1,200-HP. 9-CYLINDER RADIAL ENGINES. IT CARRIES A CREW OF TEN FOUR
POWER-OPERATED GUN TURRETS, MOUNTS FROM TEN TO FOURTEEN .50-CALIBER
GUNS, AND CARRIES FOUR TONS OF BOMBS 1,500 MILES AT A SPEED OF 300 MILES
PER HOUR.]
[Illustration:
THE TWIN GUNNER OPERATES TWO .50-CALIBER MACHINE GUNS AND AN AËRIAL
CAMERA TO RECORD RESULTS OVER THE TARGET.
TWO-WAIST GUNNERS HANDLE .50-CALIBER GUNS, ONE IN EACH SIDE OF THE
FUSELAGE.
RADIOMAN HAS ONE .50-CALIBER GUN.
TOP TURRET GUNS SHOOT IN A CIRCLE AND OVERHEAD.
THE POWER-OPERATED BALL-TURRET, MOUNTING TWO .50-CALIBER MACHINE
GUNS, REVOLVES SO THAT THE GUNNER CAN SHOOT DOWNWARD, TO THE RIGHT,
LEFT, OR REAR.
BOMBARDIER HANDLES TWO .50-CALIBER GUNS IN THE SWINGING CHIN
TURRET.
PILOT AND CO-PILOT
1,200-HORSEPOWER, SUPERCHARGED, 9-CYLINDER WRIGHT _CYCLONE_ RADIAL
ENGINES.
NAVIGATOR HAS ONE FLEXIBLE .50-CALIBER GUN MOUNTED IN WINDOWS IN
EACH SIDE OF THE NOSE.]
By the summer of 1942 _Flying Fortresses_ had begun what was to be the
greatest sustained aërial invasion the world had ever known. Starting
with a small group of _Fortresses_, the United States Army Air Forces
went to work to wreck Adolf Hitler’s “Fortress Europe” and clear the
path for an Allied invasion.
From small raids by a dozen _Fortresses_ the number of bombers grew
until the raids became huge aërial invasions involving hundreds of
bombers and thousands of airmen. That the path for invasion was cleared
and victory brought nearer was due in no small measure to our big
bombers and the farsighted American airmen who had brought them into
being against almost insurmountable obstacles.
[Illustration: MARTIN B-26 _MARAUDER_ HIGH-SPEED, TWO-ENGINED, ARMY
MEDIUM BOMBER]
ARMY ATTACK AVIATION AND TRAINING
Although the airplane in World War I had been used mainly as an
observation and a plane-to-plane combat weapon, wise American airmen,
such as General “Billy” Mitchell, visualized the craft as a means of
destroying the enemy’s ability to fight. These men saw his weapons
destroyed as they were being built and his transport stopped before it
reached the battlefield. As the result of this thinking, our doctrine of
air power was established.
With this much accomplished, the need for various types of airplanes was
clearly defined. It called for three distinct types of warplanes: the
long-range bomber, the observation plane, and the pursuit plane. Air
strategy was built around the long-range bomber. This was the weapon
which would destroy the enemy’s war plants and military establishments
on his home grounds. The observation plane was to be used to seek out
the enemy’s movements and to locate his installations. As aërial
photography was perfected, the observation planes were to be equipped to
bring back a record of their findings. These records would establish the
targets for the long-range bombers. In the beginning, the pursuit plane
was considered a weapon to protect our own military establishments, our
cities, and our war plants. Its mission was to intercept any enemy
planes attempting to attack us.
On the preceding pages we have seen the bomber develop from a
single-engined DH-4 into the giant four-engined B-17. This development
was the result of the careful study of aërial strategy by our Army
airmen. When the big bombers with a range of thousands of miles were
built, our strategists saw them as weapons to be used only against an
enemy’s most distant military establishments. The smaller two-engined
bombers which had once been our long-range bombers
[Illustration: NORTH AMERICAN B-25 _MITCHELL_ TWO-ENGINED, ARMY MEDIUM
BOMBER
THE B-25 MOUNTS EITHER FOURTEEN .50-CALIBER MACHINE GUNS AND ONE
3-INCH CANNON OR EIGHTEEN .50-CALIBER GUNS, EIGHT OF THEM IN THE
NOSE.]
were delegated to the destruction of targets closer to the battlefronts.
