Chance-Vought F4U Corsair (Goodyear FG Corsair)
Technical Information
Background
One of the most outstanding
fighters of WWII Pacific, the Corsair has become almost
legendary by Pappy Boyington's "Black Sheep" and VF-17 "Jolly
Rogers" in the South Pacific. It was a excellent land based fighter
which became the main fighter of the USMC, its bent wings are its distinct
feature. Demand for the Corsairs was such that they were also produced by
Brewster and Goodyear.
400 mph+
The Corsair was the first U.S. fighter to exceed 400 mph, and
had much better performance than the F4F Wildcat, which
was the current top-of-the-line Navy fighter when the Corsair was introduced.
Carrier Controversy
Contrary to popular belief, it was not the F4U's long nose,
that deemed it unsuitable
for carrier operations, rather stiff main gear struts and a short
tail gear, which caused the tail hook to bounce over carriers arresting
cables. For this reason, early Corsairs went to the USMC. Later
in the war it was proven that the Corsairs could operate safely off of
carriers, with slight modifications.
FG-1
Goodyear built Corsair
References
Thanks to
Dick Atkins / Chief Historian Vought Aircraft Heritage Foundation for assistance with this profile.
