Hellcats drone

[Mgawa]

Greetings all,

I have make a dosen of profiles of Hellcat but never do any drone. First I would like to know does this term fit for the flying targets or the gided bomb version or Hellcat is used in both missions? Any special unit designated for this?

All I know is that they are used in Korea as flying bombs but not much info and no image.

Cheers

[DoraNineFan]

A well-known photo of atomic testing drones from Operation Crossroads in 1946.


A guided-bomb Hellcat from 1952. (Guided Missile Unit 90) The original caption says the program was not successful.

[Mgawa]

DoraNineFan- thank you for this images No matter they are known, I see them for a first time. Excellent source

[tex-fan]

i ask this question on another thread, i hope yall don't mind me asking it here also.
i went to www.google.com
and due north of Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake main airport you'll find what looks like a salt lake with some various airplanes. two of them are "RED" . could these be a couple of these Hellcats still be sitting out there?

[DoraNineFan]

i ask this question on another thread, i hope yall don't mind me asking it here also.
i went to www.google.com
and due north of Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake main airport you'll find what looks like a salt lake with some various airplanes. two of them are "RED" . could these be a couple of these Hellcats still be sitting out there?

There are a lot of target aircraft at China Lake including some WWII types. But the Navy won't let anyone near them.

The caption dates this photo to 1971 and shows an F6F at China Lake.

[Mgawa]

This machine look like former Marines machine and that was all orange, before washing out.

[Nathan]

That first pic was taken at I beleive Johnsville NAS PA!

[Mgawa]

This is interesting machine

[John Dupre]

Is that China Lake machine the one that ended up at the New England Air Museum?

Also when I got back on this site a year or so ago I remember reading an account of someone who was recovering Hellcat parts from an Navy controlled island off CA that was used as part of a drone program. He remarked that the best F6F there was too close to some wildlife nesting site and after the Navy flew a Sierra Club member out by helicopter! they were forbidden to recover it. Wonder if it is still there?

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

That first pic was taken at I beleive Johnsville NAS PA!

The terrain doesn't match NAMU Johnsville. Remember Johnsville was never listed as a Naval Air Station. It looks more like Atlantic City or Wildwood with the sand just off the apron. The snow would match up with these places also.

[spookythecat]

I remember seeing pics of these on here a year or so ago and just had to add a Hellcat with a pink tail to my collection. It definately gets a second glance displayed at model shows. This is the 1/72 Hobby Boss kit.

[lestweforget]

Lovely model Al.

[spookythecat]

Lovely model Al.

Thanks! My girlfriend loves it too!

[Warbird Kid]

Might have to be right behind you on "Pinky" there. Now all I have to do is pick up a few Platz kits for cheap!

[mustangdriver]

Ha Ha do they even make pik spray paint. Cool Al.