In time, the use of the two-engine bomber led to the development of
attack aviation. This was built around very fast, two-engined planes
which could carry both bombs and guns. These medium bombers were to be
used to attack targets of medium range with both bombs and guns. They
were to be used to destroy enemy troops, transports, and gun
emplacements. In the few years of World War II, attack bombers were
developed from comparatively slow planes to ships with the speed of
fighters. They are capable of carrying more than a ton of bombs, and of
mounting cannon and as many as fifteen machine guns.
With the establishment of a definite policy of air strategy, plans were
worked out for the training of personnel to man and service our fighting
planes. The training plans set up in the early twenties are essentially
the same as those in effect at the present. The system consisted of two
training schools, Primary and Advanced. In the Primary School cadets
received their preliminary flight training and studied construction of
planes, radio, weather observation, and other technical problems
concerning flight. The qualities shown by the cadets in the primary
training helped to determine the branch of combat aviation for which
they were best fitted.
At the Advanced School, cadets were trained in larger and more powerful
airplanes and received instruction in gunnery, formation flying,
cross-country flying, and night flying. Graduates of the Advanced School
received their wings and, by joining tactical units, completed their
training as members of regular service squadrons. In 1928 all Army air
training activities were consolidated at one great training center at
San Antonio, Texas. This great headquarters for the training of United
States Army airmen was dedicated in June, 1930, as Randolph Field, in
memory of Captain William M. Randolph. Captain Randolph, a native of
Texas, had lost his life in an airplane crash a few years before. It was
fitting that the first great Army aviation training program was under
the direction of Brigadier General Frank P. Lahm, the Army’s pioneer
aviator.
[Illustration: CURTISS A-18 _FALCON_ THE ARMY’S FIRST TWO-ENGINED ATTACK
PLANE.
DOUGLAS A-20 _HAVOC_ FAST, DEADLY WORLD WAR II ARMY ATTACK PLANE.
DOUGLAS A-26 _INVADER_ THE ARMY’S 1945 ATTACK PLANE, THE FASTEST AND
DEADLIEST PLANE OF ITS CLASS IN THE WORLD.]
SUPER-FIGHTER
In the Pacific American fighters dropped down from 25,000 feet, screamed
across an enemy airfield, guns blasting, and indicators showing a speed
of over eight miles a minute. If the Japanese had not been “dug in,”
they probably would have been sucked into the planes’ airscoops. Later
one of the pilots expressed the sentiments of the entire raiding group
when he said, “It’s a wonderful feeling to watch that air speed
indicator climb. It makes you feel that nothing on this earth can catch
you.”
That pilot was talking about the North American P-51 _Mustang_. He was
not exaggerating when he made his remark, for there has been no fighter
in action that could equal its speed. In the _Mustang_ we see
streamlining at its best. Its in-line, liquid-cooled engine offers only
a very small frontal area and allows the _Mustang_ to have the narrow
fuselage of the fastest racing plane. This narrow fuselage and the
high-speed wing practically eliminate all drag that reduces speed. The
landing gear retracts completely into the fuselage and also eliminates
drag. Even the airscoop is placed far back under the fuselage where it
offers practically no resistance. The reduction of drag to a minimum
eliminates vibration to such an extent that the pilot of a _Mustang_
flies at terrific speeds with no ill effects.
[Illustration: THE P-51 MOUNTS SIX 4.5-INCH ROCKETS IN TUBES UNDER THE
WINGS FOR ATTACKS ON GROUND TARGETS.]
