Grumman F6F Hellcat 

The Grumman F6F was a shoulder-mounted-wing monoplane fighter developed by the Grumman Corporation in WWII.  Per Reference [8] first flight for the Hellcat was on 26 June 1942 wih the type entering service in 1943.  A total of 12,275 of all variants were produced.

The Hellcat had a razorback profile and main landing gear that would be rotated 90 degrees to allow them to fit into the wings when retracted. The Hellcat along with the F4U Corsair would serve as the primary fighters of the US Navy and US Marine Corps during the second half of the war in the Pacific.  It would also serve with the UK during the war as well as France and Uruguay post WWII.

The primary variants analyzed at this website include:

• the F6F-3 
• the F6F-5

Per Reference [8] the F6F-3 was the initial production variant of ths Hellcat family, fitted with a 2,000 HP radial engine.  This variant was initially called the Gannet Mk I in Royal Navy service, though it was later renamed as the Hellcat Mk I.  The F6F-5 was an upgraded variant, fitted with a 2,200 HP engine, a redesigned engine cowling, a new windscreen with integral bullet proof glass, new ailerons, and reinforced tail surfaces.  In Royal Navy service it was designated the Hellcat Mk II.   

As shown in the images below distinguishing features of this aircraft including;

• a large radial engine 
  
• a razorback configuration aft the cockpit
• a framed "birdcage" type canopy
• a shoulder mounted Sto-Wing folding wings
  
• main landing gear that rotated 90 degrees to retract into the wings

[Image Sources: Public Domain via Ref [8] - as annotated by this site]

                                            [Source: Ref [14b] - US Government/Public Domain]

                       [Source: Ref [4] - Public Domain]

In order to try and better develop weight estimating relationships an effort has been made to estimate the length of the fuselage aft of the firewall, and the length of the engine section forward of the firewall based off scaled drawings.  Together these two distances add to a term called the "structural length" and do not consider any portion of the engine or propeller shaft the extend foward of the fuselage/cowling, or any empennage that extends aft of the fuselage structure.  The drawing below shows the current best estimate of these dimensions obtained from available drawings of the airplane and will be updated with any real world data that becomes available.  For any aircraft with an inclined firewall, an attempt has been made to locate an approximate center of this location.



The table below summarizes the current data collected on this type aircraft, identifying sources for the data

