| The most capable carrier based fighter of the | | | | to hold Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands, in |
| Second World War proved to be the Chance | | | | February of 1943. Just in the nick of time, as the |
| Vought F4U Corsair. This big, fast and | | | | saying goes, as the outcome of that crucial |
| maneuverable Navy and Marine fighter was | | | | turning-point battle was balanced on a razor's |
| designed around the Pratt and Whitney XR-2800 | | | | edge. The famous "Black Sheep" squadron of |
| Double Wasp engine, which promised to be the | | | | book and TV series fame immortalized the |
| most powerful aircraft engine in the world at that | | | | Corsair in the blue South Pacific skies. |
| time. This very successful twin row 18-cylinder | | | | The Marines found that the new fighter at last |
| radial engine initially produced about 1850 HP and | | | | gave them superiority over the Zero, as long as |
| ultimately produced about 2,450 HP with water | | | | they did not try to turn with the lighter Japanese |
| injection by the end of the war. | | | | plane. The Corsair was much faster than the |
| The U.S. Navy requested proposals for new | | | | Zero, had a better roll rate and could dive away |
| carrier based fighter in February 1938 and Vought | | | | to safety when necessary. Corsair pilots |
| came up with a design that ultimately became the | | | | established a very satisfactory kill ratio against |
| Corsair. The basic idea for the new fighter was a | | | | Japanese fighters and helped turn the tide in the |
| fairly simple concept: the smallest airframe that | | | | Solomons (and later battles). The F4U-1 had a top |
| would allow use of the proposed 1,850 HP Pratt | | | | speed of 393 m.p.h. at 25,000 ft. Later water |
| and Whitney Double Wasp radial engine. The Navy | | | | injection was added to the radial engine, raising |
| preferred air-cooled radial engines due to their | | | | the top speed to 415 m.p.h. |
| greater reliability and ability to absorb battle | | | | Although U.S. Navy and Marine pilots operated the |
| damage and still function (compared to | | | | Corsair from a multitude of airfields hewn from |
| liquid-cooled engines). | | | | Pacific atolls, it wasn't until April 1944 that the |
| The most distinctive feature of the new Vought | | | | Navy cleared the powerful fighter for shipboard |
| fighter was its "cranked" or inverted gull wing. It | | | | use. This delay was primarily due to the Corsair's |
| gave the V-166B (as it was known inside the | | | | high (for the time) landing speed and the pilot's |
| company) a unique look among WW II fighters, a | | | | limited forward visibility over the big radial engine |
| look that is still popular today. Model airplane | | | | when landing. By that time the British Royal Navy |
| retailers say that the P-51 Mustang and F4U | | | | had been operating Corsair fighters from aircraft |
| Corsair are by far the most popular WW II | | | | carrier decks for nine months. |
| fighter models. The inverted gull wing was | | | | The definitive Corsair was the F4U-4. Major |
| designed to raise the nose of the airplane farther | | | | improvements evident in the F4U-4 included a |
| from the ground without unduly lengthening the | | | | four-bladed Hamilton Standard Hydromatic |
| undercarriage. The reason was to allow the use | | | | propeller, a new cockpit layout, a clear view sliding |
| of the largest possible diameter propeller in order | | | | hood, a two stage turbo-supercharged engine and |
| to make most efficient use of the engine's high | | | | under wing attachment points for 8-5 inch rockets |
| power. The propeller selected was a three-bladed | | | | or bombs. The new engine pumped out 2,450 HP |
| Hamilton-Standard Hydromatic constant speed | | | | with water injection and that plus the four-bladed |
| model. | | | | propeller improved both speed and climb rate. |
| In October the XF4U-1, as the Navy called it, | | | | Most F4U-4's retained the standard armament of |
| achieved a speed of 404 MPH in level flight, the | | | | 6- .50 caliber wing mounted machine guns, but |
| first U.S. made aircraft to do so. Armament was | | | | some 297 F4U-4B's were produced with 4-20mm |
| a mix of .30 and .50 caliber machine guns | | | | cannons in place of machine guns. |
| mounted in the wings and cowl. | | | | The F4U-4 had a length of 33 ft 8 in., wingspan |
| The XF4U-1 also became the first Navy fighter to | | | | of 40ft 11.75 in, with a height of 14 ft 9 in. It had |
| encounter "shock stall". This insidious problem | | | | the P&W R-2000-18W which produced 2325 |
| affected the first generation of U.S. fighters to | | | | hp at 2800 RPM. This gave it a max speed of |
| achieve high mach numbers in a dive and was due | | | | 435 mph at 15,000 ft; it could climb to 20,000 |
| to their lack of laminar flow wings. In other words, | | | | from sea level in 5 min. It had a range of 1005 |
| the F4U, P-38 and P-47 all had wings that were | | | | cruising at 214 mph at 15,000 ft. Its service ceiling |
| thick in cross section, which provided high lift, but | | | | was 38,400 ft. Empty it weighed in at 9,167 lbs, |
| caused the early formation of shock waves as | | | | with a loaded weight of 12, 405 lbs. Its armament |
| the air flow over them reached supersonic | | | | was usually 3 .50 calibre machine guns in each |
| speeds in high altitude, high speed dives. These | | | | wing. It could carry 2000 lbs of bombs under the |
| standing shock waves degraded the lift normally | | | | fuselage or eight 5 inch rockets under the wings. |
| provided by the wings, resulting in an increasingly | | | | A later version, the F4U-5 was produced in |
| steeper and faster dive from which the pilot could | | | | fighter, fighter bomber, reconnaissance and night |
| not pull out until the plane reached the thicker air | | | | fighter variants. |
| of lower altitudes, where drag increased enough | | | | The final order for 94 Corsair fighter-bombers |
| to slow the plumeting aircraft and gradually return | | | | came from the French Navy and were designated |
| control to the pilot. Such uncontrolled dives were | | | | F4U-7. They were similar to the fighter bomber |
| terrifying and could be fatal if they happened over | | | | variant of the F4U-5. Many of these aircraft saw |
| mountainous terrain where the pilot might run out | | | | combat in Indo-China. The final F4U-7 Corsair was |
| of altitude before enough speed bled away to | | | | completed on 31 Jan 1953. |
| permit recovery. | | | | Unlike most American piston engine fighters (but |
| A series of revisions were implemented as | | | | like the P-51), the Corsair continued to serve long |
| problems were identified. These included a more | | | | after the end of WW II. Corsairs served in three |
| powerful 2,000 HP R-2800-8 engine and a revised | | | | major wars, the Second World War, the Korean |
| fuel system, which required moving the cockpit 3 | | | | War and with the French in Indochina (Vietnam). It |
| feet back to maintain a correct center of gravity. | | | | also served as a carrier based fighter with the |
| This had the unfortunate side effect of reducing | | | | British Royal Navy during and after the war and |
| the pilot's forward visibility in nose high attitudes, | | | | with the navies and air forces of a number of |
| as when landing. The armament was revised and | | | | minor powers. In the post WW II years it was |
| became 6-.50 caliber wing mounted machine guns | | | | employed primarily as a ground attack fighter, a |
| (3 per wing). | | | | role for which it was well suited. |
| F4U-1's reached the Marines fighting desperately | | | | |