|
Famous for its bent gull-wings and its
high kill ratios. The Vought Corsair was the
first U.S. single-engine fighter to exceed 400 m.p.h., and had much
better performance than the F4F Wildcat, which was the current top-of-the-line
Navy fighter when the Corsair was introduced. Unfortunately, due to its very
long nose (which limited pilot visibility, especially during take-offs and
landings), it was believed by the Navy high command to be unsuitable for carrier
operations. Typically, when the Navy had an aircraft that it did not want, it
gave them to the Marines (the F2A Buffalo, and later the F7F Tigercat being
further examples).
This is what happened to the Corsairs,
as they were restricted to land bases. The Marines were happy to replace their
old Wildcats with this hot new fighter, and soon showed everyone what the
Corsair was capable of. Pappy Boyington and his Black Sheep Squadron was one of
many who used the Corsair's abilities to its fullest. Later in the war it was
proven that the Corsairs could operate safely off of carriers, and the
"bent-wing birds" were used very successfully in helping to thwart the
kamikaze raids in the war's final
months. Demand for the Corsairs was such that they were also produced by
Brewster and Goodyear.
| The sub-series F4U-1A had a different hood for improved visibility, while
the 1944 F4U-1D had a more powerful engine and heavier armament. The
Corsair F4U-1 was the largest production series. A total of 4,102 were built
by Vought; 3,808 by Goodyear, which called them FG-1; 735 by Brewster, which
called them F3A-1. Great Britain received 2,012 Corsairs, and New Zealand
received 370. The final version produced during the war was the F4U-4, which had
a 2,450-h.p. engine. Only a few of these went into service before the Japanese
surrender. |
 |
Corsairs
were built for more than ten years, and they remained in service until 1965;
total production was 12,681 aircraft. The Vought F4U Corsair was
the best carrier-based fighter of World War II and in some respects was an even
better plane than the superlative North American
P-51 Mustang.
Yet, despite these fine qualities, the Corsair spent nearly half its wartime
career at land bases. For almost a year the naval authorities considered it
unsuitable for carrier duty. This formidable plane racked up an impressive
number of victories. In the Pacific theater alone, in the course of 64,051
missions, Corsairs downed 2,140
enemy planes while only 189
Corsairs were lost - a ratio unmatched in the history of air warfare.
The
Corsair was developed early in 1938, at the request of the U.S. Navy, which
ordered the construction of a prototype on June 30. The head Vought designer,
Tex B. Beisel, set to work with the idea of building the smallest body
compatible with the most powerful engine available. He chose Pratt & Whitney's
XR-2800 Double Wasp, a new 2,000-h.p. 18-cylinder radial then receiving some
finishing touches.
This powerful engine required a
large-diameter propeller to absorb the power, and this in turn led to the
inverted gull-wing that characterized the Corsair. Thus the propeller disk was
at a safe distance from the ground, and the landing gear struts were reduced in
length. This last feature was extremely important for safe landing on carrier
decks. The prototype, the XF4U-1, first took to the air on May 29, 1940. It was
an outstanding success from its first test flights. On October 1, during a
transfer flight, it became the first American fighter to break the 400-m.p.h.
barrier.
The
finishing touches, however, took a long time. To begin with, the armament was
increased, and this required repositioning the fuel tanks and adding one on the
fuselage. This in turn meant that the cockpit had to be moved back almost three
feet, creating problems of visibility for the pilot. It was the question of
visibility that made authorities hesitate to use the plane on carriers.
Nevertheless an initial contract for 584 F4Us was signed on June 30,1941, and
the first production model was ready a year later. By the end of 1942 the navy
had received delivery of 178 aircraft, but the planes were not considered
suitable for use on carriers until April, 1944. The Corsair became operational
first with the Marine Corps, which used
Vought Corsairs at Guadalcanal on February 13, 1943. Subsequently
they were used as land-based planes by the Navy.
|
Aircraft
