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Professionally recreated, this is a real blueprint - made directly from a vellum master - Measuring a generous 42"x 30".
History of the Vought F4U Corsair:
Known as the most outstanding carrier-based fighter to be used operationally in
WWII, the Corsair has become legendary. Known to the Japanese as "Whistling
Death"
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,
 ← Acknowledgements and Bibliography
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Continued from above... 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.
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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. |
Summary:
If you’ve never seen a F4U Corsair before, your first glance at the
outsized propeller and "bent" wings might leave you with the feeling
that either this warbird was assembled from parts that didn’t match or
it has met with some sort of disaster. But from all these outsized and
mismatched parts came one of WWII’s greatest fighter planes. It could
outfight, out climb and (if need be) outrun any prop driven enemy.
The F4U Corsair was such a solid design it was used well after the war
into the 1950's in a variety of roles. For a plane type that is assumed
to make some concessions to its carrier-based operation, the F4U proved
to be an outstanding design. If it weren't slightly range limited
compared to the P51, P38 or P47, it could have easily filled any of the
roles they were used for as well in the Pacific. |
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