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Aircraft And Military Development & Applications

36. WWII Vought F4U-FG Corsair

The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Demand for the aircraft soon overwhelmed Vought's manufacturing capability, resulting in production by Goodyear and Brewster: Goodyear-built Corsairs were designated FG and Brewster-built aircraft F3A. From the first prototype delivery to the U.S. Navy in 1940, to final delivery in 1953 to the French, 12,571 F4U Corsairs were manufactured, in 16 separate models, in the longest production run of any piston-engined fighter in U.S. history.

Maximum speed: 717.77 km/h (446 mph), Maiden flight: 29 May 1940, Length: 33.67 ft, Wingspan: 41.01 ft, Retired: 1953, Introduced: 28 Dec 1942

Vought’s distinctive, charismatic F4U Corsair was numerically the most successful of all U.S. naval fighters, with 12,571 produced by Vought and by subcontractor Goodyear (whose Corsairs were designated FG and F2G). Although it had more than its share of teething troubles and underwent a fundamental redesign between the prototype’s first flight on May 29, 1940, and initial production, the Corsair served in the naval air forces of seven countries (the U.S., Britain, Argentina, El Salvador, France, Honduras and New Zealand) and remained in service until 1979, one of the last piston-engined fighters to be retired. Like the North American P-51 in the Air Force, it was the one Second World War fighter type that continued to be used by the U.S. Navy and Marines for several years after World War II. VF-17 ended up being the highest-scoring Navy Corsair unit of the war because of the head start that it got in using the Corsair, and the Navy’s highest scoring Corsair ace, Ira Kepford (16 kills), was with this unit.

The Corsair was fast and sensitive but difficult to operate from aircraft carriers. The distinctive cranked wing resulted in a steep ground angle which, combined with its long nose, resulted in poor pilot visibility forward on landing. This was fixed to some extent by increasing the height of the tailwheel strut. It also experienced violent wing drops in low-speed stalls, which can easily be fatal in carrier landings. After initial carrier qualification trials yielded disappointing results, Vought set about fixing the problems, with the result that it took until late 1944, fully a year after the Corsair was otherwise ready to enter service, before it was cleared for operation from American Carriers. In the meantime, Corsairs were used by the Marine Corps and from selected Navy squadrons like VF-17, the Jolly Rogers, which went ashore to operate Corsairs from land in Marine-like fashion.

“Corsair versus Hellcat” has been a persistent rivalry ever since the F4U and F6F were designed, with adherents on both sides as to which was the better or more important fighter. The Hellcat was unquestionably the more important carrier-based fighter during World War II, largely because it did not encounter the Corsair’s delays in being cleared for carrier deck operations. This allowed Hellcat pilots to claim many more enemy aircraft destroyed than Corsair pilots, even if many of the claims are exaggerated. The Corsair had higher performance, greater development potential and longevity, and more sex appeal.

The Corsair was developed through several versions after World War II with greater power and other specialized capabilities, including a dedicated night-fighter variant. The ultimate Corsair was the F2G, built only by subcontractor Goodyear. This version used a massive engine more than 1.5 times as large as that used by earlier Corsairs, intended to have superior acceleration to catch enemy kamikaze suicide planes before they could reach their targets. F2Gs never saw combat or any meaningful military service but were eagerly snapped up by racing pilots after the war.

The late retirement of the Corsair from both U.S. and Latin American service contributed to a relatively high survival rate after the war. Corsairs saw some use in racing, and perhaps 30 are still airworthy in the United States, with a few flying in Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Museums in Argentina, Brazil, Honduras, South Korea, and Britain display static examples of the Corsair.

The Corsair’s mystique was further polished during the 1970s when NBC aired the TV series “Baa Baa Black Sheep” (later “Black Sheep Squadron”), dramatizing the exploits of Marine fighter squadron VMF-214 and its colorful leader, Gregory Boyington. The show was heavily fictionalized, melodramatic and almost comically ill-written, but it featured exquisitely filmed flying sequences involving a revolving group of seven airworthy Corsairs (F4U-1 17799, FG-1Ds 92132, 92433, 92436 and 92629, F4U-4 97359 and F4U-7 133714) and various supporting vintage aircraft. This show exposed the American public not just to the Corsair, but to the fact that there were still World War II aircraft in operating condition, helping to raise the profile of the nascent warbird movement.

Performance
Maximum speed: 446 mph (718 km/h; 388 kn)
Stall speed: 89 mph (143 km/h; 77 kn)
Range: 1,005 mi (873 nmi; 1,617 km)
Combat range: 328 mi (285 nmi; 528 km)
Service ceiling: 41,500 ft (12,600 m)
Rate of climb: 4,360 ft/min (22.1 m/s)

Armament
Guns:
6 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns, 400 rounds per gun or
4 × 0.79 in (20 mm) AN/M3 cannon, 231 rounds per gun
Rockets: 8 × 5 in (12.7 cm) high velocity aircraft rockets and/or
Bombs: 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg)

General Characteristics
Crew: One
Length: 33 ft 8 in (10.26 m)
Wingspan: 41 ft 0 in (12.50 m)
Height: 14 ft 9 in (4.50 m)
Empty weight: 9,205 lb (4,175 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-18W radial engine, 2,380 hp (1,770 kW)
Propellers: 4-bladed

Role: Carrier-based fighter-bomber
National origin: United States
Manufacturer: Chance Vought
First flight: 29 May 1940
Introduction: 28 December 1942
Retired: 1953 (United States)
               1979 (Honduras)
Primary users: United States Navy
                          United States Marine Corps
                          Royal Navy
                          Royal New Zealand Air Force
Produced: 1942–53
Number built: 12,571
Variants: Goodyear F2G Corsair

Operators
Argentine F9F Cougar and F4U Corsairs, 1960s
Corsair FG-1D (Goodyear built F4U-1D) in the Royal New Zealand Air Force markings
Argentina - Argentine Navy
Argentine Naval Aviation operated 26 F4U-5/5N/5NL Corsairs from 1956 to 1968 from ARA Independencia
El Salvador - Air Force of El Salvador operated 25 F4U/FG-1D from 1957 to 1976
France - French Navy operated 69 AU-1 and 94 F4U-7 from 1954 to 1964
Aeronavale, French Aéronavale 12.F Flotilla, French Aéronavale 14.F Flotilla
French Aéronavale 15.F Flotilla, French Aéronavale 17.F Flotilla
Honduras - Honduran Air Force operated 19 from 1956 to 1979
New Zealand
Royal New Zealand Air Force operated 368 F4U-1 and 60 FG-1D from 1944 to 1949
No. 14 Squadron RNZAF, No. 15 Squadron RNZAF, No. 16 Squadron RNZAF
No. 17 Squadron RNZAF, No. 18 Squadron RNZAF, No. 19 Squadron RNZAF
No. 20 Squadron RNZAF, No. 21 Squadron RNZAF, No. 22 Squadron RNZAF
No. 23 Squadron RNZAF, No. 24 Squadron RNZAF, No. 25 Squadron RNZAF
No. 26 Squadron RNZAF
United Kingdom
Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm operated 2,012 Corsairs of all types during World War 2, including 95 Corsair I (F4U-1), 510 Corsair II (F4U-1A), 430 Corsair III (F3A-1D) and 977 Corsair IV (FG-1D), Fleet Air Arm
United States - United States Navy, United States Marine Corps

WWII Aircraft Listings - 1

36a-WWII-Vought-F4U-FG-Corsair