Editing Grumman F6F Hellcat (section)

====Sortie, kill, and loss figures====
[[File:127-GW-1627-134956 (30267672180).jpg|thumb|A [[United States Marine Corps|U.S Marine]] inspects a Japanese-captured F6F-5 in [[Yokosuka]] in September 1945.]]
U.S. Navy and Marine F6F pilots flew 66,530 combat sorties and claimed 5,163 kills (56% of all U.S. Navy/Marine air victories of the war) at a recorded cost of 270 Hellcats in aerial combat (an overall kill-to-loss ratio of 19:1 based on claimed kills).<ref name="Barber2">Barber 1946, [http://www.history.navy.mil/download/nasc.pdf Table 2.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113065343/http://www.history.navy.mil/download/nasc.pdf |date=13 January 2012 }}</ref> Claimed victories were often highly exaggerated during the war. Even so, the aircraft performed well against the best Japanese opponents with a claimed 13:1 kill ratio against the A6M Zero, 9.5:1 against the [[Nakajima Ki-84]], and 3.7:1 against the [[Mitsubishi J2M]] during the last year of the war.<ref name="Barber28">Barber 1946, [http://www.history.navy.mil/download/nasc.pdf Table 28.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113065343/http://www.history.navy.mil/download/nasc.pdf |date=13 January 2012 }}</ref> The F6F became the prime ace-maker aircraft in the American inventory, with 305 Hellcat aces. The U.S. successes were not just attributed to superior aircraft; from 1942 onwards, they faced increasingly inexperienced Japanese aviators and had the advantage of increasing numerical superiority.{{refn|Quote: "... flown by 305 aces, most of any U.S. fighter in World War II."<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090327110758/http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Magazine%20Documents/2006/April%202006/0406classics.pdf "Airpower Classics."]}} ''Air Force Magazine'', April 2006, p. 98.</ref>|group=Note}} In the ground-attack role, Hellcats dropped 6,503&nbsp;tons (5,899&nbsp;metric tonnes) of bombs.<ref name="Barber2"/>

The U.S. Navy's all-time leading ace, [[Captain (naval)|Captain]] [[David McCampbell]], scored all of his 34&nbsp;victories in the Hellcat. He once described the F6F as "... an outstanding fighter plane. It performed well, was easy to fly, and was a stable gun platform, but what I really remember most was that it was rugged and easy to maintain."<ref>Kinzey 1987, p. 58.</ref>

During the course of World War II, 2,462 F6F Hellcats were lost to all causes – 270 in aerial combat, 553 to antiaircraft ground and shipboard fire, and 341 due to operational causes. Of the total figure, 1,298 were destroyed in training and ferry operations, normally outside of the combat zones.<ref>OPNAV-P-23V No. A129, 17 June 1946, p. 15.</ref>

[[Hamilton McWhorter III]], a Navy aviator and a [[flying ace]] of World War II, was credited with shooting down 12 Japanese aircraft. He was the first U.S. Navy aviator to become an ace while flying the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the first Navy carrier pilot to achieve double ace status.<ref name="SSHellcat">{{cite news |last1=Dorr |first1=Robert F. |title=Sharp Shooting Hellcat "Mac" McWhorter Runs Up the Score |url=http://dl.magazinedl.com/magazinedl/Flight%20Journal/2019/Flight%20Journal%20-%20WWII%20Air%20War%202019(magazinedl.com).pdf |access-date=22 July 2020 |work=Flight Journal |date=21 October 2019 |archive-date=23 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723213537/http://dl.magazinedl.com/magazinedl/Flight%20Journal/2019/Flight%20Journal%20-%20WWII%20Air%20War%202019(magazinedl.com).pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Arthur Van Haren, Jr.]], a Navy combat Hellcat ace of WWII from [[Arizona]], was credited with shooting down 9 Japanese planes. He was awarded two [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Crosses]], and was inducted into the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame in 2012.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Courage-Story-Arthur-Haren/dp/B00BLYGNTQ | title=A Legacy of Courage: The Story of Arthur van Haren, Jr |year=2011 | publisher=Latino Perspectives Media }}</ref>