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Ever Flown a Vought F4U... Corsair ?

retroxler58retroxler58 Member Posts: 32,693 ✭✭✭
edited February 2013 in General Discussion
Well yet again... Only a dream for me.
I, like many young adults, remember watching in amazement at the TV Show "Baa Baa Black Sheep" depicting Greg 'Pappy' Boyington
and the pilots of the 'Black Sheep' squadron based in the Solomon Islands in their sleek Corsairs heading out over the Pacific looking for Jap Zero's...

Well Here's a Video that takes you on board a Corsair to experience what many Pacific Pilots did... Every Day. LINK Enjoy !
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Comments

  • shilowarshilowar Member Posts: 38,811 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    My Father flew in F4s a few times when he was a Flight Surgeon in the NAVY
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  • retroxler58retroxler58 Member Posts: 32,693 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by shilowar
    My Father flew in F4s a few times when he was a Flight Surgeon in the NAVY
    Cool... I'm guessing PTO... ?
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  • discusdaddiscusdad Member Posts: 11,427 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    i believe i read the British had some Corsairs for their small carrier force.
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  • JunkballerJunkballer Member Posts: 9,306 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I was 30 before I ever saw one, had a chance to walk around and sit in one, was shocked at how big those babies were in person compared to those on TV [;)]

    "Never do wrong to make a friend----or to keep one".....Robert E. Lee

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  • retroxler58retroxler58 Member Posts: 32,693 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Junkballer
    I was 30 before I ever saw one, had a chance to walk around and sit in one, was shocked at how big those babies were in person compared to those on TV [;)]
    As rare as 'REAL' WWII aircraft generally are... I've always figured the ones on TV were scaled kit type planes...
    Which are generally 2/3 or 4/5 scale and look like the real thing... Jus'smaller.
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  • hedgehopper62hedgehopper62 Member Posts: 636 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I worked on some corsairs when I was in the navy,will try to get some pic's from my cruise book when I get home this spring.tks hedge[:D]
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  • footlongfootlong Member Posts: 8,009
    edited November -1
    No-- But l got kinda 'HIGH' on Jim Crow last nite [xx(]
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  • USN_AirdaleUSN_Airdale Member Posts: 2,987 ✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by shilowar
    My Father flew in F4s a few times when he was a Flight Surgeon in the NAVY


    i also flew in F4's as a mechanic..., the Phantom II
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  • pawnee66pawnee66 Member Posts: 223 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Great airplane. The Japs called it "Whistling Death".
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  • allen griggsallen griggs Member Posts: 35,692 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I knew a guy who flew the Corsair in WW2 and in Korea. Mr. Hall got a smile on his face when he talked about that plane.
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  • bigboy12bigboy12 Member Posts: 1,767 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The Japanese called the Corsair "Whistling Death."
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  • Rocky RaabRocky Raab Member Posts: 14,496 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Did you know that the Japanese called it "Whistling Death?"





    Okay, smatazzism aside. How many know why it had that bent gull wing? Without looking it up.
    I may be a bit crazy - but I didn't drive myself.
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  • sharpshooter039sharpshooter039 Member Posts: 5,897 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    No but I flew a many an hour in a 2 seat Pitts Special
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  • PTHEIMPTHEIM Member Posts: 3,374
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Rocky Raab
    Did you know that the Japanese called it "Whistling Death?"





    Okay, smatazzism aside. How many know why it had that bent gull wing? Without looking it up.


    Vought Chance wanted to use off the shelf parts to keep costs low and have a functioning plane.
    Engine, landing gear, props, etc., so parts could be interchangable w/other out of service 'birds to keep all fighters and bombers working 'til replacements could be brought up to the line.

    Also, the gullwing design was to allow the 13 foot prop. to keep from hitting the ground on take-offs and landings.
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  • Don McManusDon McManus Member Posts: 23,694 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Rocky Raab
    Did you know that the Japanese called it "Whistling Death?"





