My favourite tale about the F6F happened in the mid 1950's when a unmanned QF6F drone lost contact with remote control, kept flying on its own and even evaded (then brand new) two F-89 Scorpion jet sent to shoot it down.
Just got done arguing with people about the f4u corsair they said was the best.i said no it was hard to fly lousy carrier plane. If it wasn't for boyington you probably never here about it.the hellcat was the best fighter of ww2 the p51 was the best bomber escort numbers tell the story
When people see these machines of war flying gracefully around the sky people don't realise those planes are killers and still could do the job they are designed to do
I was privileged to know and recreate with one of the Hellcat Aces from the Randolph (also the Hornet). Lt. J G Dan Carmichael of Columbus, Ohio was a true hero of the Greatest Generation. You might be interested in his obituary in the Columbus Dispatch. He lived an amazing 91 years.
One of my uncles flew a Hellcat in WW2. He was a certified ace with 6 or 8 kills in the Pacific theater until he was shot down. He was picked up hours later by a US Navy ship.
Rear Admiral Edward "Whitey" Feightner 98 yrs old ace. I visit him weekly he loves to watch TH-cam videos I bring to him old footage of his days on the Big E and behind his cockpit of the his Hellcat . God bless him !
I am guessing that Zero has an American P&W engine. I am only aware of one Zero flying with original Japanese type engine. The A6M was introduced in 1940 and was revolutionary for its range, speed, maneuverability, and use of 20MM cannons to be used in its interceptor role against multi-engine bombers. Technology changed fast in the 40s and an airplane introduced in 1940 could not expect to be as good as a plane introduced in 1942. The A6M was still a dangerous plane even late in the war but Japan did not have enough competent pilots at that point to give any design a better than even chance.
True story - I was on a flight line at an airshow as part of a documentary crew and the WWII warbirds all started to turn props as we were wrapping up an interview. All the aircraft around us were packed in pretty right and there was about 30 aircraft around us on the apron winding up and kicking into life. Cement and tarmac apron and you could feel it in your feet and absolutely in your chest. The noise and the smoke and the smell hitting the senses all at once.
More wing surface area than the P-38 lightning,,Corsair,and P-47 Thunderbolt...one bad ass bitch to many duties and to many BRUTAL numbers to list. Structurally designed to take loads of gunfire and still fly, and lands Greatly on a Aircraft Carrier Deemed the Big Blu Blanket over The Pacific
Hellcat had plenty of armor for the 7 mm machine guns of the Zero. My father was duty officer for Hellcat-flying VF-81 on the Wasp (CV-18) so I've read about these all my life. And I've come to the conclusion that they were built for OJT service, allowing rookie fighter pilots a chance to learn aerial combat. They were loaded with 1" armor.
jockellis So true my dad hit by flak over Truk. When he landed back on the Essex he was missing part of wing and two cylinders. I took him to a airshow and he sat and talked to the pilot of a f4f wildcat for two hours. Both were in there late 80's.
@@hammerofdavey 60 rounds per gun for the 20mm, versus 500 rounds each for the 7.7mm (two of each gun on a plane). You better be darn sure of your shot before expensing that precious 20mm!
You're always hearing of all the other WWII fighters, except the one they should be talking about the most. The Hellcat, the highest kill to loss ratio in the entire war, and the most planes downed then all others combined in the Pacific theater.
The pivot of 90 degrees to airstream of gear doors are a brief air brake that would tend to nose her down. Tail wheel unlocks for differential wheel brake maneuvers. Lock tail wheel in straight castor angle for take off roll. Wing fold reduced her to 24 foot for storage. The slight prop to deck clearance required three point landing attitude besides your trying to grab arresting rope w tail hook. The Zero’s wing tip fold required no heavy mechanism but only reduced her enough for elevator clearance. And less deck space in storage. Lack of self sealing fuel tanks and no armor plate meant any hits were pretty much terminal.
Zero pilots got a rude awakening when the Hellcat showed up. They thought they were Wildcats and that the pilots were green newbies who didn't know any better than to follow them up into a steep climb. But it didn't end well for the Zero pilots. Instead lining up an easy kill on a stalled Wildcat fluttering like a duck, the last thing they saw before they were vaporized was the flash of the Hellcat's 50 cal's, courtesy of its 2,000 HP double wasp engine.
@@nahualollin61 Oh, you mean like the time when Capt. Jesse Folmar flying a F4U Corsair from VMA-312 was able to destroy one of two MiG-15s that had bounced both him and his wingman?😂
The Hellcat was designed and built for one purpose only...to shoot down Zeros and any other plane the Japanese were foolish enough to put in the air! I believe the Hellcat is credited with over 5000 aerial kills alone. It wasn’t the prettiest, it wasn’t the fastest, and it wasn’t glamorous. She was a killer. David McCampbell, Navy ace of aces, said it was the best airplane he ever flew. Great power, extremely manoeuvrable, lethal firepower, tough as nails and very easy to land on carriers. A specific plane for a specific role. Well done, old girl🇺🇸⚓️🇺🇸
4 Carmybel agree I’ve always been into cars because their lines and now recently I’ve got into planes and I admire their history and their lines even tho I won’t ever own one I do own a couple 1/48 scale models I’ve built and I can admire those
Due to losses and lack of training mid to late war, the Imperial Japanese Navy AF was a shadow of its former self, yet in the hands of a capable pilot the Zero in all its forms was still a formidable dog fighter.