[Illustration: 1942-1945
WINGSPAN 37 FEET
LENGTH 32 FEET
THE NORTH AMERICAN P-51 _MUSTANG_ IS THE FASTEST AND DEADLIEST FIGHTER
PLANE THAT HAS YET BEEN IN ACTION IN WORLD WAR II.
POWER
ONE 12-CYLINDER 1,520-HP. V-TYPE ENGINE
THE P-51 IS POWERED WITH THE AMERICAN-BUILT, ROLLS-ROYCE _MERLIN_
ENGINE. IT IS AN IN-LINE, V-TYPE, 12-CYLINDER, LIQUID-COOLED,
SUPERCHARGED ENGINE.
SPEED
ONE HOUR
425+ MILES
THE _MUSTANG_ IS THE FASTEST GASOLINE-POWERED FIGHTER IN THE AIR TODAY.
RANGE
600+ MILES
WHILE THE NORMAL RANGE OF THE P-51 IS 600 MILES IT CAN BE EQUIPPED WITH
DROPPABLE AUXILIARY GASOLINE TANKS THAT INCREASE ITS RANGE TO 1,500
MILES FOR LONG-RANGE ESCORT MISSIONS.
CEILING
40,000+ FEET
IT IS CAPABLE OF FLYING AND FIGHTING AT ALTITUDE ABOVE EIGHT MILES IN
THE AIR. IT IS EQUALLY EFFECTIVE WHEN USED AS A FIGHTER-BOMBER AT LOW
ALTITUDES.
PAYLOAD
ONE PILOT, TWO
1,000-LB. BOMBS,
AND SIX .50-CALIBER GUNS.
THE P-51 _MUSTANG_ WAS DESIGNED AND DEVELOPED FROM A THOROUGH STUDY OF
AËRIAL WARFARE IN THE EARLY MONTHS OF WORLD WAR II. IN THE P-51 WE SEE
_DRAG_ REDUCED TO A MINIMUM AND STREAMLINING REACHING PERFECTION.
THEREIN LIES THE SECRET OF THE EIGHT-MILES-A-MINUTE SPEED OF THE P-51.]
[Illustration]
[Illustration:
BULLET-PROOF SEAT BACK
OXYGEN SUPPLY
FULL-VISION COCKPIT ENCLOSURE
1,520-HORSEPOWER V-TYPE ENGINE
FOUR-BLADED PROPELLER
SUPER-SPEED LAMINAR-FLOW WING
1,000-POUND BOMB UNDER EACH WING
THREE .50-CALIBER MACHINE GUNS IN EACH WING
AIR SCOOP FOR ENGINE COOLANT
SELF-SEALING SAFETY GAS TANKS]
The _Mustang_ was designed and built as the result of a careful study of
modern fighter tactics. It grew out of the need for high-speed,
high-altitude fighters to serve as escorts for our heavy bombers. As our
bomber attacks against Germany grew in strength, the Nazis in
desperation threw in hundreds of their fighters to hinder us. The
_Mustang_, with its tremendous speed and ability to fight at high
altitudes, proved a sensation as an escort fighter. Two _Mustang_ groups
alone have accounted for the destruction of almost two thousand Nazi
fighters. With a speed of over 425 miles per hour and capable of great
range, _Mustangs_ spelled doom to Nazi air power.
MAN-MADE _THUNDERBOLTS_ RIP WIDE A PATH TO VICTORY
The Republic P-4-7 _Thunderbolt_ was planned in 1940 as the result of
the Air Corps’ desire to strengthen our fighter squadrons. A study of
the Nazis’ use of crushing air power in their attacks on Western Europe
hastened our plans to build heavier and more powerful fighters.
At one of the Air Corps meetings with aircraft manufacturers at Wright
Field in 1940, Alexander Kartveli sketched on the back of an envelope an
idea for a super-fighter. Eight months later his idea had grown into the
fastest and most powerful fighter ever built in this country.
