One Hell of a Cat |
Grumman XF6F-7? Hellcat
In 1944 Grumman modified two airframes (70188 and 70913) to handle the P&W R2800-18W engine with a four bladed Hamilton Standard propeller. 70188 first flew on July 6th, 1944 and 70913 on August 30th, 1944, both by the same test pilot, P. Gallo. A top speed of 417 mph was reached, making this pair the fastest of all Hellcats. Plans for mass production by Grumman were cancelled by the Navy in August 1945 when VJ Day arrived.
General characteristics: (F6F-5) Crew: 1,Length: 33 ft 7 in (10.24 m), Wingspan: 42 ft 10 in (13.06 m), Height: 13 ft 1 in (3.99 m), Wing area: 334 ft² (31 m²), Airfoil: NACA 23015.6 mod root; NACA 23009 tip, Empty weight: 9,238 lb (4,190 kg), Loaded weight: 12,598 lb (5,714 kg), Max takeoff weight: 15,415 lb (6,990 kg), Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney R-2800-10W "Double Wasp" two-row radial engine with a two-speed two-stage supercharger, 2,000 hp (1,491 kW), Propellers: 3-blade Hamilton Standard,, Propeller diameter: 13 ft 1 in (4.0 m), Fuel capacity: 250 U.S. gal (946 L) internal; up to 3x 150 U.S. gal (568 L) external drop tanks, Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0211, Drag area: 7.05 ft² (0.65 m²), Aspect ratio: 5.5. Performance: Maximum speed: 330 knots (380 mph, 610 km/h), Stall speed: 73 knots (84 mph, 135 km/h), Combat radius: 820 nm (945 mi, 1,520 km), Ferry range: 1,330 nm (1,530 mi, 2,460 km), Service ceiling: 37,300 ft (11,370 m), Rate of climb: 3,500 ft/min (17.8 m/s), Wing loading: 37.7 lb/ft² (184 kg/m²), Power/mass: 0.16 hp/lb (260 W/kg), Time-to-altitude: 7.7 min to 20,000 ft (6,100 m), Lift-to-drag ratio: 12.2, Takeoff roll: 799 ft (244 m). Armament: Guns: either 6× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns, with 400 rounds/gun, (All F6F-3, and most F6F-5), or 2× 20 mm cannon, with 225 rounds/gun, and 4× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) Browning machine guns with 400 rounds/gun (F6F-5N only), Rockets: 6 × 5 in (127 mm) HVARs or 2 × 11¾ in (298 mm) Tiny Tim unguided rockets, Bombs: up to 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) full load, including: Bombs or Torpedoes:(Fuselage mounted on centreline rack) 1 × 2,000 lb (910 kg) bomb or 1 × Mk.13-3 torpedo; Underwing bombs: (F6F-5 had two additional weapons racks either side of fuselage on wing centre-section) 2 × 1,000 lb (450 kg) or 4 × 500 lb (227 kg), 8 × 250 lb (110 kg)
USN09 René Hieronymus Scale 1:72 Building time: 19 hrs.
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