Fagen Fighters’ Hellcat first flight
It took Fighter Rebuilders in Chino (CA) some two and a half years to restore Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat BuNo 78645 (construction number A-9790). With Steve Hinton at the controls, the fighter made its first post-restoration flight on 3 January 2021.

The Hellcat, registered as N9265A, is owned by Fagen Fighters Museum in Granite Falls (MN). During its restoration the F6F has been finished as “BuNo 72534”, with code “115”, named "Death N' Destruction" as was flown by VF-83 in USS Essex (CV-9) from April through June 1945.

The U.S. Navy accepted F6F-5 BuNo 78645 on 2 March 1945. The fighter apparently served two tours with VF-14 followed by VF-80 at NAS Pensacola (FL). Its final assignment was flying as a drone with a reserve unit at NAS Squantum in Quincy (MA).

In March 1978 the Hellcat was acquired by Charles F. Nichols for the Yankee Air Corps/Yanks Air Museum of Chino (CA). The museum fully restored their Hellcat and it was finished in the sharkmouth scheme of pilot Lt. Carl Allen Brown Jr.

Brown flew with VF-27 aboard USS Princeton (CVL 23) and finished the war with 10.5 aerial victories. Five of these were scored on 24 October 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, an action that earned him the Navy Cross. Although restored to airworthy condition N9265A was seldom flown by the Yanks Air Museum, which decided to sell the Hellcat to Fagen Fighters in March 2018.

Photos: Fighter Rebuilders