Hellcat Hardcover – September 24, 1984

In the 1980s, Jane's of London initiated an art project. It teamed great writers and a magician of light and shadow to profile famous WW II airplanes- of which there were more than a few- while telling combat episodes of their pilots. Text is factual and crisp, development followed by operational introduction then operational history. Rikyu Watanabe is the artist; every drawing clear and delicate as if captured in a hologram. All were outstanding artwork.Read of the troublefree introduction to combat, and growing confidence of pilots in these examples of Grumman's 'Ironworks'. The Hellcat was the ideal mount for our Naval aviators: tough, able to dog-fight Japanese fighters, well armed, versatile enough to carry rockets, bombs, fuel tanks, or a combination. Just the thing to strafe airfields then defend the fleet against Kamikazes. They got many wounded back to their carrier, and survive serious deck accidents.Great 3-views on p. 6-7, foldout p. 10-13, USS Yorktown p. 14-16, cutaway on p. 20-1, various combatant 3/4 views p. 33-40 & sideviews of F4F [Predecessor] and F8F [Planned successor].

good history with pictures on famous navy fighter of WWii. Has large foldout illustration which is neat.

BOUGHT FOR A 92 YEAR OLD FORMER NAVY FIGHTER PILOT, AS I THOUGHT HE'D LOVE SEEING THIS MANUAL AGAIN.DAVID J. SINGER, MDASPEN, COLORADO

Great as expected.

Back in the 1980s, Crown Publishers put out a series of coffee-table books on WW II warbirds (P-51, Me 109, Spit, FW 190, etc.) written by various authors and featuring the exquisite artwork of Rikyu Watanabe. This 1981 release, a salute to Grumman's brutish war-winning Hellcat, combined the talents of Watanabe and David Anderton.In 56 pages, Anderton charts the development and combat history of the F6F. The Hellcat destroyed over 5,100 Japanese aircraft, compiling a never-to-be topped kill-loss ratio of 19-to-1. Anderton's text is clear, concise and entertaining.The major draw in this and the other Crown books, however, was Watanabe's artwork...and it's magnificent as always. HELLCAT features several gatefolds, one of which - a triple-gatefold, color side profile of a VF-27 F6F - folds out to over three feet in length! Double-gatefolds of the F4F and F8F are also included as is a four-page gatefold showing the major USN and IJN aircraft of World War II, a triple-gatefold of the USS Yorktown, a six-view of an F6F-3, F4F three-view, F6F-5 cutaway, etc. And all for $15.95 circa 1981!Despite the preeminent role the F6F played in World War II, it never received the historic coverage it deserved. While not definitive, the Anderton/Watanabe volume presents a comprehensive and wonderfully vivid portrait of this legendary fighter. Recommended.

Luv IT!!

The entire series of these books are all must-haves. If you are seeking DETAILED expositions on all of these different aircraft types, you need to look elsewhere. These books offer good, if not detailed information on the aircraft they feature. All the books will feature a competent and knowledgeable author but the main draw and the one person who ties these all together and the MAIN reason for buying these books is the illustrator/artist Rikyu Watanabe. His work brings these machines to life in the beautiful printing of these books!