2 Hellcats at FHC ?

[Chuck Gardner]

I just heard from a reliable source that FHC had two Hellcats for a while and just recently sold one. I knew that one came from England and was in Doug Arnold's collection.
What is the story on the other aircraft and where did it go to?

[mrhenniger]

I don't know if this helps, but I saw this one at FHC when I was there in January...

Model: Grumman F6F -5K Hellcat
S/N: 79863 USN
C/N: A-11008
C/R: NX79863, F6F-5, 79863
Owner: Vulcan Warbirds Inc.
History: F6F-5K (1945) 79863 USN, N79683 (1972), to Vulcan Warbirds Inc. (2001/2/12)

I had the impression they were in the habit of one of each popuoar type, A6Ms excepted. They defintely wanted all the planes to be flyers. I also had the impression that they were busy with restorations, and had many in the queue waiting for attention. I think I was told the F6F needed work and wasn't yet a flyer (I could be wrong). Perhaps they acquired a flyer recently and sold off the first one thus relieving a little demand on the restoration crew?

Here is my report from the visit...
http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... ht=seattle

Interesting news.

Mike