Duxford's F-6F Hellcat

I’m now 80 years old. Back in 1947, at age 14, I began high school in Chicago, Illinois. The school I chose to attend was Chicago Vocational School – “CVS.” During World War Two, the US Navy had taken over this facility. They built a second floor onto a long diagonal wing of the school, and this became the barracks area for Navy enlisted personnel who would train to become aviation mechanics. They also built a large hangar and ramp adjacent to the school. At the end of the diagonal wing, adjacent to the hangar, the Navy installed an engine shop capable of engine overhauls and rebuilds.

There was a long, diagonal street named “Anthony Avenue.” It ran alongside the school. Back then, this part of Chicago was very sparsely populated. Only a few homes existed here and there. So, it was possible for the Navy to actually land “war weary” aircraft on this street, and then taxi them through a gate onto the ramp area of the hangar. These aircraft, then, were used to teach Navy mechanics how to make repairs and perform various maintenance tasks.

When the war ended in 1945, the Navy departed the premises. But, they left everything behind! So, in 1947 I just had to go to this school and attend its Aviation Shop in lieu of attending my “designated” high school. I was like a kid let loose in a candy store. I had all of these wonderful aircraft at my disposal. We had F-6F Hellcats, F-4F Wildcats, TBM Avengers, SB2C Helldivers, and even one, lonely F-2A Brewster Buffalo.

It was at this school that I obtained my aircraft mechanic’s license at age 17. It had to be post-dated to my 18th birthday because that was the minimum age at which this license could be obtained. However, a few years after I graduated, all of these historic airplanes were cut up for scrap, and the hangar was converted to teach automobile and semi-truck maintenance. That is to say, all but one aircraft met this fate. It just so happened that somebody was somehow able to obtain one combat-weary F-6F Hellcat upon which I used to crawl inside and out, and save it from the scrap heap. It was refurbished and restored to airworthy status. Ironically, it is now part of the aircraft displayed and flown at Duxford!

I learned of this only a couple of years ago. I have hopes of someday getting to England to watch this “old friend” actually fly. I’m attaching a photo of myself sitting in one of the school’s Hellcats back in 1948. At the time, I was a Civil Air Patrol Cadet, and a corporal. For all I know, this might be the actual Hellcat that now sits on display and is sometimes flown at Duxford. In any case, I hope to get to England to see Duxford’s old “CVS Hellcat” someday.

Carl B. Jordan