Vought F4 Corsair Profiles of Flight Series.pdf

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First published in Great Britain in 2011 by
PEN & SWORD AVIATION
An imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
S70 2AS
South Yorkshire
Copyright © Dave Windle & Martin W. Bowman, 2011
ISBN 978 1 84884 408 7
Digital Edition ISBN: 978 1 78346 126 4
The right of Dave Windle & Martin W. Bowman to be identified as Authors of this work has been asserted by them in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library
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VOUGHT CORSAIR
In 1938 the US Navy had decided that the time was long overdue to bring carrier-based
aviation up to the same performance level as land-based aircraft. At Vought the F4U-1 project
team headed by Rex B. Beisel had to design the smallest possible fuselage around the mighty
1,800-hp experimental Pratt & Whitney XR-2800-2 Double Wasp air-cooled radial engine, the
most powerful power plant available. Everything possible was done to limit drag, while a
gull-wing design gave the massive engine’s 13 feet 4-inch diameter three-bladed propeller
sufficient ground clearance on both take-off and landing. A .30-calibre and a .50-calibre
machine gun were mounted above the engine, firing through the upper propeller arc and a
.50-calibre machine gun outward of each wing-fold mechanism. The stub wings included
open vents in their leading edges to allow cooling air for engine oil and air for supercharger
intercooler equipment. The carburettor air, supercharger intercooler and oil cooler air inlet
ducts situated at the leading edge of the wings removed the need for a drag-inducing scoop
for each. In flight, this layout created a curious high-pitched whistling sound as air was
sucked into the ducts. Later, the Japanese would call the Corsair the ‘Whistling Death’ after
the blood curdling scream emitted during high-speed dives on their positions. To American
troops in the Pacific Islands campaign, the ‘Bent Winged Bird’ was often their saviour and the
Marines would dub the Corsair the ‘Sweetheart of Okinawa’. Everything about the new fighter
was massive. It weighed 9,357 lb empty and measured 31 feet 11 inches with a 41 feet 11
inches wing spread – the largest American fighter yet built.
The prototype XF-4U-1 showing to good advantage the air intakes for the oil cooler and the intercooler for the two-stage, two-speed supercharger in the
wing roots. Note the early-style squirrel-cage or ‘birdcage’ cockpit hood and the gun fairing in the engine cowling. (Vought)
Brewster F3A-1 (F4U-1) in flight. Just 735 F3A-1s were built between April 1943 and July 1944. (Brewster)
F4U-1A Corsair with a 1,000lb bomb on the centerline. (Vought)
The Bureau of Aeronautics awarded Vought a contract for a single XF4U-1 prototype on 11
June 1938. The yellow and silver XF4U-1 first flew at the Bridgeport Municipal Airport,
Stratford, Connecticut, on 29 May 1940 with Lyman A. Bullard Jr at the controls. All went
well during his first four test flights, but on the fifth, while performing a series of low-altitude
cabin pressurization and high-speed cruise tests, low on fuel, the XF4U-1 crashed on the
Norwich Golf Course far to the north-east of the airfield at Stratford. One wing had been
sheared off, the empennage was torn from the fuselage and the propeller was smashed, but
the main fuselage, engine and undercarriage were relatively unharmed, and within two
months the XF4U-1 was airworthy once again.
Lyman Bullard demonstrated the XF4U-1 for USN officials on 1 October 1940. He flew from
Stratford to Hartford, Connecticut, at a speed of 405 mph, making the Corsair the first single-
engine single-seat US Navy fighter to fly at over 400 mph. On 30 June Vought received an
initial contract for 584 F4U-1 production aircraft for the US Navy, with initial deliveries to
begin in February 1942. As contracts increased, the VGB programme consisting of Vought,
Goodyear and Brewster was formed to mass produce the F4U-1. Goodyear Aircraft, a division
of the Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Company, joined the programme in December 1941 and
their Akron, Ohio, facility built 3,941 FG-1 versions, 35 per cent of all Corsairs built.

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