F4U-1  Corsair
flown by Lt. Cmdr. John T. Blackburn,
USN (11 kils) VF-17 Ondonga
New Georgia Island
November 1943
 often unhealthy, both for people and aircraft, and standards of living
were primitive. Missions often involved long overwater flights. The island
Vought F4U-1 Corsair
group of the Eastern Solomons, for example, extends over more than 621
miles (1000 km).
At the end of June 1941 the US Navy ordered 584 F4U-1 fighters.
The first of these would appear a year later, in June 1942. At that time
The first USMC unit to equip with the F4U was VMF-124, which
Brewster and Goodyear were already tooling up to join the Corsair
was declared operational on 28 December 1942. VMF-124 was quickly
production program.
deployed to Guadalcanal, where it flew its first combat mission, also the first
of the F4U, on 11 February 1943. Fighting over Guadalcanal was intense.
For the production F4U, the US Navy required some changes, which
The first air-to-air combat took place on the 14th, when a mixed force of P-
were logical in itself but had unfortunate side effects. More armour was
38s, P-40s, PB4Ys and F4Us lost ten aircraft to the Japanese, and claimed
carried for the pilot and oil tank, which added 68kg to the weight. The
four A6M "Zero" fighters.
armament was changed to six .50 machine guns, three in each wing. The
wing bomb bays were deleted. This increase in firepower was needed, but
As on this first mission, the aircraft involved in an operation were
the wing guns displaced the leading edge fuel tanks. To restore an adequate
often of different types, belonged to different services, and belonged to
fuel capacity, an additional fuel tank had to be installed in the fuselage.
different bases. The coordination between them was not always what it
Because it had to be near the center of gravity, there was no other option than
should have been.
moving the cockpit to the rear. The 897 liter self-sealing fuel tank pushed to
Within six months, all USMC units in the Pacific were equipped
cockpit 0.91 meter closer to the tail. Forward view over the engine cowling,
with the F4U. The production was extremely rapid, and by August 1934 a
already poor in the prototype, was now decidedly bad. This was especially a
thousand aircraft had been delivered. Final production of the F4U-1 was
problem during take-off and landing, because the F4U, like most fighters of
5559, including the 2010 FG-1s built by Goodyear and 735 F3A-1s built by
its generation, was a tail-dragger. On the other hand, rearward vision was
Brewster.
improved a bit by making cutouts in the rear fuselage decking. Vision to the
US Navy
sides and downwards was excellent.
Despite the decision to issue the F4U to Marine Corps units, VF-12
The ailerons were enlarged, the cockpit canopy was made
(October 1942) and later VF-17 (April 1943) were equipped with the F4U.
jettisonable, an IFF transponder was fitted, and the tailwheel design
By April 1943 VF-12 had succesfully completed deck landing qualification.
changed. The engine of production aircraft was the R-2800-8, rated for 2000
However, VF-12 soon abandoned its aircraft to the USMC, while VF-17
hp (1491 kw) at an rpm of 2700 for take-off. It had a mechanical two-stage,
operated as a shore-based unit in New Georgia. In November 1943 the land-
two-speed supercharger. When all changes were incorporated, the gross
based VF-17 ran out of fuel while giving top cover to the carriers USS Essex
weight had increased considerably. The XF4U-1 had weighed 9358 lbs
and USS Bunker Hill. The aircraft then landed on the carriers, without
(4244 kg), but the F4U-1 12,696 lbs (5758 kg).
incidents.
The performance of the F4U was impressive. Below is a comparison
The US Navy finally accepted the F4U for shipboard operations in
with the two other fighters which were powered by the R-2800. The F4U
April 1944, after the longer oleo leg was fitted, which finally eliminated the
was considerably faster than the competing F6F Hellcat. It was slower than
tendency to bounce. The first Corsair unit to be based effectively on a carrier
the P-47 Thunderbolt, but the latter achieved it highest speed at 30,020 ft
was the pioneer USMC squadron, VMF-124, which joined the USS Essex.
(9150 m) with the help of a turbocharger. The F4U had a mechanically
They were accompanied by VMF-213. The increasing need for fighters, as a
supercharged engine. The first production F4U-1 made its first flight on 25
protection against Kamikaze attacks, resulted in more Corsair units being
June 1942. The USN received its first aircraft on 31 July.
moved to the carriers. The Navy squadrons VF-12, VF-17 and VF-301 also
Overall handling of the F4U-1 was acceptable, but not very good. In
soon operated from carriers.
level flight the Corsair was stable enough to be flown hands-off. The
ailerons were light and effective, and the high roll rate was used with good
effect in combat with the A6M, which suffered from bad aileron response at
high speeds. The elevators were heavy, but effective. Only the rudder really
Engine .................................................Pratt & Whitney
stiffened with increasing speed. For combat maneuvering, the flaps could be
deployed 20 degrees. R-2800-8
2000hp
After the first delivery of an F4U-1 on 31 July 1942, more than two
years passed before the US Navy cleared the type for shipboard operations.
