Double Ace! – Navy pilot chalks up 16 kills in Wildcats & Hellcats

In a scene reminiscent of aerial combat in the Pacific, the Duxford Fighter Collection F6F-5 Hellcat closes in for the kill on the Planes of Fame Mitsubishi A6M5 Zeke. (Photo by John Dibbs/Facebook.com/theplanepicture)

The tropic air thrummed with the pulsing drone of Pratt & Whitney radials as 34 Grumman F4F-4s descended into the traffic pattern of Guadalcanal’s grass field known as Fighter One. It was April 26, 1943, and the Wildcats of Navy Fighter Squadron 11 landed less than three months after the strategic island was secured by American forces. The Sundowners squadron was part of [carrier] Air Group 11, previously slated to board the aircraft carrier Hornet...

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