Alex Williamson even in a hellcat the hell car can match in a turning fight if skilled but it’s a rare most of the time hellcat pilots prefer to either out dive the Zero or fight head on or attack from ambush positions because many US pilots respect the hell out of the Zero despite having a more technological advantage also the Zero is more maneuverable then the hellcat due to being light and the hellcat is still heavy and too fast
Even though the F6F couldn't top 400 mph it was still faster than the Zero and could turn with it. As pointed out below it had a high kill ratio. It may have been the safest fighter of WWII.
...and a ZERO TOO!,...interesting that the camouflage was on the prop spinner too. Makes for a cool illusion but not sure the Japanese ever did that. Prop spinner color was used to signify which squadron the aircraft belonged to, I believe.
modeler308 I only know the Kaga and Akagi Zeros because the Akagi Zero has one red stripe while the Kaga has two red stripes the other Japanese carries have different stripes like blue or bright white while the Japanese Army Zeroes have none and just a green color
You bet! I read in Ted Lawson's book "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo" that one of the boys on the Hornet's flight deck had his arm clipped off by one of the B-25 props when they were preparing to take off for the Doolittle raid. Lawson was one of the pilots. I wouldn't be surprised if that happened occasionally on every navy's carriers.
Thanks for this info Minibull037, I never thought of this, I watch video's on this site of aeroplanes starting up in America and the pilot's always shouts "Clear Prop", I must admit I have not noticed this before when watching other aircraft from other countries starting up, must be more vigilant in future. Thanks again.
How long was this plane sitting? My 85 Toyota sat for a year while i was living in Asia. Put a can of "Stable" in the tank before leaving. When i returned i shot some starter fluid in the carb after hooking up my battery. Started in a few cranks! My FI Triumph motorcycle was even faster. Drained the fuel system (tank + floats) before leaving (sitting gas gums up everything). Put fresh gas in the tank, filled the floats with gas and cranked her over. A minute of spark and boom she was purring like a 🐈 kitten.😲As the old saying goes....an Ounce of Prevention is worth a Pound of Cure. Sitting gas for more than a month will turn to thick honey and gum up your fuel system. You'd have to flush out all that sludge to get your motor running. Horrible job!
Watching the Hellcat start up, makes me wonder if these ground crew guys took the time to walk the propellers thru and clear the cylinders? The Radial engines have their own qwerks, in terms of maintenance.
@@tyvernoverlord5363 Sorry mate not true......thats why American pilots were told never to get into a dogfight with the zero......it has been proven that the zero could out turn almost anything in the sky.You are correct about the toughness of the big American fighter and it could in theory survive a dogfight with the zero but not recommended as the zero was much more nimble. Got to be greatful for the Hellcat though....it changed the tide of the war in the pacific.
@@neilgutteridge6405 You might be thinking of the woefully outclassed F2A Buffalo(so much so that the buffalo was nixed after midway), P36 Hawk, F4F Wildcat, and P40 Warhawk. Interestingly the P39 Aircobra nearly matched the Zero in capability. The word to not outright dog fight it came from the AVG(Flying Tigers) do to their experience in smashing zeros over china. From '38 on America started loving new dog fighting regime: "energy" fighting. He who is quicker and pulls more g's and sustains them in the turn along with deft maneuvering is the killing victor of the fight. Why do you think this facet has been the belief since 1945 into the fighter age of the 21st century? Because it's reality. The P38 had innumerable aces(100+) and was the paragon of american "energy" fighting, it had a VERY lively and succesful career as the "twinned-boom terror", the bane of the Japanese Naval Airforces; and was the instrument of choice in the plan to kill Yamamoto. From 12 '42 to VJ day it was the principle air superiority fighter of choice. The 13:1 Kill ratio of the F6F Hellcat alone should alone prove to you that it was a zero killer. The GREAT MARIANAS *TURKEY SHOOT* should itself be proof that your doubt is misplaced. The fact that the Akutan Zero was a bit of a revelation in Grumman's development team should tell you something of how dedicated America was in destroying the ever holy god status of the zero's reign in the skies should be another clue. That everything changed for the USN after 1943 most definitely should have peculated your senses. The fact that 305 cadets became enshrined as kings of the sky over the zero in only 2 years should be another. The Hellcat was god in all but name in relation to the zero's jesus. It was THE superior plane. The zero mod 52 was the only thing a hellcat pilot had to concentrate over not dying from, and yet due to tactics and energy the mod 52 became a mere mosquito; an annoyance to be destroyed. The navy decided to gift select squadrons of their "gods" with with god gear of radar, just to make it even harder for the zero's lifetime. The N1K was the only true opponent worthy of the hellcat, but it was wasn't a kingslayer; but a kingmaker. The P-51, the plane I think most every American post war agrees would be the piston plane of god's personal choice. It had superior range, could get a zero to gtfo a bomber formation, could handedly swipe the zero away; and do everything but make julian fries. The Mustang was birthed by the fathers of energy fight theory; heavy, steady, fast, and rearing to kill. So iconic was the thoroughbred that it was mistakenly id'd as the kwaii little ki-61. The actual performance of the Spitfire tor Mustang evened