32. The Fighter That Swept the Japanese From the Skies
Early in the Pacific War, American naval aviators were shocked upon discovering that their standard fighter, the F4F Wildcat, was outclassed in many ways by the faster, more maneuverable, and longer-ranged Japanese Zero. Corrective procedures and tactics were adopted to counter the Zero’s advantages and play up to the Wildcat’s strengths. However, such measures were just a stopgap: what was really needed was a new and improved fighter.
Grumman, which had been working on a successor to the F4F prior to America’s entry into the war, sped things up after the attack on Pearl Harbor. They took what became the F6F Hellcat fighter from the experimental stage to operational employment in a mere 18 months. It was everything that the Navy’s aviators had dreamt of, and more. It would end up sweeping the Japanese from the skies.
