Dear Forum Members,
I am submitting to you a formal request for any photographs you may have of a particular Grumman Hellcat F6F-3 (modified later to F6F-3N) with the BuNo 41476.
I am acting as a proxy for the Collins Foundation who are looking for these photographs.
The actual aircraft in question is still extant. The Collins Foundation has it now and it has been sent to American Aero Services of New Smyrna Beach, Florida and is undergoing restoration to airworthy condition. The Collins Foundation wishes to restore it to full flight status in the -3N configuration that it flew in during WWII. (It flew with VFN-76, the first Navy night fighter squadron. I understand that the F6F-3Ns were replaced in about 12 months by F4U-xN versions - higher performance and more fire power.)
From: Collings Foundation Acquires Two Grumman Fighters | Warbirds News
The plane was previously owned by The National Museum of the Marine Corps (NMMC) in Quantico, Virginia, but had been on loan and displayed at the Evergreen Aviation Educational Institute in McMinnville, Oregon, for the past eight years. The Collings Foundation traded one of only two surviving Boeing FB-5 fighters for the Hellcat. The FB-5 will go on display in a new inter-war gallery which is scheduled to open at NMMC in 2018.
The history of 41476 as known can be found at: Hellcat - The Collings Foundation
Anyway, the Collings Foundation are trying to build a complete historical record (including photos) of the aircraft. Evidently there are quite a few pictures of the aircraft from current times - early 1970s on. What they are interested in is aquiring good quality (copies) any F6F-3N pictures taken on either the USS Bunker Hill or the USS Hornet. (Though there is evidence that it served on Essex, Yorktown or Lexington.) I don't know if any of you would have any of these, but in the off chance you do, you know what they are looking for in the area of photos. The thinking being, any photos of -3Ns on a carrier deck might possibly include 41476. Obviously, this is not to say that if you have any other pictures of BuNo 41476 they would not be interested in them. I'm sure they would be interested in these as well.
Thanks for any help guys!
Regards, Jim Nicoletti
I am submitting to you a formal request for any photographs you may have of a particular Grumman Hellcat F6F-3 (modified later to F6F-3N) with the BuNo 41476.
I am acting as a proxy for the Collins Foundation who are looking for these photographs.
The actual aircraft in question is still extant. The Collins Foundation has it now and it has been sent to American Aero Services of New Smyrna Beach, Florida and is undergoing restoration to airworthy condition. The Collins Foundation wishes to restore it to full flight status in the -3N configuration that it flew in during WWII. (It flew with VFN-76, the first Navy night fighter squadron. I understand that the F6F-3Ns were replaced in about 12 months by F4U-xN versions - higher performance and more fire power.)
From: Collings Foundation Acquires Two Grumman Fighters | Warbirds News
The plane was previously owned by The National Museum of the Marine Corps (NMMC) in Quantico, Virginia, but had been on loan and displayed at the Evergreen Aviation Educational Institute in McMinnville, Oregon, for the past eight years. The Collings Foundation traded one of only two surviving Boeing FB-5 fighters for the Hellcat. The FB-5 will go on display in a new inter-war gallery which is scheduled to open at NMMC in 2018.
The history of 41476 as known can be found at: Hellcat - The Collings Foundation
Anyway, the Collings Foundation are trying to build a complete historical record (including photos) of the aircraft. Evidently there are quite a few pictures of the aircraft from current times - early 1970s on. What they are interested in is aquiring good quality (copies) any F6F-3N pictures taken on either the USS Bunker Hill or the USS Hornet. (Though there is evidence that it served on Essex, Yorktown or Lexington.) I don't know if any of you would have any of these, but in the off chance you do, you know what they are looking for in the area of photos. The thinking being, any photos of -3Ns on a carrier deck might possibly include 41476. Obviously, this is not to say that if you have any other pictures of BuNo 41476 they would not be interested in them. I'm sure they would be interested in these as well.
Thanks for any help guys!
Regards, Jim Nicoletti
