Whatever happened to captured aircraft

[Dread Knot]

Originally Posted by Admiral Halsey

Ah yes the Akutan Zero. With the knowledge the US gained from it we built the Zero Killer AKA the F6F Hellcat.

Well, sorta. The Hellcat design was refined on the basis of test flights of the captured Zero. However, design work on the Hellcat began in June 1941 with the prototype making its first flight on 26th June 1942 about the time when the Akutan Zero was recovered and sent to the US for evaluation.