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Grumman F6F Hellcat
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===XF6F=== [[File:Grumman XF6F-1 Hellcat 1942.jpg|thumb|Unpainted XF6F-1 prior to its first flight (1942)]] [[File:Ray Wagner Collection Image (16156795450).jpg|thumb|F6F-3 aboard USS ''Yorktown'' has its "[[Grumman Sto-Wing|Sto-Wing]]" folding wings deployed for takeoff (''circa'' 1943-44).]] Grumman had been working on a successor to the F4F Wildcat since 1938, and the contract for the prototype '''XF6F-1''' was signed on 30 June 1941. The aircraft was originally designed to use the [[Wright R-2600|Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone]] two-row, 14-cylinder radial engine of {{cvt|1,700|hp|kW}} (the same engine used with Grumman's then-[[Grumman TBF Avenger#Design and development|new torpedo bomber under development]]), driving a three-bladed Curtiss Electric propeller.<ref>Kinzey 1996, p. 16.</ref> Instead of the Wildcat's narrow-track, hand-cranked, main [[landing gear]] retracting into the fuselage inherited from the F3F ( a design from the 1930s [[Grumman FF]]-1 fighter biplane), the Hellcat had wide-set, hydraulically actuated landing-gear struts that rotated through 90Β° while retracting backwards into the wings, but with full wheel doors fitted to the struts that covered the entire strut and the upper half of the main wheel when retracted, and twisted with the main gear struts through 90Β° during retraction.<ref name="Taylor p. 503."/> The wing was mounted lower on the fuselage and was able to be hydraulically or manually folded, with each panel outboard of the undercarriage bay folding backwards from pivoting on a specially oriented, Grumman-patented "[[Grumman Sto-Wing|Sto-Wing]]" diagonal axis pivoting system much like the earlier F4F, with a folded stowage position parallel to the fuselage with the leading edges pointing diagonally down.<ref>Kinzey 1987, p. 14.</ref> Throughout early 1942, [[Leroy Grumman]], along with his chief designers [[Jake Swirbul]] and Bill Schwendler, worked closely with the U.S. Navy's [[Bureau of Aeronautics]] (BuAer) and experienced F4F pilots,<ref>Thruelsen 1976, p. 166.</ref> to develop the new fighter in such a way that it could counter the Zero's strengths and help gain air dominance in the Pacific Theater of Operations.<ref>Ewing 2004, p. 182.</ref> On 22 April 1942, Lieutenant Commander [[Edward O'Hare|Butch O'Hare]] toured the Grumman Aircraft company and spoke with Grumman engineers, analyzing the performance of the F4F Wildcat against the Mitsubishi A6M Zero in aerial combat.<ref name="Ewing Thach Weave p. 86">Ewing 2004, p. 86.</ref>{{refn|On the previous day, while receiving the [[Medal of Honor]] from President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], O'Hare was asked by the President what was needed in a new naval fighter; O'Hare's response was "something that would go upstairs faster."<ref>Ewing and Lundstrom 2004, pp. 155β156.</ref>|group=Note}} Buaer's Lt Cdr A. M. Jackson{{Refn|Jackson emphasized to Grumman, "you can't hit 'em if you can't see 'em"<ref>Tillman 1979, p. 6.</ref>|group=Note}} directed Grumman's designers to mount the cockpit higher in the fuselage.<ref>Francillon 1989, p. 200.</ref> In addition, the forward fuselage sloped down slightly to the engine cowling, giving the Hellcat's pilot good visibility.<ref name="Kin966">Kinzey 1996, p. 6.</ref> ====Change of powerplant==== Based on combat accounts of encounters between the F4F Wildcat and A6M Zero, on 26 April 1942, BuAer directed Grumman to install the more-powerful, 18-cylinder [[Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp]] radial engine β which was already in use with Chance Vought's Corsair since 1940 β in the second XF6F-1 prototype.<ref>Ewing and Lundstrom 2004, pp. 155, 156.</ref> Grumman complied by redesigning and strengthening the F6F airframe to incorporate the {{cvt|2,000|hp|kW}} R-2800-10, driving a three-bladed [[Hamilton Standard]] propeller. With this combination, Grumman estimated the XF6F-3s performance would increase by 25% over that of the XF6F-1.<ref name="Sul4"/> The Cyclone-powered XF6F-1 (02981) first flew on 26 June 1942, followed by the first Double Wasp-equipped aircraft, the XF6F-3 (02982), which first flew on 30 July 1942. The first production F6F-3, powered by an R-2800-10, flew on 3 October 1942, with the type reaching operational readiness with [[VF-9]] on {{USS|Essex|CV-9|6}} in February 1943.<ref name= "Kinzey p. 6">Kinzey 1987, p. 6.</ref>{{Refn|Late-production F6F-3s were powered by the same water-injected R-2800 used by the F6F-5.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}|group=Note}}
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