out, but the range of the skypony was frankly: superior. German pilots thought the American dream machine wasn't too op to handle, documentation provides a large roflmao; especially given that the P-51 fighter force was ordered to hunt, find, search, and -destroy- murderize the luftwaffe on the ground and sky. So, being the warbird that cucked germany out of its masculinity and genocidal ways; what do you think happend to the zero, produced by the country we nuked the reality out of? Of course the caveat is that the Alicorn in reality went through late '44 to VJ in a op tempo that could be compared to a summer's stroll. The F4U, the fucka u too!, the fame of the infamous Black Sheep Squadron. A second placing k/d of 11:1, the marines and the navy(though begrudgingly) loved and adored the pirate king making machine. Despite it being the original "widow maker", rest easy members of the V-22 and AV-8B communities, it was found to be a nicely handling plane suitable to the rigers of naval carrier warfare. Fighter Command Pacific was concerned with parts availability for a time, these issues turned out to be much of nothing. The marines got their crayon eating grubblets on the bird and decided that zeros were better than crayons, at least in 1942 they were. The saint val's massacre was a bit of a revelation; the marines learned that the swash buckling hero of the pacific, did indeed absolutely not no thank you ma'am perform the good deed of escorting big bertha and her beautiful court; he liked being a bad boy, and the roid rage infused minds of marine aviation command concurred, yes: we kill and we only kill; thus they set their eyes for the meanest baddest proudest son of a bitch in the sky: the zero, and the showdown was; apocalyptic. In may '43 the lord of the skies proclaimed to the empire that their queenly machine: the zero; was the bandog's b slice, and he liked doing her openly and thoroughly rough on the beach. The bad boy did confirm his greaser group of vitamin c deficient posse died less than anybody. For these reasons the corsair is the bulldog of the pacific. The P-47 thunder-b, the fatest thing in all the land to be graced with the saintly proscribed the epithet of fighter. The armored flying pork loin should've been a blood bank for the mosquito swarm of zero's, but god has a particular sense of humor. Boom-n'-zoom was the name to the zeus queen's claim to fame; let's be honest this thing can't even energy fight, and the army air corp agreed with reality at least this once; just this once. The single seated big girthy chode in the sky called a fighter saw a measly amount of air to air against zeros; but it proved that the cushion does indeed, do the pushin'. The try hard edition of the flying sky fat acceptance movement, the P-47N really arrived too late to do what its chunkier older brothers had done. Here's were the zero fails as a fighter... -No armor plating -Thin skinned -Pilot training was inadequate for the type of war the pacific theater became -At speed the canopy was difficult to egress from while bailing out -Highly susceptible to catching fire -Duralumin isn't the best aluminum alloy type to make your fighters with -The Sakae engine wasn't really well suited to combating mid and late war american fighters and failed to perform -Unprotected fuel tanks -Limited fuel for a frontline warbird -At speed it was hard to control and proved difficult to maneuver -Engine carburetor had the same issue as the Spitfire -American fighter schools and rotating seasoned vets through to teach nuggets, tactics, and the akutan zero being recovered and both static and ground tested -A mod 52 was captured and new insights were gained -The deadly 20mm's were low velocity short ranged snub guns -Duralumin is susceptable to the environment, american early 7075 wasn't -.50BMG went through it like a body heated knife through thawed butter -The flying tiger's boom-n'-zoom tactics mauled the zero; especially when the second generation fighters came into play in '43 -The zero was made to be all zip and nimble; but the second gen "energy" fighters of the USAAC, USMC, and USN ran the zero ragged -They were built for over-matching "western" planes of the same decade, but couldn't hold a hope to the american fighters from '42 onward -Its prowess, is ill gained and unearned; the american military treated it like a mythological spaceship and after pearl this largely went away; why? because after 12/7/41 it was a very *known* entity -Radio comms were nonexistant -After Midway, the zero became lunch for every competent american in the sky...
@@neilgutteridge6405 true same with the corsair we had no plane that could turn inside a zero.if the zero had better fuel tanks and some armor we would of had are hands full.wonder how the spitfire would of faired
For these two babies, read "My Harley and my Honda". Rule 1. DO NOT engage a zero in a dogfight. You will lose! Out gun it, out climb it, and out dive it. You stand a chance then.
Maintaining momentum is rule number 1 of dogfighting and the Hellcat was better at it than any Zero. The Zero was light but had no power. Wildcats were just too heavy and weak vs the Zero at the start of the war. Hellcat turned the tables.
Benters-You're thinking of the wildcat. The hellcat was superior to the zero in nearly every way. Hell, that was pretty much the design specifications given to Grumman for it haha. Beat the zero in every way.
If he was priming to much fuel would be pouring out from the over flow and too much in the cylinders would cause an exhaust fire this is how they are at start up seen it loads of times on many different types of radial they can be hard to start no engine management systems on these.
What is the function of the guy wagging his index finger? I’m pretty sure the pilot can see if he’s getting prop rotation. And better yet he’s actually pointing to the engine being started. Are there options on single engine fighters???