Alexander Kartveli was chief engineer for Republic Aviation
Corporation. His sketches were developed by his firm to produce the
six-and-one-half-ton, 400-mile-an-hour P-47 fighter. The P-47 was the
answer to the Army’s demands for a big, powerfully armed fighter which
could out-fly and out-fight any warplane put into the skies by an enemy.
More than 10,000 _Thunderbolts_ have been built since 1940 and they have
taken a terrific toll of Axis planes, both in Europe and in the Pacific.
Pilots of one group of _Thunderbolts_ that operated in the Pacific shot
down Jap planes at the rate of 52 to 1.
[Illustration: THE NEW P-47N, A TEN-TON FIGHTER CAPABLE OF STAYING ALOFT
FOR 16 HOURS.]
[Illustration: 1941-1945
WINGSPAN 40 FT. 9 IN.
LENGTH 36 FT. 1 IN.
WEIGHING SIX AND ONE-HALF TONS, THE REPUBLIC P-47 _THUNDERBOLT_ FIGHTER
IS EQUALLY DEADLY AT HIGH OR LOW ALTITUDES.
POWER
ONE 18-CYLINDER 2,000-HP. RADIAL ENGINE.
THE GIANT PRATT & WHITNEY RADIAL ENGINE IS ONE OF THE LARGEST AND MOST
POWERFUL IN THE WORLD AND IS SUPERCHARGED FOR HIGH-ALTITUDE FLIGHT.
SPEED
ONE MILE
400+ MILES
CAPABLE OF A SPEED IN EXCESS OF 400 MILES PER HOUR, THE _THUNDERBOLT_ IS
THE U.S. ARMY’S HEAVIEST AND MOST POWERFULLY ARMED SINGLE-ENGINED
FIGHTER.
RANGE
600+ MILES
CEILING
40,000+ FEET
PAYLOAD
ONE PILOT. TWO
1,000-LB. BOMBS.
EIGHT .50-CALIBER GUNS.
ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR HIGH-ALTITUDE BOMBER-ESCORT MISSIONS, THE
_THUNDERBOLT_ HAS PROVED TO BE EXCEPTIONALLY WELL SUITED FOR
FIGHTER-BOMBER ATTACK MISSIONS. IT MOUNTS EIGHT .50-CALIBER MACHINE GUNS
AND CAN CARRY HEAVY BOMBS AND ROCKET GUNS UNDER ITS WINGS.
THE PRODUCTION OF THE GIANT P-47 WAS MADE POSSIBLE ONLY AS THE RESULT OF
THE SUCCESSFUL EFFORTS OF AMERICAN ENGINEERS TO REDUCE THE WEIGHT PER
HORSEPOWER OF AIRCRAFT ENGINES. MODERN ENGINES, LIKE THE ONE THAT POWERS
THE P-47, WEIGH ABOUT ONE POUND PER HORSEPOWER.]
[Illustration]
The Republic P-47 _Thunderbolt_ proved to be one of the most versatile
airplanes developed in this war. It performs equally well at high or low
altitudes. Armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, it is a
hard-hitting escort fighter which can out-fight any plane sent up to
hinder our big bombers. When used for ground strafing it has no
superior. With two 1000-pound bombs tucked under its wings it becomes a
deadly dive-bomber. Armed with rocket tubes and its eight big machine
guns blazing, it can blast enemy tanks, transport, and gun emplacements
effectively.
SUPERFORTRESS
The first giant _Flying Fortress_ had hardly taken off from the Boeing
factory at Seattle, in 1935, before its engineers began to think about
bigger and faster super-bombers. As the new _Fortresses_ shattered
records for speed, pay load, distance, and altitude, farsighted Air
Corps leaders also began to think about more powerful super-bombers.
By 1937 the brains and labor of Boeing engineers and production men
created the first of the super-bombers. It was the giant Boeing XB-15
and it actually dwarfed the _Flying Fortress_. With a gross weight of 35
tons, 13 tons more than the _Fortress_, the XB-15 was 20 feet longer, 3
feet higher, and had a wingspan 45 feet greater. Its general appearance,
however, was patterned after the _Fortress_. Only one XB-15 was built.
