UNDENIABLY UNIQUE.. in appearance among single-seat fighters of its era, with its reverse-gulled wing, mighty Double Wasp engine and immense windmill of a propeller combining to impart an impression of brute strength, Chance Vought's F4U Corsair was not a comely airplane by any yardstick. There were those pilots that acclaimed it as the best single-seat fighter of any nation to emerge from WW II; there were pilots that pronounced it a vicious killer equally dispassionate towards killing its pilot as his opponent.

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The Chance Vought F4U was in production longer than any other US fighter of World War II, the Corsair had several claims to fame. It was credited with an 11 :1 ratio of kills to losses in action against Japanese aircraft and was the last piston engine fighter in production for any of the US services.

Its greatest attribute, though, was the excellence of its overall performance, making it certainly the finest carrier-based fighter of any used by the combatants in World War 11, and perhaps the best of any US fighters in that conflict.

Operational requirements for a new single-seat shipboard fighter were circulated to manufacturers by the US Navy early in 1938, and the Vought V-166B design, by a team led by Tex B. Beisel, was one of the proposals which resulted.

To obtain the very high performance specified-matching that of contemporary land-based fighters- Beisel designed the smallest possible airframe around the most powerful available engine, the Pratt & Whitney XR-2800 Double Wasp.

A characteristic feature of the Vought V-166B design was the inverted gull wing with the backward-retracting main legs of the landing gear located at the wing knuckles. This arrangement kept the legs short despite the height of the fuselage from the ground dictated by the large-diameter propeller. The wings folded upwards.

On June 30, 1938, the Vought company received a contract to build a single prototype of its Model V-1668, and this aircraft, designated XF4U-l, made its first flight on May 29, 1940. Powered by a 2,000 hp XR-2800-4 engine, the XF4U-I had a 030-in and a 050-in gun in the forward fuselage, one 050-in in each wing and compartments in the wings for 10 small bombs for use against bomber formations. Before the end of 1940 the XF4U-l had flown at 404 mph, faster than any US fighter then in the air, and on June 30, J 941, the Navy ordered production of 584 F4U-l s.

Deliveries of the Chance Vought F4U-ls began on October 3, 1942, four months after the first flight of the production Corsair, with the initial aircraft going to VF-12. Production aircraft had the R-2800-8 engine, two more guns in the wings with extra ammunition, self-sealing fuel tanks and armor protection: the cockpit was located 3 ft further aft to allow additional fuel to be carried in the fuselage.

This last-mentioned change adversely affected the pilot's view, and carrier landing trials aboard the USS Sangamon in September 1942 cast doubts about the aircraft's suitability for the carrier role. Consequently, F4U-ls were issued primarily to land-based Marine units, starting with VMF-124. This unit took the Corsair into operation for the first time on February 13, 1943, at Bougainville, and seven more Marine units were flying the Corsair by August 1943. A month later, Navy Squadron VF-17, also land-based, became operational in New Georgia.

To speed production of the Corsair, contracts were placed with the Brewster and Goodyear companies for versions similar to the F4U-l, designated F3A-l and FG-l respectively and both incorporating a raised cockpit hood, which was introduced on the 689th F4U-l built by Vought; the FG-IA version had fixed wings.

Some Corsairs were fitted with four 20 mm cannon in the wings in place of the machine guns, and others for use as fighter-bombers had fittings for a long-range tank under the fuselage and two 1,000 lb bombs or eight 5-in rockets under the wings, and the R-2800-8W engines with water injection. Production of these initial Corsair versions totalled 4,120 F4U-ls by Vought.

2,012 Corsairs were supplied to Britain's Royal Navy under lend-lease, and another 370 went to the RNZAF. Operating from HMS Victorious, Corsair lis of No. 1834 Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm went into operation on April 3, 1944, during the attacks on the Tirpirz, this being the first time Corsairs had operated from aircraft carriers.

The US Navy was still reluctant to commit its F4Us to carrier operation, but in April 1944 a further series of trials by VF-301 on the USS Gahier Bay showed that no serious problems remained and approval was finally given for the Navy squadrons to take their aircraft to sea.

Work on a night-fighter version of the Corsair had begun as early as January 1942 when a prototype XF4U-2 was ordered. Design features included radar on the starboard wingtip and an autopilot.

Model diorama by Modeln' Pal, Dick Doll

Use of a turbo supercharged version of the Double Wasp engine was projected during 1941, and in March 1942 Vought received a contract for three XF4U-3s, including one F4U-l conversion. This work proceeded on low priority throughout the war, however, and the first XF4U-3 did not appear until 1946, with an R-2800-16 engine.

Twenty-seven similar FG-3s were ordered from Goodyear, but only 13 were completed. The second major production version of the Corsair, therefore, was the F4U-4, the prototype of which first flew on April 19, 1944, with a 2,100 hp R-2800-18W engine. The additional power from this engine increased the maximum speed of the F4U-4 to 446 mph, and other small changes were made to improve the operational characteristics of this version.

This gull winged Navy fighter was so surprisingly powerful that it took months before anyone was able figure out how to land it on a carrier...and then, have the guts to try! The characteristic gull wings are no trouble to assemble on this really fine little model. It was the plane that won the air war in the Pacific.

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Pappy Boyington: Boyington, a 1934 graduate of the University of Washington, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1936 and became a pilot. He resigned from the Marines to join General… Stories of Pappy Boyington are legion, many founded in fact, including how he led the legendary Black Sheep squadron, and how he served in China as a member of the American Volunteer Group, the famed Flying Tigers. He spent a year and a half as a Japanese POW, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, was recognized as the Marine Corps top ace. Always hard-drinking and hard-living, Pappy's post-war life was as turbulent as his wartime experiences.

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