I don’t understand why so many pilots seems to have trouble starting these motors. There’s obviously something that I personally don’t know, so if anybody could help me understand, I’d greatly appreciate the information.
It's pretty safe to say any existing Zero that's flying has been pieced together from other planes. That's actually a Pratt & Whitney engine in that plane soooooooo.....
This is just a question but can someone tell why there is a need for a guy to stand at the side of an aeroplane pointing at the propeller with one hand and twirling his finger in the air with the other looking at the pilot, surly the pilot can see the propeller rotating from inside the cockpit, after all he's the one in control of fuel, ignition and start-up button!!!.
Phil Matthews Clearance for prop to turn, eyes on the ground for any leaks or fires that go unsighted, etc. Also anything else that may be happening, he is the guy to communicate with the pilot.
![[TH] 2024 PMSL SEA W2D5 | Fall | พลาดวันนี้ จะต้องเสียใจ](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/A5-Cuo12p6A/mqdefault.jpg)
The P-51 and Corsair were the glamorous pair, but the Hellcat was a no frills killer.
Hellcat had highest kill to loss ratio
it was completely underrated. It had a 19:1 kill ratio and decimated the Zero.
Hellcats scored 5,200 kills in 2 years over the Japanese.
My favourite tale about the F6F happened in the mid 1950's when a unmanned QF6F drone lost contact with remote control, kept flying on its own and even evaded (then brand new) two F-89 Scorpion jet sent to shoot it down.
Just got done arguing with people about the f4u corsair they said was the best.i said no it was hard to fly lousy carrier plane.
If it wasn't for boyington you probably never here about it.the hellcat was the best fighter of ww2 the p51 was the best bomber escort numbers tell the story
Man !! The sound and the look of the Hellcat . What a beast!!
Best fighter of. WWII
🎃
breath takeing! I bet no one during the war ever thought these two birds of death would fly next to one another peacefully.
When people see these machines of war flying gracefully around the sky people don't realise those planes are killers and still could do the job they are designed to do
@@steventhornton4716it’s not the plane, it’s the pilot
@@soupy2jz893 but the two become one
That Hellcat is painted up with the USS Randolph markings. My father rode her in the Pacific with these birds aboard. They were Zero-killers.
That is awesome! Turkey shoot!
I had never heard that. Was it standard practice to use different paint schemes to delineate planes from different carriers?
@@demef758 yeah, most of the squadrons will have their indentical mark:the Bunker Hill's was an arrow,Randolph was like in the video,....
I was privileged to know and recreate with one of the Hellcat Aces from the Randolph (also the Hornet). Lt. J G Dan Carmichael of Columbus, Ohio was a true hero of the Greatest Generation. You might be interested in his obituary in the Columbus Dispatch. He lived an amazing 91 years.
Thanks! Nice!
One of my uncles flew a Hellcat in WW2. He was a certified ace with 6 or 8 kills in the Pacific theater until he was shot down. He was picked up hours later by a US Navy ship.
Your uncles name?
The men that made those fly had balls of steel.
Josh Stakey .....young men often think their invincible .....
No "safe space" for them.
no SJWS or snowflakes there.
@@babygretz5 Maybe some do, but I bet that most of those magnificent young guys HOPED they were invincible.
かつて敵だった国の戦闘機をここまで大切に保存してもらってるのはありがたい
Rear Admiral Edward "Whitey" Feightner 98 yrs old ace. I visit him weekly he loves to watch TH-cam videos I bring to him old footage of his days on the Big E and behind his cockpit of the his Hellcat . God bless him !
Nothing beats the sound of a radial.
Nothing......
Only a Rolls Royce Merlin! hahahaha
Sultros Drunknsage exactly right!
Interestingly, both the Japanese Nakajima Sakae and the Russian Shetsov ASH radials were derived from license built versions ot the American Radials.
Escape Velocity except 2 radials
favorite WW2 carrier fighter. w00t!!
Both beautiful machines. So cool they have a Zero in working order!
From it's best of strength views or angles, the F6F is a damn good looking airplane! Combat proven, safe flying too!
The Hellcat sounds like a muscle car and zero sounds like a Toyota Camry
I am guessing that Zero has an American P&W engine. I am only aware of one Zero flying with original Japanese type engine. The A6M was introduced in 1940 and was revolutionary for its range, speed, maneuverability, and use of 20MM cannons to be used in its interceptor role against multi-engine bombers. Technology changed fast in the 40s and an airplane introduced in 1940 could not expect to be as good as a plane introduced in 1942. The A6M was still a dangerous plane even late in the war but Japan did not have enough competent pilots at that point to give any design a better than even chance.
And just like a Camry it started first time too :)
This is the flying heritage collection that zero is the only one flying with an original sakae radial
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Planes of Fame’s zero is the only airworthy one with the Sakae radial.
Imagine dozens of these starting up. Ground must be shaking
Carrier decks with dozens running!
True story - I was on a flight line at an airshow as part of a documentary crew and the WWII warbirds all started to turn props as we were wrapping up an interview. All the aircraft around us were packed in pretty right and there was about 30 aircraft around us on the apron winding up and kicking into life. Cement and tarmac apron and you could feel it in your feet and absolutely in your chest. The noise and the smoke and the smell hitting the senses all at once.