It was used for experimental purposes by the Air Corps, and the Boeing
Company went ahead to build the high-altitude _Stratoliner_ and the big
_Clipper_ planes for civilian use.
Thus it was that even before the Nazis swept into Poland in 1939 the Air
Corps had been thinking of an airplane that would dwarf the _Flying
Fortress_. Size alone was not enough. General Arnold and his associates
wanted an airplane which would carry a heavier bomb load farther,
faster, and higher than ever before.
Few people aside from the Army knew of the XB-15, and the development of
the super-bomber was one of the best kept secrets in history. One of the
greatest surprises of the war was the War Department’s announcement on
June 15, 1944: “B-29 _Superfortresses_ of the United States Army Air
Forces’ 20th Bomber Command bombed Japan.”
Just one year after the announcement of the first _Superfortress_ attack
on Japan, five hundred of these giant ships took part in a single raid
against targets on the Japanese mainland. In groups of four and five
hundred they blasted Japan almost daily. _Superfortresses_ bombed Japan
to her knees in the spring and summer of 1945. Then in August of that
year a lone _Superfortress_ dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on
Hiroshima for the knockout blow that brought us victory.
[Illustration: 1944-1945
WINGSPAN 140 FEET
LENGTH 98 FEET
THE BOEING B-29 _SUPERFORTRESS_ IS THE WORLD’S FASTEST AND LARGEST
BOMBER.
POWER
FOUR 18-CYLINDER 2,200-HP. RADIAL ENGINES
THE GIANT AIR-COOLED WRIGHT _CYCLONE_ ENGINES WHIRL GREAT, FOUR-BLADED
PROPELLERS WITH A DIAMETER OF 16FT. 6IN.
SPEED
ONE HOUR
300+ MILES
THE POWERFUL ENGINES AND GREAT PROPELLERS PULL THE HUGE B-29 THROUGH THE
AIR AT A SPEED GREATER THAN THAT ATTAINED BY FIGHTERS AT THE START OF
WORLD WAR II.
RANGE
3,000+ MILES
CEILING
40,000+ FEET
ITS LONG, STREAMLINED FUSELAGE HOUSES PRESSURIZED COMPARTMENTS THAT
ALLOW THE _SUPERFORTRESS_ TO FLY AT ALTITUDES OF MORE THAN 40,000 FEET
WITHOUT THE USE OF OXYGEN BY THE CREW MEMBERS.
PAYLOAD
ELEVEN-MAN CREW
SEVEN TONS OF BOMBS
FOURTEEN .50-CAL. GUNS
ONE 20-MM. CANNON
REMOTE GUN CONTROL GIVE THE B-29 MORE ACCURATE DEFENSIVE FIREPOWER AND
ITS GREAT LOAD-CARRYING ABILITY MAKES THE _SUPERFORTRESS_ THE MOST
FORMIDABLE BOMBER NOW IN ACTION.
THE B-29 REPRESENTS MORE THAN TEN YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN DEVELOPING
LONG-RANGE, HEAVY-LOAD-CARRYING AIRPLANES BY THE BOEING COMPANY. THE
SUCCESS OF THE B-17, THE _CLIPPER_, AND THE _STRATOLINER_ DEMONSTRATED
THE POSSIBILITIES OF A HIGHLY STREAMLINED, FAST HIGH-ALTITUDE
SUPER-BOMBER LIKE THE B-29.]
[Illustration]
Half again as large as the _Flying Fortress_, the _Superfortress_
carries twice the load of the _Fortress_. It has a wingspan of 141 feet
and its highly streamlined fuselage is 98 feet long. Powered with the
largest engines yet in service, it has a speed far in excess of 300
miles per hour. The pressurized cabin of the B-29 permits its crew to
fly without the use of heated suits or oxygen masks at substratosphere
altitudes. In military terms this means better physical condition, more
skilful gunnery, more accurate bombing, and more comfort for the crews.
