The Flying Heritage Collection F6F-5 Hellcat

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.

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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.