Didn't Realize How Beautiful The Zero's Were ... That's SAYING Something, Because I Really L O V E The Hellcat 😁
I would make sweet, sweet, beautiful love to that plane I'd they ever let me near one.
More wing surface area than the P-38 lightning,,Corsair,and P-47 Thunderbolt...one bad ass bitch to many duties and to many BRUTAL numbers to list. Structurally designed to take loads of gunfire and still fly, and lands Greatly on a Aircraft Carrier Deemed the Big Blu Blanket over The Pacific
Hellcat had plenty of armor for the 7 mm machine guns of the Zero. My father was duty officer for Hellcat-flying VF-81 on the Wasp (CV-18) so I've read about these all my life. And I've come to the conclusion that they were built for OJT service, allowing rookie fighter pilots a chance to learn aerial combat. They were loaded with 1" armor.
jockellis So true my dad hit by flak over Truk. When he landed back on the Essex he was missing part of wing and two cylinders. I took him to a airshow and he sat and talked to the pilot of a f4f wildcat for two hours. Both were in there late 80's.
Hey Jock, The Zero also had two-20mm cannon.....
Josef Trumpeldor the Japanese hated the 20mms. They are very ineffective because if the pilots of the damn thing say so. Then you got nothing
@@steveb6103 That must have been awesome to see and hear! I was in the Navy and flew and dove in Truk and saw the damage they did underwater!
@@hammerofdavey 60 rounds per gun for the 20mm, versus 500 rounds each for the 7.7mm (two of each gun on a plane). You better be darn sure of your shot before expensing that precious 20mm!
You're always hearing of all the other WWII fighters, except the one they should be talking about the most. The Hellcat, the highest kill to loss ratio in the entire war, and the most planes downed then all others combined in the Pacific theater.
Once I get this engine to keep running I'm gonna go as high up in the air as I can!
One hell of a powerful airplane . Once they took to the pacific skies. Japan realized the war was lost. God bless the brave men flying them 🙏
Seeing these 2 planes sitting together conjured an image of them both immediately turning toward one another on the tarmac and opening fire.
The pivot of 90 degrees to airstream of gear doors are a brief air brake that would tend to nose her down. Tail wheel unlocks for differential wheel brake maneuvers. Lock tail wheel in straight castor angle for take off roll.
Wing fold reduced her to 24 foot for storage.
The slight prop to deck clearance required three point landing attitude besides your trying to grab arresting rope w tail hook.
The Zero’s wing tip fold required no heavy mechanism but only reduced her enough for elevator clearance. And less deck space in storage. Lack of self sealing fuel tanks and no armor plate meant any hits were pretty much terminal.
Zero pilots got a rude awakening when the Hellcat showed up. They thought they were Wildcats and that the pilots were green newbies who didn't know any better than to follow them up into a steep climb. But it didn't end well for the Zero pilots. Instead lining up an easy kill on a stalled Wildcat fluttering like a duck, the last thing they saw before they were vaporized was the flash of the Hellcat's 50 cal's, courtesy of its 2,000 HP double wasp engine.
2,000 HP Pratt & Whitney R2800
Your Americans are so funny😂😂😂 Good for Hellcat Pilots they never must fight to Bf109 or Fw190😉
The same happened when corsairs faced the migs 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@nahualollin61 Oh, you mean like the time when Capt. Jesse Folmar flying a F4U Corsair from VMA-312 was able to destroy one of two MiG-15s that had bounced both him and his wingman?😂
@@GTX1123 if you say so buddy but dont worry that was the beginning of china kicking your ass in every war and filling you country with fentanyl 🙂
Those backfires sounded so cool. Sounded like a gun went off
Shotgun start
The Hellcat was designed and built for one purpose only...to shoot down Zeros and any other plane the Japanese were foolish enough to put in the air! I believe the Hellcat is credited with over 5000 aerial kills alone. It wasn’t the prettiest, it wasn’t the fastest, and it wasn’t glamorous. She was a killer. David McCampbell, Navy ace of aces, said it was the best airplane he ever flew. Great power, extremely manoeuvrable, lethal firepower, tough as nails and very easy to land on carriers. A specific plane for a specific role. Well done, old girl🇺🇸⚓️🇺🇸
If a fighter aircraft can be said to be beautiful this is certainly one of the most beautiful. I love the clean lines of this machine.
4 Carmybel agree I’ve always been into cars because their lines and now recently I’ve got into planes and I admire their history and their lines even tho I won’t ever own one I do own a couple 1/48 scale models I’ve built and I can admire those
😊I like that kind of start,plenty of oil circulation before the power and revs really hits !
I love the sound of those round motors..so awesome.
Due to losses and lack of training mid to late war, the Imperial Japanese Navy AF was a shadow of its former self, yet in the hands of a capable pilot the Zero in all its forms was still a formidable dog fighter.
Alex Williamson even in a hellcat the hell car can match in a turning fight if skilled but it’s a rare most of the time hellcat pilots prefer to either out dive the Zero or fight head on or attack from ambush positions because many US pilots respect the hell out of the Zero despite having a more technological advantage also the Zero is more maneuverable then the hellcat due to being light and the hellcat is still heavy and too fast
wow built for performance this thing is made to fly you can tell take a bit to wake the beast but once u do the power shows
Even though the F6F couldn't top 400 mph it was still faster than the Zero and could turn with it. As pointed out below it had a high kill ratio. It may have been the safest fighter of WWII.