In the _Superfortress_ we see great ideas, born years ago in the minds
of our airmen, come into being with overwhelming and disastrous effects
on our enemies throughout the Pacific.
[Illustration: VOUGHT F4U _CORSAIR_ NAVY FIGHTER]
NAVAL AVIATION IN THE EARLY MONTHS OF WORLD WAR II
Just as the United States was approaching the brink of war, the Navy air
arm owned only about a thousand airplanes of all types. The young Navy
airmen who had perfected dive-bombing had seen their invention adopted
by the Nazis and used with deadly effect in their march across Western
Europe. In the year before Pearl Harbor the Navy had acquired only a few
hundred new airplanes. We did have, however, a group of young men who
had been living and breathing aviation for the past fifteen years. They
knew what was needed in the way of new fighting planes and they knew how
to train thousands of new naval aviators when the time came. But it took
the tremendous sweeps of the Nazis in Europe and the shadow of Japan
across the Pacific to unloose the flood of fighting planes which was to
give the United States Navy the greatest aërial fighting force ever
launched.
At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor we had seven carriers,
including our first big ones, the _Lexington_ and the _Saratoga_. The
Grumman F4F _Wildcat_ was our standard carrier-based fighter. We had a
small number of TBD _Devastator_ torpedo planes and SDB _Dauntless_
dive-bombers. Our battleships and cruisers were equipped with Vought
OS2U _Kingfisher_ and Curtis SO3C _Seagull_ observation scout planes
launched from the ships’ catapults. The Navy was fairly well equipped
with PBY _Catalina_ long-range patrol bombers. But in the engineering
offices of aircraft manufacturers, new and more powerful fighters,
bombers, and patrol planes were being planned.
[Illustration: MARTIN PBM _MARINER_ NAVY PATROL BOMBER AND TRANSPORT
PLANE.]
When Japan struck we had eleven aircraft carriers under construction,
and two thousand new planes went into service for the Navy. Great
training stations were being put into service to increase the Navy’s
flying personnel to over 15,000 men.
A new patrol bomber, the long-range Martin PBM-1 _Mariner_, went into
service for the Navy in 1941. It had a wingspan of 118 feet and a length
of 77 feet 2 inches. It was powerfully armed and carried a heavy load of
bombs. It was capable of long range and was able to carry out extensive
over-ocean patrols without returning to its base. Ample living
accommodations were provided for its eleven-man crew. In addition to its
duties as an anti-submarine patrol and long-range bomber, the _Mariner_
was used as a Navy transport.
The Vought F4U-1 _Corsair_ fighters began to go into service in the
Pacific soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The _Corsair_ was a
single-place fighter of unusual design. Its wing had the shape of an
inverted gull wing. This design allowed clearance for the _Corsair’s_
13-foot, 4-inch propeller. A straight wing would have needed a
dangerously high landing gear to provide clearance for such a large
propeller. Originally designed for carrier use, the 2,000-horsepower,
400-mile-an-hour _Corsair_ was adopted for land-based operations by the
United States Marine Corps. Marine Corps aviators used the _Corsair_
with deadly effect against the Japs from Guadalcanal on. Navy pilots
flew the _Corsair_ as a night-fighter to put a stop to the Jap’s habit
of bombing our Pacific airfields at night.
[Illustration: VOUGHT OS2U _KINGFISHER_ OBSERVATION SCOUT PLANE.]
The Navy’s newest torpedo plane, the Grumman TBF _Avenger_, first
appeared in the battle off Midway. The big _Avenger_ had a speed of 270
miles per hour, a range of 1,400 miles, and carried a 2,000-pound bomb
load or a full-sized torpedo concealed in its fuselage. The famous
Torpedo Squadron 8, in fourteen weeks sank as many Jap warships
including two aircraft carriers and one battleship; bombed one heavy
cruiser, one light cruiser, and a number of smaller ships.
