On 12 Dec 2003 18:10:29 GMT, (OSKI 3) wrote:

The Kamikazi chaser I think was the
Vought Corsair with the 3000 HP Engine.
The same one used in the Reno Air races.

I kind of lean towards this answer as a fighter designed to go after
kamikazes, rather than the F8F.

The order for the prototype Bearcats went out in November 1943, well before
the Japanese started doing mass kamikaze assaults. The general design
requirement of a fast-climbing interceptor matched the eventual
anti-kamikaze mission, but I doubt that was on their minds when they
designed it. According to one Bearcat site...

http://www.acepilots.com/planes/f8f_bearcat.html

"...The Bearcat was intended as an interceptor fighter, operating from
carriers. In modern vernacular, it might have been called the "Hellcat
Lite," designed for the smallest and lightest airframe that could support
the Pratt & Whitney R-2800-34 radial engine, its fuel, weapons, and armor."

On the other hand, when the Navy realized the threat of the kamikaze, they
quite likely polled the various manufacturers and asked what they could do
in a hurry. A big-engined Corsair wouldn't have taken that long to
develop....

Ron Wanttaja