What if? Grumman F6F-7N “Hellcat”, '29/WF' von VFM-513M; Kunsan AB, Korea, 1953 (Whif)

[dizzyfugu]

Ich hab' auch noch ein paar Whifs nachzuholen - fangen wir einmal mit etwas aus den letzten Tagen des WWII an, bzw. aus Korea...




Some background:
The Grumman F6F Hellcat was a carrier-based fighter aircraft conceived to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat in United States Navy (USN) service. The Hellcat was an erstwhile rival of the faster Vought F4U Corsair for use as a carrier based fighter. However, the Corsair had significant issues with carrier landing that the Hellcat did not, allowing the Hellcat to steal a march as the Navy's dominant fighter in the second part of World War II, a position the Hellcat did not relinquish. The Corsair instead was primarily deployed to great effect in land-based use by the U.S. Marine Corps.

Although the F6F resembled the Wildcat in some ways, it was a completely new design,[4] powered by a 2,000 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800, the same powerplant used for both the Corsair and the United States Army Air Force's (USAAF) Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters. Some military observers tagged the Hellcat as the "Wildcat's big brother".






The F6F series were designed to take damage and get the pilot safely back to base. A bullet-resistant windshield and a total of 212 lb (96 kg) of cockpit armor was fitted, along with armor around the oil tank and oil cooler. A 250 gal (946 l) self-sealing fuel tank was fitted in the fuselage. Consequently the F6F was best known for its role as a rugged, well-designed carrier fighter which was able, after its combat debut in early 1943, to counter the Mitsubishi A6M Zero and help secure air superiority over the Pacific Theater.

The design proved to be very balanced, even though attempts were made to improve the Hellcat's perfromance. Late prototypes in the F6F series included the XF6F-4 (02981, a conversion of the XF6F-1 powered by an R-2800-27 and armed with four 20mm M2 cannon) which first flew on 3 October 1942 as the prototype for the projected F6F-4. This version never entered production and 02981 was converted to an F6F-3 production aircraft.






Another experimental prototype was the XF6F-2 (66244), an F6F-3 converted to use a Wright R-2600-15, fitted with a Birman manufactured mixed-flow turbocharger, which was later replaced by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800-21, also fitted with a Birman turbocharger. The turbochargers proved to be unreliable on both engines, while performance improvements were marginal. As with the XF6F-4, 66244 was soon converted back to a standard F6F-3. Two XF6F-6s (70188 and 70913) were converted from F6F-5s and used the 18-cylinder 2,100 hp (1,567 kW) Pratt and Whitney R-2800-18W two-stage supercharged radial engine with water injection and driving a Hamilton-Standard four-bladed propeller.




The last and most radical change was the XF6F-7, which introduced a Wright R-3350 Cyclone radial in a totally new nose section as well as further modifications like a bubble canopy that offered, together with a lowered spine, a much improved field of view for the pilot. Armament was beefed up to four 20mm M2 cannons, plus the standard external ordnance. The XF6F-7s were the fastest version of the Hellcat series with a top speed of 417 mph (671 km/h) and with a much improved rate of climb. The F6F-7 was ordered into production in early 1945, primarily as a fighter bomber alongside the F8F Bearcat. Serial production was very limited, though, since R-3350 production priority was allocated to B-29 bombers. The war ended before this final variant could be mass-produced and none of these aircraft reached the front lines.






The few produced F6F-7 (about 50 were completed) survived WWII, though, and eventually fulfilled their duty in a second career during the Korean War with the USMC. About 20 F6F-7 were fitted with the new AN/APS-19 radar in the fuselage, which combined the best features of the former AN/APS-4 and AN/APS-6 radars to provide both a search and an intercept capability in one equipment for night fighting.
The respective antenna dish was mounted in a bulbous fairing on the leading-edge of the outer right wing.