		F6F-3	F6F-3	F6F-5	F6F-5	F6F-5	Secondary Sources	Notes
Primary Source		1	4	1	2	2
No of Crew		1	1	1	1	1
Engine:
Qty		1	1	1	1	1	5
Model		R-2800-10W	R-2800-10W	R-2800-10W	R-2800-10W	R-2800-10W	5
Displacement	(cu in)	2800	2800	2800	2800	2800	5
Power
Military	(HP)	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	5
War Emergency	(HP)
Normal	(HP)	1675	1675	1675	1675	1675	5
Take Off	(HP)	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	5
Eng Dims
Length	(ft)	7.37	7.37	7.37	7.37	7.37	5
Width/Dia	(ft)	4.375	4.375	4.375	4.375	4.375	5
Height	(ft)
Base Engine Wt	(lb)	2460	2460	2460	2460	2460	5
Propeller
# Blades		3	3	3	3	3
Dia	(ft)	13.08	13.08	13.08	13.08	13.08
Manufacturer
Type
Wing
Span	(ft)	42.83	42.83	42.83	42.83	42.83
Root Thickness	(%)		15.6%		15.6%	15.6%
	(in)		18.63		19.8	19.8
Total Area	(sq ft)	334	334	334	334	334
Wing (less Ailerons & Flaps)	(sq ft)		278.5
Ailerons	(sq ft)		15.7
Flaps	(sq ft)		39.8
Tail Area	(sq ft)	100.1	101.2	100.1	100.1	100.1	3
V Tail Area	(sq ft)	23.4	23.4	23.4	23.4	23.4	3
Fin	(sq ft)		14.4
Rudder	(sq ft)		9
H Tail Area	(sq ft)	76.7	77.8	76.7	76.7	76.7	3
Stabilizer	(sq ft)		52
Elevator	(sq ft)		25.8
Total Control Surf Area	(sq ft)		90.3
Length
Overall	(ft)	33.83	33.83	33.83	33.83	33.83
Fuselage	(ft)	31.5	31.5	31.5	31.5	31.5
Body	(ft)	33.45	33.45	33.45	33.45	33.45
Body Depth	(ft)
Body Width	(ft)
Fuel Tank Volume	(gal)	175	175	175	175	175
Wing Tanks	(gal)	175	175	175	175	175
FuselageTanks	(gal)
Oil Tank Volume	(gal)	19	19	19	19	19
Water Injection Fluid Tank Volume	(gal)		16
Wetted Area (sqf)	(sq ft)				458
Pwr Ldng	(lb/HP)		5.75		6.13	6.25
Wing Ldng	(lb/sq ft)		34.45		36.72	37.40
Struct. Des. GW	(lb)				11000	1000
Ultimate Load Factor	(G's)				13.5	13.5
Design Speed	(mph)				506	606
Not to Exceed Speed	(mph)
Total Struct Weight		4094.7	4094.2	4181.6	4142	4189
Total Wing		2024.5	2007.1	2039.8	2020	2042
Wing			1894.1
Ailerons			42.3
Flaps			70.7
Fuselage Carry-Through
Tail		271.4	271.4	280.8	277	280
H Tail			201.8		207	207
Stabilizer			112.8
Elevator			89
V Tail			69.6		70	73
Fin			24.2
Rudder			45.4
Body + Eng Section + LG
Body + LG		1761.4	1780	1825.3	1809	1831
Body		1027.6	1040.8	1074.1	1070	1082
Fuselage		616	635.9	647.9
Engine Section		411.6	404.9	426.2
Landing Gear		733.8	739.2	751.2	739	749
Mn Landing Gr			667.1		667	673
Tail/Nose Aux LG			72.1		72	76
Tail Hook		37.4	35.7	35.7	36	36
Booms
Nacelles
Total Propulsion Weight		3964.5	3964	3986.1	3975	3969
Engine w/ Accessories		2783	2762.3	2773	2763	2791
Engine(s) as Installed		2469	2444	2455	2445	2476
Accessories		314	318.3	318	318	315
Turbocharger(s)
Controls		36.5	30.8	30.8	31	30
Propeller(s)		485.2	480.4	481.4	480	485
2-Blade
3-Blade		485.2	480.4	481.4	480	485
4-Blade
Starting System		57	64	43.4	62	29
Water Injection System		-	46	41.5	43	41
Tanks
Piping Etc
Cooling System
Lube System		144.3	150.6	148.5	151	149
Tanks			15.2
Piping Etc			135.4
Fuel System		458.5	429.9	467.5	445	444
Tanks			283.3
Piping Etc			146.6
Total Sys. & Eqpmt.		891.9	964.8	911.1	1065	1066
Instruments		41	49.8	45.5	46	45
Surface Controls		171.6	155.6	147.2	147	142
Hydraulics		112.9	122.9	126.6	127	128
Electrical Equip		208.4	224	223.8	181	225
Electronics (Purple means incl in Furn/Gray in Useful Ld)					164	164
Arm Prov/Equipment & Armor		288.8	341.6	313.6	332	302
Furnishings		69.2	70.9	54.4	68	60
Anti-Ice (If not in Furn)
Other /Misc
Hoisting Gear
Floatation Gear
Armor Plate
Empty Wt		8951.1	9023	9078.8	9182	9224
Basic Mission Useful Load			2482.6		3081	3268
Crew			200		200	200
Equipment
Oil			97.5		143	193
Fuel			1092		1500	1500
Fuel & Oil Trapped in Systems			89.5
Water Solution for Engine Injection
Bombs/Torp Etc			0
Radio (if Not Included in Empty Wt)			142.5
Nav Equipment			3.8
Oxygen System
Armament			801.3		1170	1170
Guns & Ammo			793.6		1170	1170
Guns					450	450
Ammo					720	720
Pyrotechnics			3.5
Camera			4.2
Other
Other Useful Load			56		68	205
Basic Mission GW			11505.6		12263	12492

Notes: This website has been developed with a number of low cost or free programs including Hot Metal Pro, KompoZer, MicroSoft Designer and Da Button Factory.com

Rev 3-22-26

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