Grumman Hellcat question

[Daryl J.]

How could one get 3-4 combat ready F6F's into N. Africa after WW-II and sound somewhat plausible?   

Could a few of the Hellcats that officially were pushed off the carriers at the end of WW-II actually have flown out a day before disposal for parts unknown by a U.S. backed operation and thereby were stricken from the record yet still existed?    Could they have been shipped from San Francisco by container ship to somewhere in Morocco?

I'd like to have a Hellcat in the series of aircraft I've come to call The Mercenaries of Marrakesch.    So far the inventory includes:  F3F-1 and 2, F4F-4, Storch, CR-42, a Macchi 202, and perhaps a Stuka.    A sand paint scheme on the airframe would look rather striking in my opinion and using it post-war makes it just a little more wrong in traditional thinking, or, in other words, just right for the world of whiffery.


Thoughts?   Comments?

TIA,
Daryl J.

[Brian da Basher]

Assuming the mercenaries had U.S. backing, anything is possible. Even if they didn't have U.S. backing but had British support, they could still get Hellcats as the F.A.A. flew them. Also, many aircraft were sold post-war as scrap for pennies on the dollar. I don't think the Hellcat lasted very long after VJ Day as the Bearcat was already slated to replace it.

Remember, in Whiff-World, anything can happen!

Brian da Basher

[sotoolslinger]

Heck yeah ,just build it .

[Daryl J.]

LoL! Build it?    The Eduard kit was ordered last night.       
One sand colored smuggler coming up.   

It'll need long range fuel tankage and sand filters (to quell the Hellcat smile debate)  along with some type of storage in the rear fuselage to handle the booty.   Perhaps some sand skids to go alongside the main wheels might be appropriate too to help with those suruptitious landings at dusk.


Daryl J.

[sotoolslinger]

Man that sounds cool.

[GTX]

Here's a possibility.

Real World:  The French Navy bought 124 F6F-5s and fifteen F6F-5Ns between 1950 and 1953. They were used by the 11F (ex-1F) and 12F combat squadrons, and by the 54S, 57S and 59S training squadrons. Those aircraft used to intervene over Indochina from various carriers such as CV Arromanches, CVL Lafayette and CVL Bois-Belleau. They were scraped in 1960. 

What if: Some were also operated in one or more of the French African colonies - e.g. French West Africa (Mauritania, Senegambia and Niger, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Côte d'Ivoire, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and Dahomey (now Benin)); French Equatorial Africa (Gabon, Middle Congo (now the Republic of the Congo), Oubangui-Chari (or Ubangi-Shari, now the Central African Republic) and Chad).  When it comes to scrap these, they are either left in country for the new Governments and then passed to mercenaries or are simply sold on the open market.

I'm sure you could fine tune the details, but there should be some ammunition there to play with.

Regards,

Greg

[Daryl J.]

Thank-you!   

Now to research the Anglo-American Corps, De Beers, Ethiopian Gold, Porco Rosso, the habits of the American Bootlegger, native African watercraft, trans-Sahara trade routes, the communist connections in Spain, France, Italy, and the US., the ethics of business in a capitalistic society, the Stone of Ra as featured in National Geographic, jewelry makers, Russian diamonds, etc. 
This should be fun.




Daryl J.

[jcf]

Daryl one note about sand filters, the filters that were eventually fitted to the Spit IX and Mustang (originally neither type had specialized sand/dust filters) were actually mounted inside the carburetor intake ducting so its most likely, based on timeline, that the Grumman would
have something similar.

Jon 

[Daryl J.]

Jon,

That's great information and wasn't aware of that.     However, to add a bit of the 'Grundy Salvage', slightly cobbled together savor to the machine, the plan is to have a few decidedly non-factory add ons that conceivably would work......well...probably work.



Daryl

[sotoolslinger]

It is almost a requirement of whiffing to hang extra stuff off. You stick you some filters on.... and guns...and bombs...

[Daryl J.]

Thinking aloud---> Preliminary add ons:   Sand skids outboard of the main wheels similar to the snow/ice skids on the Su-9 Russian jet, sand filters on air intakes, perhaps a long-range fuel tank.    Preliminary deletes:  Most of the guns, perhaps a side window or two.   Structure tweaks:  a metalized flying surface or two, in all or in part.   Tamiya Dark Yellow paint as a beginning coat; weathering to be consistent with apathy and the desert climate.




Daryl J.