Wing Span...........................................12.49m
The Corsair was found to be much too difficult to land on a carrier deck. First
Wing Area ...........................................29.17m2
of all, the pilot could hardly see the deck, because he sat so far aft of the
Length .................................................9.99m
bulky engine. The F4U tended to stall without warning, and was then certain
Height..................................................4.58m
to drop the starboard wing. Quick action had to be taken to prevent a spin.
Spin recovery was difficult. In landing configuration, the F4U-1 would stall Weights:...............................................
at 87 mph (141 km/h). A warning light would light at 92 mph (148 km/h). On
Empty ..................................................4025kg
touchdown, the F4U-1 had sluggish controls and insufficient directional
Loaded.................................................5388kg
stability. It also was prone to "bounce" because of overly stiff landing gear
Max .....................................................6280kg
oleo legs.
Speed...................................................631km/h at 7315m
These characteristics had already been there on the XF4U-1, and if
515km/h at S/L
anything they were worse on the production type. Carrier qualification trials
Climb...................................................3050m in 5.1min
on the escort carrier USS Sangamon Bay, on 25 September 1942, caused the
US Navy to release the type to the US Marine Corps. After all, the US Navy
6100m in 10.7min
still had the Grumman F6F Hellcat, which did not have the performance of
the F4U but was a far better deck landing aircraft. The Marines needed a
Ceiling.................................................11310m
better fighter than the F4F Wildcat. For them it was important that the F4U
Range...................................................1722km
could be put on a carrier, but they usually flew from land bases.
Armament............................................Four .50 M2 with 400
The Marines
rpg
During the Pacific war, the strategy of "island hopping" turned
Two .50 M2 with 375 rpg
islands into forward operating bases for the aircraft of the US Marine Corps,
the US Navy and the Army Air Force. Essential to this strategy was that no Two 454kg bombs
attempt was made to conquer all Japanese strongholds in the Pacific.
Instead, they were neutralized by attacks, cut off from the main Japanese
forces, and left behind.
The islands from which the advanced units operated were often very
small. If they were larger, they were often covered with a dense jungle, and
only a small part of the island was used by the combattants. The climate was
P
L
1
4
19a
L
5
5 3
3
R
L
R
1
2
2a
2
6
52A
b
a
24
54A
a
24
b
55
56
54
53
53A 53A
19
52A
21
19
20
20
23
52A
25
22
b
b
a
a
35
35
26
c
c
52A
39
58
7
60
62
52A
61
52A
59
18a
10
18
9
8
11
15
9a
c
14
b
12
a 13
a
9
b
b
64c
a 65
16
64b
64
17
64d
b
b
64d 64c
64a
64e
64b
31
30
29
32
28
27
27a 52
33
34
52A
52A
34
33
52
27
32
28
29
30
31
2
1
A
43
46
49
L
42
L
D
50
40a
48
L
47
L
44
L
41
L
51
40
L
45
R
46
49
43
R
45
L
P
42R
50
48 40a
47
45A
R
R
44
R
41
51
40
R
38e 38a
38j 38g
38
38d
38k
38c
B
38e
38f
38a
38i
38b
38c 38h
36ER
36EL
36FR 8A
36FL
36C
L
36B
L
36BL
36C
R
36DR
37DL
22B
37BL
37BL
57
37AR
37AL
C
24B
58A
37CL
58b
A
E
24B
37CR
24A
22A
3
6
A
L
R
A
6
3
pA
p1
pA
p2
R
R
r3
zA zB
zC
r1
r2
z1 z2 z3 z4
pA
pA
pA
pA
p1
p1
p2
p2
z1
z2
z1
z2
zA
zA
zA
zA
zB
zB
zB
zB
z3
z3
zC
zC
zC
zC
z4
z4
r1
R2
R2
R1 R1
r2
r3
61
53A
60
62 57 58A+58b
56
55
1 2
58 5
4
53A
54 53
58
59
3
1 C
22
22a 22A
A 2a 19 22B
19a
58A
24A
24
7
20
2 8_18 6 21A
8A
E
21
27A
B
D
27
29
30
28
36C
42
45
45A
37B
43
24
2a 26 19a
58 25 19 22a 22
2
65
64e
64
39
6 38__38h
38j+38k
27 31
28+29+30
3+4+5
52
35
46_51
27a
34 32
33
27
34
30 29
28 31 35
27
32
22a
24
22 39
37A 37B+43 36F 36D 36B
37C 36E 44
24A 24B
24 36C+42
36A
41 40+40a
10
9a
7
14
18
12
16a
9
15
13
8
16b
11
17a
17b
9
8A