After spending nearly five decades grounded following a 1977 crash, the world's oldest surviving Grumman F6F Hellcat has returned to flight. Built at the Grumman Aircraft factory in Bethpage, New York, and delivered to the US Navy as Bureau Number 08825 on April 23, 1943, the aircraft went through multiple civilian owners before a crash in 1977 left it grounded.
By the summer of 2026, N4965V completed its first post-restoration flight, making its public debut at the 24th Annual Warbird Roundup at the Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, Idaho, on August 29-30, 2026.
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Source: Vintage Aviation News