United States' Vought F4U Corsair fighter

Photos

Vought F4U Corsair fighter:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter:
Vought F4U Corsair fighter:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter:
Vought F4U Corsair fighter:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter:
Vought F4U Corsair fighter:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter attacking a bunker on Peleliu:
Vought F4U Corsair fighter crashing - Picture 1:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter crashing - Picture 2:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter crashing - Picture 3:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter crashing - Picture 4:
Vought F4U Corsair fighter crashing - Picture 5:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter landing:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter landing:	Vought F4U Corsairs on a snow covered USS Philippine Sea in the North Pacific in 1945: Mark Holloway
Vought F4U Corsair fighter factory:
Vought F4U Corsair fighter with the British Fleet Air Arm:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter with the British Fleet Air Arm:
Vought F4U-5 Corsair fighter with VMF 212:
Vought F4U Corsair fighter:	Vought F4U Corsair fighter:

Design

The Vought F4U Corsair was to meet a United States Navy specification for a carrier based fighter.³ It was designed by Rex Beisel / Tex B. Beisel⁴ in 1938.^1,2 Vought designed a plane that would contain the most powerful engine at the time.^3,4

The F4U was the first United States Navy plane to go 400 mph / 644 kph.³

Cockpit

During prototype development the internal configuration was altered which caused the cockpit to be moved back three feet.⁴ The cockpit was set behind the wing which caused problems with the poor view over the nose.^1,3

Fuselage

The nose of the Corsair had the self sealing fuel tank.^1,3

The F4U's fuselage was all metal with spot welding which gave a smooth skin.¹

Engine

The F4U's engine drove a 13' / 4.04 m Hamilton Standard propellar.¹ This propeller was one of the largest for a fighter at the time.^1,3 This caused the design to have the inverted gull wings so that the propeller to clear the ground with the landing gear.^1,2,3,4

Prototype

The United States Navy ordered a prototype on June 30, 1938.⁴

The XF4U-1 was first flown on May 29, 1940.^1,2,3,4 During a flight on October 1, 1940, the prototype was the first American fighter to exceed 400 mph.⁴

Production

An order for 584 F4Us was placed on June 30, 1941.⁴ 178 of these were delivered by the end of 1942.⁴

The first F4U-1 production fighter flew on June 25, 1942.³

• Vought XF4U: 1³
• Vought F4U-1: 4,102⁴, 4,120²
  • Manufacturer: Vought⁴
• Vought F4U-1, Vought F4U-1A, Vought F4U-1C, Vought F4U-1D: 4,699³
  • Manufacturer: Vought³
• Vought FG-1: 3,808^2,4
  • Manufacturer: Goodyear^2,4
  • Export: Britain's Fleet Air Arm - 2,012², New Zealand - 370²
• Vought FG-1, Vought FG-1D: 4,007³
  • Manufacturer: Goodyear³
• Vought F3A-1: 735^2,4
  • Manufacturer: Brewster^2,4
• Vought F3A-1, Vought F3A-1D: 738³
  • Manufacturer: Brewster³
• Vought F4U-4: 2,357³
  • Manufacturer: Vought³
• Vought F4U-4B: 297³
  • Manufacturer: Vought³
• Vought F4U-4N: 1³
  • Manufacturer: Vought³
• Vought F4U-4P: 4³
  • Manufacturer: Vought³
• Vought F4U-5: 509⁴
  • Production: Post World War II⁴
• Vought AU-1: 110⁴
  • Production: Post World War II⁴
• Vought F4U-7: 94⁴
  • Production: Post World War II⁴
• Total: 12,571^1,3, 12,681⁴
  • Manufacturer: Brewster^1,2, Goodyear^1,2, Vought^1,2,3, United Aircraft Company⁴
• Vought F2G: 8³
  • Manufacturer: Goodyear³

Variants

• Vought XF4U-1: Prototype.^1,4
• Vought XF4U-2: Night fighter prototype.²
• Vought F4U-1, Vought FG-1, Vought F3A-1:
• Vought F4U-4:
• Vought F4U-3: Turbo charged Pratt & Whitney R-2800.³ Could hold 2,000 HP up to 40,000' / 12,190 m.³
• Vought F2G: Prototype.³ Had Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major, 28 cylinder radial engine (3,000 HP).³
• Vought F4U-5: Fighter bomber.³ Post World War II.^3,4 Engine was more powerful.⁴ Armament was increased.⁴
• Vought F4U-6 / Vought AU-1: Specialized attack aircraft.^3,4 Post World War II.^3,4
• Vought F4U-7: Last production model.¹ Delivered to France in 1953.^1,3,4

Usage

Best Kill:Loss Ratio

The Corsair attained a 11:1 kill:loss ratio in the Pacific during World War II while only losing 169⁴ planes of their own.^2,3 2,140 enemy aircraft were shot down by Corsairs.^3,4 Corsairs went on 64,051 missions in the Pacific.⁴

Land Based Beginnings

Even though the Corsair was designed to be a carrier based fighter it spent the first part of its combat life as a land based fighter.⁴ Many in the United States Navy felt it was unsuitable for carrier operations.⁴ In April 1944 the Corsair was finally cleared for carrier operation with the US fleet.⁴

First Units

In October 1942 the VF-12 was the first to be outfitted with the F4U-1.²

The US Marine Corps VMF-124, at Guadalcanal⁴, was the first to use the Corsair in combat on February 13, 1943.^2,4 This combat occurred over Bougainville.³

Night Fighters

The XF4U-2 was used by the VFN-75 and VFN-101 as a night fighter late in the war.²

United States

The United States' carriers first used the Corsair regularly in 1944.¹

Korean War Success

A Corsair night fighter pilot was the only one to become an ace during the Korean War that didn't fly a F-86 Sabre.¹

A Corsair pilot shot down a MiG-15 jet.¹

End of Service

The last Corsair to be withdrawn from active service was in 1965.⁴

Specifications