Love the sound a a Big Radial Engine while at Idle.
Magnificent machines. Despite the fact that they were originally designed for grim purposes. Still, awesome.
Peitsa Suoniemi .....grim purposes ??? freeing millions from tyranny & enslavement ?
but I know what you meant....
@@babygretz5 what? It's a war machine meant to kill.
Considering that She 's older than Most people on the tarmak that Was an Awsome Start up
It’s like the flight of the Phoenix
Wow.....hellcat is a one thicc plane
The hellcat always hated cold starts even on deck could also have had oil collected in the bottom cylinders that it couldn't clear hence the missfire
Can't wait to have the TAMIYA, Academy Hobbymodelkits, and the AIRFIX modelkits.
The Hellcat did so well because it wasn’t flying against Japans top aviators. The Wildcat took care of them.
The perspective makes it look like the ground crew guys is so close to the propeller!
...and a ZERO TOO!,...interesting that the camouflage was on the prop spinner too. Makes for a cool illusion but not sure the Japanese ever did that. Prop spinner color was used to signify which squadron the aircraft belonged to, I believe.
modeler308 I only know the Kaga and Akagi Zeros because the Akagi Zero has one red stripe while the Kaga has two red stripes the other Japanese carries have different stripes like blue or bright white while the Japanese Army Zeroes have none and just a green color
I believe this F6F HELLCAT is of the Carrier CV 15 Randolph judging from its paint scheme and markings...
love the Hellcat .
I would like to see the hellcat and the T-bolt parked with each other just for the size comparison. They both had similar engines
ooooo ho ho.. listen to that kitty purrrrrr.... .
Hellcat is a brute.
You really had to pay attention on the flight deck in the propeller era. There was an awful lot going on.
You bet! I read in Ted Lawson's book "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo" that one of the boys on the Hornet's flight deck had his arm clipped off by one of the B-25 props when they were preparing to take off for the Doolittle raid. Lawson was one of the pilots. I wouldn't be surprised if that happened occasionally on every navy's carriers.
Beautiful old war birds.
spitfire still myt fav how this plane starts with a bang tho lol
Ha! I saw myself behind the fence!
Thanks for this info Minibull037, I never thought of this, I watch video's on this site of aeroplanes starting up in America and the pilot's always shouts "Clear Prop", I must admit I have not noticed this before when watching other aircraft from other countries starting up, must be more vigilant in future. Thanks again.
Sub-par camera work. Stupendous aircraft.
The angry purr of the Hellcat drowned out the zero
The hellcat was like the gangster you’d hire of the street to take care of your competitors
The F6F is like the guy you would hire to rid you of all the gangsters.
Notice the 2 fire extinguishers these planes were notorious for catching fire at start up
How long was this plane sitting? My 85 Toyota sat for a year while i was living in Asia. Put a can of "Stable" in the tank before leaving. When i returned i shot some starter fluid in the carb after hooking up my battery. Started in a few cranks! My FI Triumph motorcycle was even faster. Drained the fuel system (tank + floats) before leaving (sitting gas gums up everything). Put fresh gas in the tank, filled the floats with gas and cranked her over. A minute of spark and boom she was purring like a 🐈 kitten.😲As the old saying goes....an Ounce of Prevention is worth a Pound of Cure. Sitting gas for more than a month will turn to thick honey and gum up your fuel system. You'd have to flush out all that sludge to get your motor running. Horrible job!
Imagine the aircrews back then. Lol.
I doubt they had the same problem.
It's a common radial problem, they definitely dealt with it back in the day
Imagine, by wars end there were lots and lots of hellcats. Some were radio control targets. Brand spanking new.
Watching the Hellcat start up, makes me wonder if these ground crew guys took the time to walk the propellers thru and clear the cylinders? The Radial engines have their own qwerks, in terms of maintenance.
There is footage of ground crews cycling the prop in ww2 still nothing like a radial engine though!
Geee,, I wonder if they know that? You should write in......
This is a cold start. In wartime the crew chief eould start the engine and let it warm up before the pilots came out.
Superb plane.
That start up sounded like my snowblower on a 15 degree morning.
A wild cat and a p47 had a baby = the hell cat
LOL!
John, the Corsair was murderous, the hellcat is badass but it’s not a Corsair, I’d take the Pepsi challenge all day long
Watch this video and get goosebumps when it lights up.Skyraider Engine Start-up and Taxi
Is huge!!
The zero looks like a kitty compare to this
Thank God the Japanese always gave the Americans enough time to start up their engines. Nice lads
Alfonso Llana nice joke..
Not hard to do when you've got early warning radar
hellcat will smoke the zero
Only using hit and run tactics......a zero would run rings around it in a dogfight.
@@neilgutteridge6405 Not really, a hellcat had no problem hanging off the six of a zero and punching rounds in; especially with an experienced hand
@@tyvernoverlord5363
Sorry mate not true......thats why American pilots were told never to get into a dogfight with the zero......it has been proven that the zero could out turn almost anything in the sky.You are correct about the toughness of the big American fighter and it could in theory survive a dogfight with the zero but not recommended as the zero was much more nimble.
