Product Description

Largely responsible for crushing Japanese airpower wherever the American fast carrier force sailed, the Grumman F6F Hellcat was considered the most important Allied aircraft in the Pacific during 1943 and 1944. Designed for speed, range, and climb to compete with Japan's exceptional Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it succeeded not only in engaging the "Zeke" on equal terms but also in dictating the rules of combat. Fighters in every sense of the word, the Hellcats were credited with destroying more than five thousand Japanese aircraft, gaining outright air supremacy over the invasion beaches, and helping ensure Allied amphibious victories in the Central Pacific. Aviation historian Barrett Tillman presents the full story of the fighter plane--the men who built and tested it, the squadrons that flew it, and the heroes it created. Heavily illustrated with photographs from the pilots' own collections, this spirited, carefully documented operational history is an absolute must for anyone interested in aviation history. It is now available for the first time in paperback.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #375608 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 265 pages

About the Author
Barrett Tillman has also written books on the Corsair, Crusader, and Dauntless Dive bomber.

Customer Reviews

Typical Tillman; beautiful detailed, but exciting and human.
The Hellcat; my favorite of all 14 operational Naval aircraft I've flown, including others from "Grumman Iron Works". Mr. Tillman put this old flyer back in that F6F-5 cockpit again. I could smell it, hear it and almost touch that most wonderful of warbirds I've ever had the privilege to fly. I found people in there, who loved it as I did then and still do, that I can identify with; and even some I knew or knew of. The author is a master of drawing the reader into the accounts of those beautiful/horrible days of war in the air, where skill, luck and above all leadership and teamwork were the norms. Mr. Tillman is not new to the Hellcat. Other works of his about the Hellcat are equally satisfying, and his collaboration with one of Naval Aviation's primo photographers, Bob Lawson, gives incredible depth to his writings. I sincerely hope that Mr. Tillman will continue to bring this and other legendary Naval aircraft to their place in history they so richly deserve.

Well Done
I enjoyed Hellcat by Barrett Tillman but then I'm biased; the Grumman F6F Hellcat has always been one of my favorite planes. The first chapter of the book covers the Hellcat's history, from conception, to manufacturer, introduction to the fleet, and after the war. It's very well done. The remainder of the book covers the Hellcat's combat history in chronological order. The author apparently reviewed every combat report involving Hellcats. I must confirm what other reviewers have noted: that reading every combat engagement involving Hellcats can get tedious at times. Persevering through the material did reveal that Hellcats were frequently outnumbered in dogfights, and that they encountered skilled Japanese pilots, even late in the war. The book also addresses areas that don't get a lot of visibility: Hellcat night fighting and operations in the European theatre. I'd have like to see the book compare the Hellcat to the other great fighters of World War II. But all in all, the book effectively tells the story of the U.S. Navy's primary WWII fighter that performed superbly its assigned task.

The Hellcat was not the most glamorous fighter of World War II. It wasn't the fastest, or the most maneuverable. Visibility wasn't the greatest. If you could choose any World War II fighter to go dogfight with, you would probably pick the Mustang, Spitfire or FW-190 over the Hellcat. That said, the F6F Hellcat was the perfect airplane for the U.S. Navy operating off aircraft carriers in World War II fighting the Japanese. The Hellcat had all the things carrier aviators like: long range, easy to land on the boat, rugged, a powerful, reliable engine, easy to maintain with a high availability rate and the ability to carry lots of ordnance. That its pilots loved it says it all.

Performance-wise, the Hellcat was markedly superior to its primary opponent, the Zero. In aerial combat, speed is life, and the Hellcat was significantly faster than the Zero in both level flight and a dive, and could match it in a climb. The Hellcat had plenty of firepower - six 50 caliber machine guns -- more than enough to take apart the flimsy Japanese fighters and bombers. On the other hand, with armor plating for the pilot and self-sealing fuel tanks, the Hellcat could take punishment from a Zero and keep on flying or at least give its pilot a chance to bail out and live. Unlike the Zero, the Hellcat had a radio that worked - a huge advantage that rarely is mentioned. About the only thing the Zero had over the Hellcat was turn rate in the lower speed range. The Zero was not competitive against the Hellcat, given equal pilot skills.

The above factors explain the great Hellcat air-to-air kill-ratio of 19 to 1: 5,163 downed Japanese aircraft verses 270 Hellcats shot down. In comparison, P-38s shot down 1,700 Japanese aircraft in the Pacific. Armed with Hellcats, U.S. Carrier Task Forces loitered off Japanese strongholds and destroyed all Japanese aircraft there - either in the sky or on the ground. The Japanese simply had no answer for it.

Invaluable source for fans of the F6F!
An authoritative look at the F6F (my favorite piece of American iron). Tillman covers the history of the Hellcat from inception to a list of F6Fs still flying. Richly documented containing specifications on all models and illustrated with combat reports. "Hellcat" is at the same time both readable adventure and invaluable reference tool. "WWII Aviation Booklist"(...)