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Description
The Grumman F6F Hellcat was the US Navy's answer to the superb Japanese A6M Zero during WWII. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney, 2000 HP radial engine and armed with 6 .50 cal machine guns, the Hellcat was all muscle. Flown from aircraft carriers, the type quickly proved dominant in the Pacific over it's Japanese counterparts. Racking up an impressive 19:1 kill ratio, the Hellcat became known as "the Ace Maker". This print depicts the Navy's all time leading ace, David McCampbell. "Minsi III" was an F6F-5 Hellcat David McCampbell flew in which he scored the last 23-1/2 of his 34 victories.
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© 2012 - 2024 markkarvon
Comments95
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Beautiful work. I love how you've so eloquently conveyed the simplicity and clean lines of this plane. Your cloud work is incredible too. You've captured perfectly that white haze which develops visually across the sky at altitude and distance. Near perfectly in fact.
Most people are entirely enamored with the Corsair, probably because of it's unorthodox, sexy looks but the Hellcat is decidedly the bird that won the air war in the Pacific and it's great to see such an incredible rendering of one.
During the second World War, my father (Ens. Bohumil Koloc Jr) flew an F6F of VF-32 from the decks of the USS Cabot (CVL28) during the second World War. His career as a Naval Aviator would eventually encompass 30 years and 63,000 flight hours in an ever unfolding array of Naval aircraft, including attack sorties in Corsairs (Korea) while aboard the USS Bataan. The Hellcat was (hands down) his favorite aircraft to fly in combat. People have no idea what kind of danger lies in all the extraneous thinking which exists in the fast paced environment of fighter action. He heralded the Hellcat as an uncomplicated, straightforward and 'kind' airplane to fly in combat and credited these characteristics with having saved his life and the lives of squadron mates. His sentiments were that while the Corsair boasted slightly more power (speed & rate of climb) it was an entirely too 'busy' plane to fly in fleet combat operations for the average aviator. If it weren't, it undoubtedly would have been an "Ace Maker' instead of the 'Cadet Killer' many Naval Flight Instructors came to call it.
He had a few tricks to increase the Hellcat's performance and his chances of survival. He spent a fair amount of time between CAPs on the hanger deck with his Grumman, applying shoe wax onto non-flush rivets and fasteners which he sculpted into teardrop shaped filets to decrease drag. Also, before missions, he'd ask aircraft handlers to lift and shake the tail of his Hellcat at the end of fueling his drop tank. Changing the angle of it afforded it a few extra pounds of fuel. 'Just in case' he said. More recently, during his retirement to Florida, I learned of his near phobic level of fear of sharks and have since wondered if this is something he somehow brought from his Iowa farm upbringing to the Pacific or was a result of events, (rumored or witnessed) while floating on or flying above it.
As for the Wildcat, throughout my dad's preliminary classwork and primary flight training (Stearmans), his one goal was to qualify to fly Navy fighters. He thoroughly believed if he achieved that aim, he would be in an F4F Wildcat. His preoccupation with this is evident along the margins of his classroom paperwork (of which there is plenty). It's covered with sketches of Wildcats. Not only did he qualify for fighters but to his delight, was assigned to a squadron flying some of the first Hellcats to see carrier service combat. He did however warn of the pitfalls of arm-wrestling any ex-Wildcat pilots aboard ship. It seems the endless cranking up and down of the landing gear in those things does unnatural things to young mans arm muscles.
Thanks again for sharing your wonderful work Mark. It helps keep an important part of our world history in focus, respected and understood.
David D Koloc (Dadenko)
Most people are entirely enamored with the Corsair, probably because of it's unorthodox, sexy looks but the Hellcat is decidedly the bird that won the air war in the Pacific and it's great to see such an incredible rendering of one.
During the second World War, my father (Ens. Bohumil Koloc Jr) flew an F6F of VF-32 from the decks of the USS Cabot (CVL28) during the second World War. His career as a Naval Aviator would eventually encompass 30 years and 63,000 flight hours in an ever unfolding array of Naval aircraft, including attack sorties in Corsairs (Korea) while aboard the USS Bataan. The Hellcat was (hands down) his favorite aircraft to fly in combat. People have no idea what kind of danger lies in all the extraneous thinking which exists in the fast paced environment of fighter action. He heralded the Hellcat as an uncomplicated, straightforward and 'kind' airplane to fly in combat and credited these characteristics with having saved his life and the lives of squadron mates. His sentiments were that while the Corsair boasted slightly more power (speed & rate of climb) it was an entirely too 'busy' plane to fly in fleet combat operations for the average aviator. If it weren't, it undoubtedly would have been an "Ace Maker' instead of the 'Cadet Killer' many Naval Flight Instructors came to call it.
He had a few tricks to increase the Hellcat's performance and his chances of survival. He spent a fair amount of time between CAPs on the hanger deck with his Grumman, applying shoe wax onto non-flush rivets and fasteners which he sculpted into teardrop shaped filets to decrease drag. Also, before missions, he'd ask aircraft handlers to lift and shake the tail of his Hellcat at the end of fueling his drop tank. Changing the angle of it afforded it a few extra pounds of fuel. 'Just in case' he said. More recently, during his retirement to Florida, I learned of his near phobic level of fear of sharks and have since wondered if this is something he somehow brought from his Iowa farm upbringing to the Pacific or was a result of events, (rumored or witnessed) while floating on or flying above it.
As for the Wildcat, throughout my dad's preliminary classwork and primary flight training (Stearmans), his one goal was to qualify to fly Navy fighters. He thoroughly believed if he achieved that aim, he would be in an F4F Wildcat. His preoccupation with this is evident along the margins of his classroom paperwork (of which there is plenty). It's covered with sketches of Wildcats. Not only did he qualify for fighters but to his delight, was assigned to a squadron flying some of the first Hellcats to see carrier service combat. He did however warn of the pitfalls of arm-wrestling any ex-Wildcat pilots aboard ship. It seems the endless cranking up and down of the landing gear in those things does unnatural things to young mans arm muscles.
Thanks again for sharing your wonderful work Mark. It helps keep an important part of our world history in focus, respected and understood.
David D Koloc (Dadenko)