This aircraft: Navy F4U-1A Corsair BuNo 18086-Lulubelle-as it looked in late 1943 in the Pacific. Truly, it was one of the all-time greats. In Korea, the Navy-Marine Corps team deployed 33 F4U squadrons, which devastated ground targets. It delivered 15,621 tons of ordnance-70 percent of the naval fighter total. In World War II, the Corsair flew 64,051 sorties-44 percent of the Navy-Marine Corps fighter total. Yet it had poor lateral stability, bad landing visibility, and it bounced on carrier decks. The flush-riveted Corsair-easily recognizable for its inverted gull wings-used a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine driving a huge 13-foot 4-inch propeller. Soon, land- and sea-based F4Us were making life miserable for enemy pilots and troops.įrom the beginning (1938), the goal was to build a small, sleek airframe with a monster engine. The first Navy squadron was deck-qualified in April 1943. The Corsair had blazing speed (the first 400 mph production airplane) and a high roll rate.
The Royal Navy figured out how to use it on carriers the US Navy followed suit. It unsuitable, but the Marine Corps used it-as a land-based fighter. This fleet, rugged fighter-bomber was the finest naval aircraft of its era, but it took some time to build up a head of steam. It reprised that success as a ground support airplane in the Korean War. The powerful Corsair dominated the Pacific air war, racking up an 11-to-1 exchange ratio (2,140 kills v. Airpower Classics Artwork by Zaur Eylanbekovį4U Corsair The F4U was the naval fighter Japanese airmen feared most.
0 kommentar(er)
