The Flying Heritage Collection (FHC) at Paine Field, Everett, Washington, proudly displays and flies Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat Bureau Number 79863, the 11,008th Hellcat accepted by the U.S.
Navy on May 17, 1945. Built as an F6F-5N night fighter, this Hellcat (after a short stay in San Diego) was assigned to the pool at Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 1 on Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, from July to September 1945.
Assigned to Pearl Harbor and then Alameda from October 1945 to July 1946, 79863 went into storage in Georgia until June 1948. It is unclear what happened to her over the next 22 months, but in April 1950, she had a brief stay at Alameda and then went to a Naval Air Reserve Training unit in New York until November 1951. December 1951 to June 1952 saw her back at Alameda for some maintenance and overhaul work, with an intervening stay in Akron, Ohio.
The FHC Hellcat was then assigned to the Fleet All Weather Training Unit, Barbers Point, Hawaii, until February 1954. From 1954 to 1956, she had stops at Alameda, Norfolk, and Litchfield Park (Arizona), including periods of storage. On January 20, 1956, 79863 then got a new mission when she began the conversion to a F6F-5K drone.
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Scourge of the Allied Fighters
IT HAD TO BE THE MOST HELPLESS FEELING in the world: you're at 25,000 feet over Europe knowing that your primary function is to drop bombs-or flying escort for the bombers while being a slow-moving target for some of the world's finest shooters. However, you have John Browning's marvelous .50 caliber invention to give some degree of protection. Unfortunately, you're absolutely helpless against flak. Piloting and gunnery skills play no role in a game where sheer chance makes life and death decisions. For that reason, the Krupp 88 mm Flak 18/36/37 AA cannon could be considered WW II's ultimate stealth fighter. You never saw it coming.
ZERO MYTH, MYSTERY, AND FACT
A test pilot compares the A6M5 Zero to U.S. fighters
Fw 190 STURMBÖCKE
The Luftwaffe's \"Battering Rams\" against the USAAF heavy bombers
American BEAUTY
\"Forgotten Fifteenth\" top-scoring Mustang ace John J. Voll
BANSHEE WAIL!
Flying Skulls over Burma
KILLER CORSAIR
Albert Wells, Death Rattlers Ace
BACKSTREET BRAWLER
A young man, his Hurricane and the Battle of Britain
Still Flying After All These Years
One of the oldest airworthy J-3 Cubs
NOORDUYN NORSEMAN
Canada's rugged, fabric-covered workhorse
A good landing is one you can walk away from
NO, THIS IS NOT A SCENE FROM A MOVIE where the hero staggers away from a \"good landing\" on Mindoro, Philippine Islands, after being shot down by a Japanese Zero.
