F6F vs F4U Research

[Letalis]

There's a split here:  The following is taken from Widewing in a 2006 thread. 
(I think the F6F was definitely the better dogfighter but there's also the BnZ school.  The Corsair is closer to the 51 in terms of its ideal fighting tactics.  I'd also point out that in terms of exposure in air to air fighting, the F6F likely had more time in the spotlight as far as the Japanese were concerned.  Subsequently, it had more kills and a the more fearsome reputation to match)

Sadumu Komachi- "I think the best enemy fighter plane I fought against was the F6F. It was faster than our Zero and more powerful. It could dogfight, whereas the F4U could not. There was nothing more frightening than a Hellcat on your tail."

Takeo Tanaimizu- "The F4U was a tough plane, your bullets would just bounce off. I think the toughest opponent was the Grumman F6F. They could maneuver and roll, whereas planes like the P-38 and F4U made hit and run passes. The F6F could actually dogfight with us, and it was much faster and more powerful than our Zero."

Saburo Sakai- "The F6F was the best U.S. Navy fighter. I fought them over Iwo Jima for the first time in June of 1944 and I was shocked at how much Grummans had improved since 1942."

Sadaaki Akamtsu- "In my opinion, the P-51 was the most dangerous American fighter because of its incredible speed. After the P-51 I believe the F6F was the most dangerous, because it was faster and more maneuverable than my Raiden."

[BaldEagl]

I don't think you can think in terms of F6F.  I think you have to think in terms of FxF and group at least the F4F and F6F's together if not reach even further back (or forward) in the line.  Even the F3F was a very similar design.  If you do that then the F4U clearly becomes the more formidable aircraft, however the F4F was in use in such large numbers that it's replacement by the F6F in substabtially equal numbers with improved performance over the F4F gave the Americans an immediate edge on the Japanese aircraft.

At the same time the development of the AxM series of Japanese aircraft wasn't nearly as significant and the F6F caught them flat footed.

The F4U being a relatively newer design wasn't intoduced until well after the FxF series had become the entrenched Naval standard and, as others have already stated, was too late to the action to achieve the same type of technological surprise that the F6F had to the AxM series even though it may have been technologically superior to either.

As far as K/D remember, it will vary among dissimilar aircraft.  You may want to look into what was doing the killing and what was doing the dieing to find enlightement.

[Letalis]

I don't think you can think in terms of F6F.  I think you have to think in terms of FxF and group at least the F4F and F6F's together if not reach even further back (or forward) in the line.  Even the F3F was a very similar design.  If you do that then the F4U clearly becomes the more formidable aircraft, however the F4F was in use in such large numbers that it's replacement by the F6F in substabtially equal numbers with improved performance over the F4F gave the Americans an immediate edge on the Japanese aircraft.

At the same time the development of the AxM series of Japanese aircraft wasn't nearly as significant and the F6F caught them flat footed.

The F4U being a relatively newer design wasn't intoduced until well after the FxF series had become the entrenched Naval standard and, as others have already stated, was too late to the action to achieve the same type of technological surprise that the F6F had to the AxM series even though it may have been technologically superior to either.

As far as K/D remember, it will vary among dissimilar aircraft.  You may want to look into what was doing the killing and what was doing the dieing to find enlightement.

This is thinking "F6F."  It was a completely different than the Wildcat.  Comparing the Hellcat to the Corsair is the intent here and it is a viable undertaking given the information available.  Taking the average of the FxF line and comparing it to the F4U will make it look more formidable, but would also be an irrelevant conclusion for the topic at hand.  "Technological surprise" theory doesn't make too much sense given that the F4U saw combat 6 months before the F6F.  BTW, the F4U prototype flew two years PRIOR to the Hellcat.  K/D will vary among dissimilar aircraft, but operational factors play a much larger role in who does the killing vs. the dying.  (See Winter War)     

[Karnak]

At the same time the development of the AxM series of Japanese aircraft wasn't nearly as significant and the F6F caught them flat footed.

The fact that the IJN completely botched the development of the A7M, going against the advice of Jiro Horikoshi, didn't help them at all.