_Avengers_ helped to pave the way for the establishment of bases in the
Pacific. _Corsairs_, used as the Navy’s first night-fighters, broke up
Japanese night bombings of the newly won island bases and allowed our
hard-worked men to rest at night.
[Illustration: GRUMMAN TBF _AVENGER_ NAVY TORPEDO PLANE]
THE U. S. NAVY’S DEADLIEST FIGHTER PLANE
In the months following Pearl Harbor the tough little Grumman F4F
_Wildcat_ was ever in the thick of the fight in the Pacific. Based on
the few carriers available for use against the Japs, the _Wildcats_
outfought overwhelming numbers of enemy warplanes. Over the Marshall
Islands in February, 1942, _Wildcat_ fighters bagged ten Jap fighters
and three bombers without any American losses. At Wake Island, a lone
_Wildcat_, manned by a Marine, bombed a Jap cruiser to the bottom.
Lieutenant Commander Edward (“Butch”) O’Hare was flying a _Wildcat_ when
he brought down six Jap bombers singlehanded in a few minutes. Such
incidents were typical of _Wildcat_ action in the first year of the war.
When President Roosevelt presented the Congressional Medal of Honor to
“Butch” O’Hare, he asked him what kind of fighter was needed to beat the
Japs. O’Hare replied, “Something that will go upstairs faster.”
Commander John Thatch, master Navy combat technician, had told Grumman
officials the same thing, and had added a request for more speed in
general. Not many months later, the roar of a 2,000-horsepower echoed
over Long Island, New York, and a new Grumman fighter began to “go
upstairs faster.”
The new fighter that answered the Navy pilots’ demand for more speed and
more power was the Grumman F6F _Hellcat_. Much larger than its baby
brother the _Wildcat_, the _Hellcat_ was powered with an
eighteen-cylinder Pratt & Whitney radial engine. The big radial
developed over 2,000 horsepower and put the _Hellcat_ in the
400-mile-an-hour class. It proved to be one of the most maneuverable
fighters in the world and could climb like a skyrocket. The cockpit
housed atop the big fuselage at its highest point gave pilots excellent
visibility to train the _Hellcat’s_ six .50-caliber guns on the enemy.
[Illustration: 1943-1945
WINGSPAN 42 FEET
LENGTH 33 FEET
THE GRUMMAN F6F _HELLCAT_ IS THE FASTEST, MOST POWERFUL FIGHTER NOW
BASED ON U.S. NAVY AIRCRAFT CARRIERS.
POWER
ONE 18-CYLINDER
2,000-HP. RADIAL ENGINE
THE MASSIVE, PRATT & WHITNEY RADIAL ENGINE DEVELOPS MORE THAN THREE
TIMES THE HORSEPOWER OF THE FIRST GRUMMAN FIGHTER, THE FF-1 OF 1935.
SPEED
ONE HOUR
400 MILES
RANGE
1,000+ MILES
CEILING
30,000+ FEET
PAYLOAD
ONE PILOT, SIX
.50-CAL. GUNS
AND EIGHT ROCKETS.
THE F6F _HELLCAT’S_ POWERFUL SUPERCHARGED ENGINE WHIRLS A THREE-BLADED
PROPELLER. THE DIAMETER OF THE PROPELLER IS WELL OVER TWELVE FEET.
HIGHLY MANEUVERABLE, THE F6F, WITH ITS 400-MILE-AN-HOUR SPEED, IS MORE
THAN A MATCH FOR THE JAPANESE _ZERO_. IT CAN “GO UPSTAIRS FASTER” THAN
ANY OTHER CARRIER-BASED FIGHTER IN ACTION IN 1945. IN ADDITION TO
MACHINE GUNS, THE _HELLCAT_ CAN CARRY ROCKETS UNDER ITS WINGS FOR
LOW-ALTITUDE STRAFING ATTACKS.