F6F-5N

[1701E]

This thread so makes me wish my grandfather was still alive; could ask him about F6Fs since he flew them.  I can check his personal belongings we have, that may some info, seeing as that would likely be some of the more reliable sources.  Got his Journal, Picture book and Pilot log, maybe some mention of these models.

Personally I am happy with the F6F-5 we have now, it flies great.

[Bronk]

What's your source on that? I've never seen anything on four-bladed props on the F6F outside of test mules.

 

[Saxman]

Bronk,

As I said: Test mules. Where was that photo taken? What unit was it attached to? There's no indication in that photo that it was deployed to the combat area.

[Bronk]

Bronk,

As I said: Test mules. Where was that photo taken? What unit was it attached to? There's no indication in that photo that it was deployed to the combat area.

Shhh you're spoiling it.

Xf6f-6

[Saxman]

Lol!

Don't encourage him, you'll only get his hopes up. But then again it makes it more fun to dash them again.

[Thor84]

so all of you wouldnt want any of these versions in game?    all you guys seem to do is complain about ideas unless they are your own. or is it that none of you would want to face down the versions in game.............    all my wish is to have the performance brought up to snuff and the gun package that includes the 20mms.     radar equipped aircraft could have there uses but not the focus that i was looking at. and on a side note, night fighting would be great. ive been told that ahI had night fighting but people cryed about it and couldnt adapt.  bring on the all weather and night combat. have more of a challenge than dealing with other pilots in ideal conditions.

[Bronk]

so all of you wouldnt want any of these versions in game?    all you guys seem to do is complain about ideas unless they are your own. or is it that none of you would want to face down the versions in game.............    all my wish is to have the performance brought up to snuff and the gun package that includes the 20mms.     radar equipped aircraft could have there uses but not the focus that i was looking at. and on a side note, night fighting would be great. ive been told that ahI had night fighting but people cryed about it and couldnt adapt.  bring on the all weather and night combat. have more of a challenge than dealing with other pilots in ideal conditions.

Seriously... The pic I posted is of the XF6F-6. The "X" designation means experimental... we wont get that in game.
As for the hizooka equipped hellcat.. sure way on down the line. More important/numerous ac to be added first.

[FYB]

(Image removed from quote.)

 

*touch screen*  So SHINY. 

-FYB

[Puck]

so all of you wouldnt want any of these versions in game?    all you guys seem to do is complain about ideas unless they are your own. or is it that none of you would want to face down the versions in game.............    all my wish is to have the performance brought up to snuff and the gun package that includes the 20mms.   <snip>

I'd go after an XF6F-6 any day in my FG-2D...

I think you're reading us wrong, Thor; we're not opposed to any aircraft that fit the model (saw combat in WWII).  Yet another late-war monster ride is not high on my list, but there are plenty who disagree.  No matter what they do some will love it, some will call it a waste of time, some will just be happy to have shiny newness in the hanger.

New versions of existing aircraft is always a good suggestion.

[Saxman]

so all of you wouldnt want any of these versions in game?    all you guys seem to do is complain about ideas unless they are your own. or is it that none of you would want to face down the versions in game.............    all my wish is to have the performance brought up to snuff and the gun package that includes the 20mms.     radar equipped aircraft could have there uses but not the focus that i was looking at. and on a side note, night fighting would be great. ive been told that ahI had night fighting but people cryed about it and couldnt adapt.  bring on the all weather and night combat. have more of a challenge than dealing with other pilots in ideal conditions.

The point is you're asking for something that DID NOT SEE COMBAT. The four-bladed prop was NEVER installed on an operational Hellcat in the field, but on TWO test mules. The 20mm cannon package option was EXTREMELY rare. You're talking about maybe a couple dozen at BEST of an aircraft of which more than 12,000 were built--Check your numbers, but this is even FEWER than the number of F4U-1Cs and Ta-152. The instant you slap 20mms on the F6F you'll be seeing usage in the mains FAR disproportionate to its availability during the actual war.

I'm not saying that if there's a problem in the flight model it shouldn't be fixed. I'm also not saying that there's no place for night-fighters: I'd LIKE to see it, but the utility is going to be so limited that there's other aircraft that are MUCH more badly needed first. Night combat was EXTREMELY limited during the actual war: most full-time night-fighter squadrons saw the bulk of their combat action during daylight alongside "normal" fighter squadrons (you could count on one hand the number of all-night aces in the USN/MC and USAAF during WWII).

[Motherland]

point is include them all. p-47n is in the game allthough may be a bad example......  why do we have 5 or more versions of a couple and then one of another. give us the option of haveing the 20mm in the hellcat and the 4 bladed prop over the 3 blade. options for all the aircraft would be nice. especially when we are in the late war arenas.   late war being the most adanced part of the war.. just makes sense.  essentially when we fly the hellcat right now we are in the f6f-3.  im sure if you all thought for a few min that you all could find versions of aircraft or gvs that you would all like to be able to use and find an opposing vehicle that there are a few versions of. we all lobby for the changes we want. i wouldnt have started this if i hadnt read up on the versions of the hellcat. all i want are the same options for the hellcat as other more popular aircraft within the realm of what they actually did.

There's a reason we have... for example... 6 versions of the Bf.109 and a singular F6F. Why? The Messerschmitt Bf.109 saw combat in WWII in Europe from September 1st, 1939 until May 8th, 1945. It was even in use several years before and after the war. During the whole WWII period, it was one of the Luftwaffe's two (and for a few months three) main frontline fighter aircraft. It's the second most produced fighter aircraft of all time. It was the preferred mount of the highest scoring aces of all time. It had a plethora of versions with different purposes and performance. It saw combat in all European combat theaters.
Really, if HTC wanted to, they could add several more 109's and not be extremely redundant (that's talking from a Luftweenie's perspective though )

The F6F was an important aircraft, no doubt. But it's not really fair to draw comparisons to the 109. I'm not going to claim to be any kind of an expert on the Hellcat, I'll merely parrot what I've read... it saw combat first on September 1st, 1943, and was used for the last two years of the war, and then replaced by the Bearcat. From what I've read, it seems that the two main day fighter variants of the Hellcat were the F6F-3 and the F6F-5... I don't know why we don't have the -3, I'd imagine HTC had some reason for not modeling it when they redid the Hellcat several months ago, but it escapes me. Only a little over 12,000 Hellcats were built.

I'd love to see the F6F-3 to liven up the Pacific a bit, but you really can't expect HTC to have 6-7 variants of the Hellcat.

[Thor84]

you want to talk limited action. the f4u wasnt carrier qualified till very late in the war. yet we seem to have more than enuf versions of that flying around. the reason it wasnt qualified was the visibility was horrible when on approach to the carrier. and they had a tendancy to slip the tail twards the superstructure of the carrier. heres a great point, EVERY HELLCAT PRODUCED WAS CAPABLE OF REPLACING A PAIR OF .50s WITH A PAIR OF 20mm. was and option from the start. a gun package wouldnt be hard to do. while we are at it do you guys think they should put in all the p-40 versions ?         or is getting what we have all set and done to much? 

[Thor84]

as far as the source of me knowing that the f6f-5 used 4 bladed props in rarity.... my grandfather.

[moot]

In other words, an unverifiable source?

[Thor84]

my grandfather worked for pratt and whitney and started in 1942. he was the lead draftsmen and personally watched testing and the intial deployment of the refitted f6f-5