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Corsair - Aircraft Profile - Chance-Vought : Corsair

Corsair

Manufacturer : Chance-Vought
Number Built : 12000
Production Began : 1940
Retired :
Type :

The Chance-Vought F4U Corsair was arguably the finest naval aviation fighter of its era. Work on this design dates to 1938 and was headed-up by Voughts Chief Engineer, Rex Biesel. The initial prototype was powered by an 1800-HP Pratt & Whitney double Wasp radial engine. This was the third Vought aircraft to carry the Corsair name. The graceful and highly recognizable gull-wing design of the F4U permitted the aircraft to utilize a 13-foot, three-blade, Hamilton Standard propeller, while not having to lengthen the landing gear. Because of the rigors of carrier landings, this was a very important design consideration. Folding wings were also required for carrier operations. The F4U was thirty feet long, had a wingspan of 41 feet and an empty weight of approximately 7,500 pounds. Another interesting feature was the way the F4Us gear rotated 90 degrees, so it would lay flush within the wing when in the up position. In 1939 the Navy approved the design, and production commenced. The Corsair utilized a new spot welding process on its all aluminum fuselage, giving the aircraft very low drag. To reduce weight, fabric-covered outer wing sections and control surfaces were fitted. In May of 1940 the F4U made its maiden flight. Although a number of small bugs were discovered during early flight tests, the Corsair had exceptional performance characteristics. In October of 1940 the prototype F4U was clocked at 405-MPH in a speed test. The initial production Corsairs received an upgraded 2,000-HP radial giving the bird a top speed of about 425-MPH. The production models also differed from the prototype in having six, wing-mounted, 0.5 caliber machine guns. Another change was a shift of the cockpit about three feet further back in the fuselage. This latter change unfortunately made naval aviators wary of carrier landings with the F4U, due to its limited forward visibility during landings. Other concerns were expressed regarding a severe port wing drop at landing speeds and a tendency of the aircraft to bounce off a carrier deck. As a result, the F4U was initially limited to land-based USMC squadrons. Vought addressed several of these problems, and the Royal Navy deserves credit for perfecting an appropriate landing strategy for the F4U. They found that if the carrier pilot landed the F4U while making a sweeping left turn with the port wing down, that sufficient visibility was available to make a safe landing. With a kill ratio of 11 -to- 1 in WW 11 combat, the F4U proved superior in the air to almost every opposing aircraft it encountered. More than 12,000 F4Us were built and fortunately a few dozen remain in flyable condition to this date.

Corsair


Latest Corsair Artwork Releases !
Pappy Boyington bringing his Vought F4U-1A Bu No 17883 of VMF-214 in to land at Turtle Bay Airfield, Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides Islands, in December 1943. Although often depicted in another aircraft, Boyington flew 883 more than any other of his Corsairs.

Tribute to Pappy Boyington by Ivan Berryman.		 Often sidelined by other, more glamorous fighters, the Vought F4U Corsair is considered by many to be the best piston-engined fighter ever built, able to outfly anything the Japanese air force could pit against it. So perfect was this versatile and robust design that it remained in production for 12 years, right up until 1952. The most important operator of the F4U during the Second World War was the US Marine Corps, flying from scattered island bases throughout the Pacific, these examples being from the 4th Marine Air Wing based at Majuro Atoll in the Marshalls during the Summer of 1944.

Pacific Warriors by Ivan Berryman. (PC)		 Lieutenant Robert C Wattenburger shows off the unique lines of the Vought F.4U Corsair 124723 (NP-8) of VC-3 during a low-level fly-by of USS Valley Forge in May, 1952.

