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The Hellcat was one of the most successful fighter aircraft of the Second World War. Simple and rugged, it could absorb a great deal of punishment. It was easy to fly and well armed. The Grumman factory produced over 12,000 Hellcats between 1942 and 1945.
After the war ended, Hellcats were sold to France and Uruguay. Some remained in service with U.S. Navy Reserves and training units. Some were used as flying bombs during the Korean war. Others were specially instrumented to fly through radioactive clouds from nuclear weapons tests, such as Operation Crossroads in 1946. Some F6F-5K drones were assigned to the Naval Missile Center at Point Mugu, California. Their operational blue paint schemes were replaced with bright red and yellow for high visibility.
