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.:History of the
Corsair:.
The experimental XF4U-1 had its first flight on May 1, 1940 and five months
later flew the 45 miles (73 km) between Stratford and Hartford, Connecticut at a
unheard speed of 405 miles per hour (651.8 kph), becoming the first production
aircraft to exceed 400 mph in level flight.
With the
awesome 2,804 cubic inch (46 liter) Double Wasp air-cooled radial engine
developing 1,850 hp, the only way to convert that kind of horsepower efficiently
into thrust was with a huge Hamilton Standard Hydromatic, 3 blade prop which
measured 13 feet 4 inches (4.06 meters) in diameter. And that created a problem
of deck clearance for the prop. It seemed either the main landing gear had to be
lengthened, or the prop had to be shortened.
Since the landing gear had to be very strong to
withstand the pounding of a carrier deck landing, a short, stout leg was
required. Also, there wouldn’t be enough room in the wing to properly stow a
longer gear. And, if the prop were shortened, much of the horsepower of the
Double Wasp would be wasted. So, Vought engineers came up with the distinctive
inverted gull-wing design which forever characterized the F4U Corsair. This
"bent wing" design allowed the huge prop to clear the deck while providing for a
short, stout landing gear. And, as a byproduct, the wing also improved the
aerodynamics of the intersection where the wing attaches to the fuselage,
boosting the top speed.
It was a very "slick" looking plane using flush
riveting and a new technique developed jointly by Vought and the Naval Aircraft
Factory called "spot-welding". In order to make the Corsair as aerodynamically
clean as possible, there was nothing protruding into the air stream. The intake
for the turbo-supercharger, intercooler and the oil cooler were located in slots
in the inboard leading edges of the wings. Vought designed the fuselage with a
circular cross-section which fit snugly over the Pratt-Whitney engine. The F4U
was the first Navy craft to have landing gear which retracted flush into the
bottom of the wing, though it took some effort. Other craft had retracting gear,
but there was always some bulge or part of the wheel exposed. Vought engineers
designed the Corsairs wheels to swivel 90º and retract straight back to fit flat
inside the bottom of the wing. Two panels then closed over the gear making a
perfectly smooth fairing. The idea was to make the most powerful engine with the
smallest, cleanest possible airframe.
As the
nature of the war changed, the Corsair also changed. There were seven different
dash numbers, some built exclusively for foreign countries (the F4U-7 for the
French Aeronavale), and one was never built at all (the F4U-6). There were also
night fighter versions (designated by the suffix letter "N"), and photo versions
(with the suffix "P"). The Corsair underwent over 950 major engineering changes
over is lifetime though none changed the distinctive profile of the F4U. Most
often, production aircraft were simply pulled off the assembly line and used as
test beds. Some of these were designated prototypes with the prefix "X" (such as
the "XF4U-3"). By the end of Corsair production 1952, there were 16 separate
models on the books.
The entire production run of the F4U-7 (last model) was tailored specifically
for the French Navy (the "Aeronavale"). Ninety-four copies were built and all
were sold to the Aeronavale. The dash seven was an upgrade of the AU-1 built
specially for ground attack. Production of the dash seven began in June, 1952
and when the last one was delivered to the French in December of that year, the
long production run of the Vought F4U Corsair came to an end.
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.:Specifications:.
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Wing Span: 41ft (12.5m)