Valley Forge Fly-By by Ivan Berryman. (PC)		 Following their victory at Midway, American forces had fought a long, bloody and bitter campaign to retake the Japanese held islands in the Pacific. By the end of March 1945, however, they had finally captured Iwo Jima and looked towards Okinawa, a province of Japan itself. But the closer the fighting came to Japan, the greater was the enemy's resistance. The five-week long battle for Iwo Jima had been bloody, brutal and costly with over 26,000 US Marine casualties. Of the 21,000-strong Japanese garrison on the island less than 300 prisoners had been taken; the rest refusing to surrender, preferring to fight to the death or commit 'honourable' ritual suicide. Now the Allied attention turned to the island of Okinawa. Annexed by Japan in the late nineteenth century and less than 400 miles south of its mainland, it was the place from which the Allied invasion of Japan must be launched. Supported by a huge naval presence, including one of the largest British fleets ever assembled, the assault began on 1st April 1945 with the largest amphibious landing of the Pacific war - six US Divisions landed during what has been referred to as a <i>typhoon of steel</i>. Japan's response was ferocious seeing the peak of the kamikaze scourge and the Allied fighter pilots, whilst providing ground support to the advancing infantry, desperately attempted to defend the naval fleet from unrelenting attacks. While the British ships with their steel decks fared much better, the kamikazes took their toll on the US fleet, highlighting a conflict worse than anything seen before. The 82 day battle was one of the most severe and bloody campaigns of WWII, accounting for over 14,000 Allied deaths and five times that number of Japanese soldiers. This painting depicts USMC Ace Dean Caswell and F4U Corsairs from VMF-221, based on the carrier USS Bunker Hill climbing away from the target area after delivering a blistering rocket attack on enemy positions on Okinawa.

Okinawa by Robert Taylor.

Corsair Artwork Collection



Victory Flyover by Robert Taylor.


Beach Head Strike Force by Robert Taylor.


Time to Head Home by William S Phillips.

Zero Fighter Sweep by Roy Grinnell.


Valley Forge Fly-By by Ivan Berryman.


Clipped Signature - Ronnie Hay.


Clipped Signature - Archie G Donahue.


Clipped Signature - John F Bolt.


Clipped Signature - Roger Conant.


Clipped Signature - Kenneth A Walsh.


HMS Anson at Sydney Harbour, July 1945 by Ivan Berryman.


The Jolly Rogers by Nicolas Trudgian.

Attack on the Yalu Bridges by Philip West.


Battle for the Islands by Nicolas Trudgian.


Gunfight Over Rabaul by Nicolas Trudgian


The Black Sheep by Nicolas Trudgian.


Kiwi Strike by Nicolas Trudgian.


Semper Fi Skies by John D Shaw.


Rabaul - Fly For Your Life by Robert Taylor.


Black Sheep Sweep by Troy White.


Pacific Warriors by Ivan Berryman.


Okinawa by Robert Taylor.


Tribute to Pappy Boyington by Ivan Berryman.

Corsair Aces of World War Two.


Working the Night Shift by Stan Stokes.

Corsair on Final by Stan Stokes.


Hook Down and Homeward Bound by Stan Stokes.

Golden Gate Corsair by Stan Stokes.

Gull Winged Warrior by Stan Stokes.


Angels of Okinawa by Stan Stokes.


Ace in a Day by Stan Stokes.


Black Sheep Over Rabaul by Stan Stokes.

Corsair of the Intrepid by Stan Stokes.


Mission to Buin Harbor by Stan Stokes.

Boyington Takes a Break by Stan Stokes.

Top Aces for : Corsair
A list of all Aces from our database who are known to have flown this aircraft. A profile page is available by clicking the pilots name.
NameVictoriesInfo
James E Swett15.50The signature of James E Swett features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available.
Archie Glenn Donahue14.00The signature of Archie Glenn Donahue features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available.
John Thomas Blackburn13.00The signature of John Thomas Blackburn features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available.
Ronald Cuthbert Hay13.00The signature of Ronald Cuthbert Hay features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available.
Roger R Hedrick12.00The signature of Roger R Hedrick features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available.
Stanley W Vejtasa11.00The signature of Stanley W Vejtasa features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available.
Jefferson Joseph DeBlanc9.00The signature of Jefferson Joseph DeBlanc features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available.
Daniel G Cunningham7.00The signature of Daniel G Cunningham features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available.
Dean Caswell7.00
Robert Bruce Porter7.00The signature of Robert Bruce Porter features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available.
Robert M Baker7.00
Robert Wesley McClurg7.00The signature of Robert Wesley McClurg features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available.
John F Bolt Jr6.00The signature of John F Bolt Jr features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available.
Arthur Roger Conant6.00The signature of Arthur Roger Conant features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available.
D J Sheppard5.00The signature of D J Sheppard features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available.