Riverside Airshow 2009
F6F Hellcat "Minsi III"

The Grumman F6F Hellcat was the fighter developed to fight the Mitsubishi Zeke. Armed with 6 .50 caliber machine guns and plenty of armor plating, the Hellcat racked up a lot of kills in the Pacific theather. The leading ace of the US Navy was David McCampbell, with 34 kills. The airplane below is painted to match David McCampbell's plane and is operated by the Southern California Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, based in Camarillo. It was flown at the show by Jason Somes.