The museum received this Hellcat in the spring of 1979. It was the Air Zoo’s second, full-scale, restoration project. It won EAA Grand Champion Warbird of 1981.
Grumman F6F-5
Hellcat
The Grumman F6F Hellcat was superior to the Japanese Zero in virtually every way save for rate of turn at low speed. The Hellcat was the platform upon which Naval aviators swept the skies of enemy air power during 1943-1945. Flown by capable aviators, among them the Navy's leading fighter ace with 34 kills, F6Fs shot down 5,216 Axis aircraft in 24 months and compiled an enviable kill ratio of 19:1.