F6F Hellcat's Top Speed

[Marshall_Stack]

Most sources list the top speed of the Hellcat as 376 mph. In Barret Tillman's book he lists it as 406 mph.

Supposedly the location of the pitot tube led to errors in true indicated airspeed. There is also an account of a Hellcat flying parallel to a Corsair at the same speed but the Hellcat was showing less indicated airspeed.

Anyone know what the true story is on the Hellcat? It seems like it should be faster given the difference between the Corsair and Thunderbolt since they have the same engines. I know the Corsair has a bigger prop and might be more streamlined.

 

[Hardrada55]

Grumman F6F Hellcat Maximum Speeds

There was recently discussion about the F6F's maximum velocity abilities on the thread 'Qualities that made for a great aircraft that don't show up in performance stats'. I decided to pull out my F6F files and do the research. The following is what I found.: F6F-3 with R-2800-10 Pratt &...

ww2aircraft.net

 

[Marshall_Stack]

Grumman F6F Hellcat Maximum Speeds

There was recently discussion about the F6F's maximum velocity abilities on the thread 'Qualities that made for a great aircraft that don't show up in performance stats'. I decided to pull out my F6F files and do the research. The following is what I found.: F6F-3 with R-2800-10 Pratt &...

ww2aircraft.net

Thanks!

 

[Conslaw]

My hunch is that everybody is a little right and a little wrong. I think maybe the early F6F might have had a pessimistic airspeed indicator, but not to the amount Corky Meyer theorized. Similarly, the F4U might have been a tiny bit optimistic. I still think though, the F4U was faster at all altitudes because it is more aerodynamic. When it came to late-war tests of F6F-5 with water injection at the 405 MPH zone, I think that is probably in the ballpark of being correct.

The important thing about the F6F is that it was "fast enough".

 

[soulezoo]

Most sources list the top speed of the Hellcat as 376 mph. In Barret Tillman's book he lists it as 406 mph.

Supposedly the location of the pitot tube led to errors in true indicated airspeed. There is also an account of a Hellcat flying parallel to a Corsair at the same speed but the Hellcat was showing less indicated airspeed.

Anyone know what the true story is on the Hellcat? It seems like it should be faster given the difference between the Corsair and Thunderbolt since they have the same engines. I know the Corsair has a bigger prop and might be more streamlined.

Same basic engine as the P-47, but not the same induction. Makes a huge difference at different altitudes.

 

[Barrett]

Many-most internet sites seem to ignore the facts that every aircraft comes in different flavors: F6F-3, F4U-4, etc. etc. So most of the discussions about The Mustang v. The 109 are frivolous.

Most of what I knew about F6F development came from two Grumman vets: test pilot Corky Meyer and tech rep Ralph Clark. Corky wrote at some length about the relative Vmax of the Hellcat and Corsair, and as noted above, apparently placement of the pitot tube had a bearing on the readout.

Sidebar: Ralph provided one of my favorite aviation quotes: "Grumman had the shoeclerk approach to aviation. Mostly we had shoeclerks building airplanes, we had shoeclerks fixing airplanes, and sometimes we had shoeclerks flying our planes. Not that there's anything wrong with shoeclerks, but people forget that maybe 10% of the WW II population had any previous experience in aviation."

 

[Conslaw]

Many-most internet sites seem to ignore the facts that every aircraft comes in different flavors: F6F-3, F4U-4, etc. etc. So most of the discussions about The Mustang v. The 109 are frivolous.

Most of what I knew about F6F development came from two Grumman vets: test pilot Corky Meyer and tech rep Ralph Clark. Corky wrote at some length about the relative Vmax of the Hellcat and Corsair, and as noted above, apparently placement of the pitot tube had a bearing on the readout.

Sidebar: Ralph provided one of my favorite aviation quotes: "Grumman had the shoeclerk approach to aviation. Mostly we had shoeclerks building airplanes, we had shoeclerks fixing airplanes, and sometimes we had shoeclerks flying our planes. Not that there's anything wrong with shoeclerks, but people forget that maybe 10% of the WW II population had any previous experience in aviation."

 

[Conslaw]

Barrett, I know you wrote the book, so I'm not contradicting you, but I think the F6F had fewer flavors than most fighters. It had two basic subtypes the -3 and -5, and the -3 had two notable variations, with water-injection and without. Water-injection was sometimes a field modification. Of course, aircraft condition, loading and external stores configuration always affects speed.

 

[Geoffrey Sinclair]

U.S. Navy Service Airplane Characteristics and Performance Data Sheets
No external stores, rated top speeds mph/at altitude feet, Combat, Military, Normal engine rating unless noted, date of sheet.

F6F-3, 12,575 pounds, 372/18,000, 373/23,400, 368/24,100, 1 October 1945
F6F-3N, 13,015 pounds, 360/18,000, 361/23,400, 356/23,900, 1 October 1945
F6F-5, 12,740 pounds, 378/18,000, 380/23,400, 375/24,100, 1 November 1945
F6F-5N, 13,190 pounds, 365/17,800, 366/23,200, 362/24,000, 1 November 1945
F6F-5E, 12,583 pounds, 384/17,400, 379/23,100, 374/23,500, 1 November 1945

F4U-1, 12,039 pounds, 417/19,900 (Water Inj.), 407/23,900, 405/24,800, 1 March 1944
F4U-1, 12,068 pounds, 409/19,900 (War Emergency), 396/23,900, 394/24,800, 1 October 1944
F4U-1D, FG-1D, 12,175 pounds, 409/19,900, 396/23,900, 394/24,800, 1 August 1945
F4U-1C, 12,470 pounds, 409/19,900, 1 August 1945
FG-3, 12,800 pounds, 460/33,400, 453/38,400, 440/42,600, 1 July 1945
F2G-2, 13,364 pounds, not given, 431/16,900, 422/17,700, 1 December 1944

The F6F-3 and -5 also have performance data for carrying drop tanks, bombs, rockets and/or torpedoes.