared to their US counterparts, the Hellcats saw less action over the skies of europe, due to their main role being convoy protection, this lead to comparatively less aerial victories of only 52 aerial kills between May 1944 and June 1945, although more than half of those kills go to a single squadron, 1844 Naval Air Squadron of HMS Indomitable gained 32.5 Kills during its time with the British Pacific Fleet.
Images
Spoiler
One of the early hellcats to be given to the FAA, in the US, 1944
Several Hellcat Mk.Is flying in formation
A Hellcat Mk.I at RAF wittering
Several Camouflage options the Hellcat could receive
A Hellcat Mk.I Catching the wire as it lands on its carrier
A Line of several Hellcat Mk.Is and Mk.IIs
Specs/armament
Spoiler
General Characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Powerplant: Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp R-2800-10 (2000 hp)
- Length: 33ft 7in
- Height: 14ft 5in
- Span: 42ft 10in
- Wing Area: 334 ft²
- Empty Weight: 9,042 lb
- Loaded Weight: 11,381 lb
- Gross Weight: 15,412 lb
- Internal Fuel: 250 US gal
Performance
- Maximum Speed: 376 mph at 23,400 feet
- Max Rate of Climb: 3,240 fpm
*Rate of climb (11,400 lbs): 2,260 fpm - Service Ceiling: 37,300 feet
- Range: 1,090 miles
Armament
Guns
- 6 x 12.7mm Machine guns (400rpg)
bombs (Max bombload: 2000lbs):
-
1x 500/ 1000 lbs bomb under fuselage
-
1 x 500/1000 lbs bomb under each wing
Place in game
Spoiler
I feel this would be a good contender for a 3.0/3.3 Multi role fighter for the British tree, it would be marginally worse than the Hellcat Mk.II primarily because of its air cooled engine giving worse cooling performance, as well as its less diverse bomb load, however it would be a good TT alternative to the Hellcat Mk.II that is already in game as a Premium
Sources