Got to be greatful for the Hellcat though....it changed the tide of the war in the pacific.
@@neilgutteridge6405 You might be thinking of the woefully outclassed F2A Buffalo(so much so that the buffalo was nixed after midway), P36 Hawk, F4F Wildcat, and P40 Warhawk. Interestingly the P39 Aircobra nearly matched the Zero in capability. The word to not outright dog fight it came from the AVG(Flying Tigers) do to their experience in smashing zeros over china.
From '38 on America started loving new dog fighting regime: "energy" fighting. He who is quicker and pulls more g's and sustains them in the turn along with deft maneuvering is the killing victor of the fight. Why do you think this facet has been the belief since 1945 into the fighter age of the 21st century? Because it's reality.
The P38 had innumerable aces(100+) and was the paragon of american "energy" fighting, it had a VERY lively and succesful career as the "twinned-boom terror", the bane of the Japanese Naval Airforces; and was the instrument of choice in the plan to kill Yamamoto. From 12 '42 to VJ day it was the principle air superiority fighter of choice.
The 13:1 Kill ratio of the F6F Hellcat alone should alone prove to you that it was a zero killer. The GREAT MARIANAS *TURKEY SHOOT* should itself be proof that your doubt is misplaced. The fact that the Akutan Zero was a bit of a revelation in Grumman's development team should tell you something of how dedicated America was in destroying the ever holy god status of the zero's reign in the skies should be another clue. That everything changed for the USN after 1943 most definitely should have peculated your senses. The fact that 305 cadets became enshrined as kings of the sky over the zero in only 2 years should be another. The Hellcat was god in all but name in relation to the zero's jesus. It was THE superior plane. The zero mod 52 was the only thing a hellcat pilot had to concentrate over not dying from, and yet due to tactics and energy the mod 52 became a mere mosquito; an annoyance to be destroyed. The navy decided to gift select squadrons of their "gods" with with god gear of radar, just to make it even harder for the zero's lifetime. The N1K was the only true opponent worthy of the hellcat, but it was wasn't a kingslayer; but a kingmaker.
The P-51, the plane I think most every American post war agrees would be the piston plane of god's personal choice. It had superior range, could get a zero to gtfo a bomber formation, could handedly swipe the zero away; and do everything but make julian fries. The Mustang was birthed by the fathers of energy fight theory; heavy, steady, fast, and rearing to kill. So iconic was the thoroughbred that it was mistakenly id'd as the kwaii little ki-61. The actual performance of the Spitfire tor Mustang evened out, but the range of the skypony was frankly: superior. German pilots thought the American dream machine wasn't too op to handle, documentation provides a large roflmao; especially given that the P-51 fighter force was ordered to hunt, find, search, and -destroy- murderize the luftwaffe on the ground and sky. So, being the warbird that cucked germany out of its masculinity and genocidal ways; what do you think happend to the zero, produced by the country we nuked the reality out of? Of course the caveat is that the Alicorn in reality went through late '44 to VJ in a op tempo that could be compared to a summer's stroll.
The F4U, the fucka u too!, the fame of the infamous Black Sheep Squadron. A second placing k/d of 11:1, the marines and the navy(though begrudgingly) loved and adored the pirate king making machine. Despite it being the original "widow maker", rest easy members of the V-22 and AV-8B communities, it was found to be a nicely handling plane suitable to the rigers of naval carrier warfare. Fighter Command Pacific was concerned with parts availability for a time, these issues turned out to be much of nothing. The marines got their crayon eating grubblets on the bird and decided that zeros were better than crayons, at least in 1942 they were. The saint val's massacre was a bit of a revelation; the marines learned that the swash buckling hero of the pacific, did indeed absolutely not no thank you ma'am perform the good deed of escorting big bertha and her beautiful court; he liked being a bad boy, and the roid rage infused minds of marine aviation command concurred, yes: we kill and we only kill; thus they set their eyes for the meanest baddest proudest son of a bitch in the sky: the zero, and the showdown was; apocalyptic. In may '43 the lord of the skies proclaimed to the empire that their queenly machine: the zero; was the bandog's b slice, and he liked doing her openly and thoroughly rough on the beach. The bad boy did confirm his greaser group of vitamin c deficient posse died less than anybody. For these reasons the corsair is the bulldog of the pacific.
The P-47 thunder-b, the fatest thing in all the land to be graced with the saintly proscribed the epithet of fighter. The armored flying pork loin should've been a blood bank for the mosquito swarm of zero's, but god has a particular sense of humor. Boom-n'-zoom was the name to the zeus queen's claim to fame; let's be honest this thing can't even energy fight, and the army air corp agreed with reality at least this once; just this once. The single seated big girthy chode in the sky called a fighter saw a measly amount of air to air against zeros; but it proved that the cushion does indeed, do the pushin'. The try hard edition of the flying sky fat acceptance movement, the P-47N really arrived too late to do what its chunkier older brothers had done.
Here's were the zero fails as a fighter...