Re-painted all-black, these Hellcats were assigned to USMC's VMF-513 ‘Flying Nightmares’ and exclusively deployed from land bases for night intruder and bomber escort missions, together with the squadron’s F4U-5Ns and F7F-3Ns. The type proved to be very successful during low altitude attacks, due to its good handling characteristics, wide range of payload options and rugged structure that could take a lot of punishment. The USMC’s F6F-7Ns were highly effective, being credited with the destruction of 850 vehicles, 21 locomotives and 170 railway trucks in the course of the Korea conflict. Eight aircraft were lost, five of them through AA gunfire, two were shot down in air combat and one was lost during a taxiing accident.

After the Korean War, all surviving F6F-7s were quickly phased out or turned into unmanned target drone.






General characteristics
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: 9.515 lb (4.320 kg)
Loaded weight: 16.200 lb (6.115 kg)
Max. take-off weight: 15,415 lb (7.355 kg)
Fuel capacity: 250 gal (946 L) internal; plus up to 3× 150 gal (568 L) external drop tanks
Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0211
Drag area: 7.05 ft² (0.65 m²)
Aspect ratio: 5.5

Powerplant:
1× Wright ‘Cyclone’ R-3350-24W 18 cylinder two-row radial engine with water injection, rated at 2.200 hp (1.600 kW) at standard power and at 2,500 hp (1,900 kW) with water injection, driving a four-blade Hamilton Standard propeller of 13 ft 1 in (4.0 m) diameter
 

Performance:
Maximum speed: 330 kn (417 mph, 671 km/h)
Stall speed: 73 kn (84 mph, 135 km/h)
Combat radius: 850 nmi (980 mi, 1.575 km)
Ferry range: 1.380 nmi (1.585 mi, 2.550 km)
Service ceiling: 39.305 ft (12.000 m)
Rate of climb: 4.100 ft/min (21 m/s)
Wing loading: 38.9 lb/ft² (190 kg/m²)
Time-to-altitude: 7.0 min to 20,000 ft (6,100 m)
Lift-to-drag ratio: 12.2
Takeoff roll: 738 ft (224 m)

Armament:
4 × 0.79 in (20 mm) M2 cannons, with 225 RPG in the outer wings
Up to 4,000 lb (1,814 kg) of external loads, including 6× 5 in (127 mm) HVARs, 2× 11¾ in (298 mm) Tiny Tim unguided rockets, 1× 2,000 lb (907 kg) bomb or 1 × Mk.13-3 torpedo on the fuselage centerline rack or 2× 1,000 lb (450 kg), 4× 500 lb (227 kg) or 8× 250 lb (110 kg) bombs on two weapons racks on either side of fuselage on wing center-section


Das Modell ist eine umgebaute F6F von Hobby Boss, eigentlich aus der Idee entstanden, wie so eine Maschine wohl mit Blasenhaube aussehen würde? Tja, gesagt, gesägt, getan - der Rücken wurde abgesenkt und eine P-51-Haube implantiert. Eigentlich wollte ich auch "nur" die Motorhaube verändern, das ging aber kom,plett in die Hose - zum Glück fand ich noch einen übrig gebliebenen R-3350 von einer Airfix-A-1, der nahezu nahtlos an den Rumpf der Hellcat gepasst hat. War nicht beabsichtigt, aber billgend in Kauf genommen.
Weiter Ergänzungen sind zwei gescratchte "Tiny Tim"-Flugkörper, die tatsächlich von der F6F getragen werden konnten - auch so nah am Rumpf, denn die Dinger wurden erst über eine Reißleine(!) nach Abwurf gezündet. Eine weitere Ergänzung ist der Radarbehälter, den es aber auch an normalen Hellcat-Nachtjägern gab.

Die Lackierung ist simpel und orientiert sich an USMC-Maschinen aus dem Koreakrieg, die z. T. vor Ort geschwärzt wurden - eigentlich waren die Maschinen Dunkelblau rundum, was z. B. im Fahrwerkschacht erhalten geblieben ist und beim Lack versuchsweise hie und da durchschimmert.

Im Ergebnis sieht die F6F-7 aus wie eine geschrumpfte Skyraider, oder eine F8F auf Steroiden... Simpel, ist m. E. aber gut geworden.