F6F Hellcat

History

The aircraft was hand constructed over a period of 29 years. It is scaled down from the original F6F HELLCAT, to ¾ scale, designed and built by Mr. Al Sparling. Many of the parts were manufactured by Al, others parts were modified and reworked to fit in various projects on the aircraft from original aircraft parts.A mockup of the fuselage was constructed to form a template for the shape of the aircraft.Through the years some projects on the aircraft took some years to complete. The main gear system was a four year project in itself. Some parts that were redesigned from the originals were Main landing gear struts, the propeller hub to a non-feathering prop. and the nose cone was designed to resemble the original aircraft. The windscreen and canopy were completely designed from scratch to resemble the original F6F’s. Many parts were fabricated by Al on lathes, located in the “Barn” AKA the “SKUNK WORKS”, a well know place to many of his aircraft friends.
Al Spaling was a pilot during WWII, flying the F6F HELLCAT, an aircraft he had a great respect and admiration for. So no doubt this would be the aircraft he would build.

Specifications

Description