-No armor plating
-Thin skinned
-Pilot training was inadequate for the type of war the pacific theater became
-At speed the canopy was difficult to egress from while bailing out
-Highly susceptible to catching fire
-Duralumin isn't the best aluminum alloy type to make your fighters with
-The Sakae engine wasn't really well suited to combating mid and late war american fighters and failed to perform
-Unprotected fuel tanks
-Limited fuel for a frontline warbird
-At speed it was hard to control and proved difficult to maneuver
-Engine carburetor had the same issue as the Spitfire
-American fighter schools and rotating seasoned vets through to teach nuggets, tactics, and the akutan zero being recovered and both static and ground tested
-A mod 52 was captured and new insights were gained
-The deadly 20mm's were low velocity short ranged snub guns
-Duralumin is susceptable to the environment, american early 7075 wasn't
-.50BMG went through it like a body heated knife through thawed butter
-The flying tiger's boom-n'-zoom tactics mauled the zero; especially when the second generation fighters came into play in '43
-The zero was made to be all zip and nimble; but the second gen "energy" fighters of the USAAC, USMC, and USN ran the zero ragged
-They were built for over-matching "western" planes of the same decade, but couldn't hold a hope to the american fighters from '42 onward
-Its prowess, is ill gained and unearned; the american military treated it like a mythological spaceship and after pearl this largely went away; why? because after 12/7/41 it was a very *known* entity
-Radio comms were nonexistant
-After Midway, the zero became lunch for every competent american in the sky...
@@neilgutteridge6405 true same with the corsair we had no plane that could turn inside a zero.if the zero had better fuel tanks and some armor we would of had are hands full.wonder how the spitfire would of faired
Great to see them side by side. Love big radial engines. what PW engine does the Zero have now?
Needs some Marvelous Mystery Oil.
For these two babies, read "My Harley and my Honda". Rule 1. DO NOT engage a zero in a dogfight. You will lose! Out gun it, out climb it, and out dive it. You stand a chance then.
Graham Bentley hellcat does it all
Maintaining momentum is rule number 1 of dogfighting and the Hellcat was better at it than any Zero. The Zero was light but had no power. Wildcats were just too heavy and weak vs the Zero at the start of the war. Hellcat turned the tables.
Graham Bentley In other words, Mike Tyson the MFers.
Benters-You're thinking of the wildcat. The hellcat was superior to the zero in nearly every way. Hell, that was pretty much the design specifications given to Grumman for it haha. Beat the zero in every way.
An F6-F could do all of that with a Zero.
Best DAMN navy fighter of the Pacific war .
Gotta love how the zero started without a hitch.
The Zero is also running a modern radial engine….
a hell cat & a Zero. give it Hell
This plane reminds me of Benny fromTop cat cartoon-chunky
the way that thing was smoking and backfiring he was flooding it.
If he was priming to much fuel would be pouring out from the over flow and too much in the cylinders would cause an exhaust fire this is how they are at start up seen it loads of times on many different types of radial they can be hard to start no engine management systems on these.
What is the function of the guy wagging his index finger? I’m pretty sure the pilot can see if he’s getting prop rotation. And better yet he’s actually pointing to the engine being started. Are there options on single engine fighters???
I don’t understand why so many pilots seems to have trouble starting these motors. There’s obviously something that I personally don’t know, so if anybody could help me understand, I’d greatly appreciate the information.
very nice video!
Radial engines don't like cold engine oil I found out. Warm oil does matter.
how do they get parts for engines that haven't been manufactured since the 1950's?
the hellcat is pretty old that's why the engine is hard to start same as my car lol
It was completely rebuilt so it's as new.
Very nice!
Grumman Iron Works FTW!
The Mustang fought like John Wick. The Hellcat fought like Jack Reacher.
Do these often have trouble starting at air shows because they aren't started as often as one would've been on a carrier?
a beast!
When these planes had to muster on aircraft carriers during WW II did it take this long to start them?
Hellcats must have been made by American Motors.
I know you are... but what am I?
DrChicago legend 😂😂😂
hellcat made by Grumman GM made f4f's as Fm1/2 & tbf as the tbm avenger
It's pretty safe to say any existing Zero that's flying has been pieced together from other planes. That's actually a Pratt & Whitney engine in that plane soooooooo.....
94XJ yeah cause the only original nakijima engine is in a Zero in Japan
You hardly hear the "Zero". Both great planes.
They didn't call it the Grumman Iron Works for nothing.
The Hellcat sounds like it's running on two cylinders
What a Bad Girl!
By the time they got the engine started the enemy bombed the entire city...
What if Bearcats had showed up sooner?
Backfire caused by the throttle being way too far open!
This is just a question but can someone tell why there is a need for a guy to stand at the side of an aeroplane pointing at the propeller with one hand and twirling his finger in the air with the other looking at the pilot, surly the pilot can see the propeller rotating from inside the cockpit, after all he's the one in control of fuel, ignition and start-up button!!!.
Phil Matthews Clearance for prop to turn, eyes on the ground for any leaks or fires that go unsighted, etc. Also anything else that may be happening, he is the guy to communicate with the pilot.
How do you argue with six 50's?
Why is that dufus standing so close to the blades?
time for a tune up?
That Zero's a replica, isn't it?
No. Multi-year restoration.