    Okay, smatazzism aside. How many know why it had that bent gull wing? Without looking it up.


    To keep the 13' prop from digging holes in the teak-wood decks of the carriers while also keeping the main gear a short and stout as possible.

    Also because it looked really really good.[:)]
    Freedom and a submissive populace cannot co-exist.

    Brad Steele
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  • machine gun moranmachine gun moran Member Posts: 5,198
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by discusdad
    i believe i read the British had some Corsairs for their small carrier force.


    The Brits actually had about 2,000 of them. They were operated from their carriers in every theater, as well as from land. The Brits used them as shipboard aircraft before the U.S. Navy did, pioneering the landing technique of making a turn onto the deck, instead of a long straight-in approach.

    They were delivered to the Brits as Lend-Lease. When the war ended, the Brits wanted to return them, but the U.S. Government told the Brits to keep them. The Brits figured how much it would cost to maintain them in storage, and rolled almost all of them off the decks, into the deep.[:(]
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  • woodhogwoodhog Member Posts: 13,115 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Since my mother passed away last June, my sister have been sorting through all the papers in the house. Among the things we found was my fathers log book from his time on Guam in 1945, in F4u and some other planes.
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  • shilowarshilowar Member Posts: 38,811 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by retroxler58
    quote:Originally posted by shilowar
    My Father flew in F4s a few times when he was a Flight Surgeon in the NAVY
    Cool... I'm guessing PTO... ?


    My Dad was there for the recovery of Alan Shepherd's First Manned Spaceflight, his ship, the Aircraft Carrier USS Lake Champlain CVS-39 recovered him. I have all the pictures and his Naval Commendation for that operation. He actually participated in some of the physical examinations of shepherd once he was aboard ship. A once in a lifetime event that few folks on Earth could say they participated in.
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  • shilowarshilowar Member Posts: 38,811 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    PTO?
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  • badsbsnf81badsbsnf81 Member Posts: 768 ✭
    edited November -1
    Pacific Theater of Operation.
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  • shilowarshilowar Member Posts: 38,811 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by badsbsnf81
    Pacific Theater of Operation.


    Thanks, I don't think he spent much time near Vietnam. He was in 60-70, spent a lot of time in the South Atlantic, Quonset Point RI, Michigan, Florida for Flight School, NJ and Oregon.
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  • grumpygygrumpygy Member Posts: 48,464 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Knew Gen Marion Eugene Carl who flew them in the Pacific..

    Just to the right of where I'm sitting I have a picture of one with a marking of 6 one the side.
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  • 1FMJ1FMJ Member Posts: 1,556 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    HELL YES;
    Flew one back in the 60s.<1FMJ>
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  • Don McManusDon McManus Member Posts: 23,694 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by shilowar
    quote:Originally posted by badsbsnf81
    Pacific Theater of Operation.


    Thanks, I don't think he spent much time near Vietnam. He was in 60-70, spent a lot of time in the South Atlantic, Quonset Point RI, Michigan, Florida for Flight School, NJ and Oregon.


    Probably not an F4U Corsair. More likely an F-4 Phantom.
    Freedom and a submissive populace cannot co-exist.

    Brad Steele
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  • BergtrefferBergtreffer Member Posts: 629 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Several years ago I went to the Boeing museum in Washington state, where I saw what is called the Super Corsair. It has a much longer nose / longer engine. Plus there is a cutaway example of the Super F4U engine. What an amazing piece of engineering.
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  • JunkballerJunkballer Member Posts: 9,306 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote: Originally posted by Bergtreffer
    Plus there is a cutaway example of the Super F4U engine. What an amazing piece of engineering.
    All designed with a slide rule and brain power [;)]

    "Never do wrong to make a friend----or to keep one".....Robert E. Lee

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  • machine gun moranmachine gun moran Member Posts: 5,198
    edited November -1
    Late in WW2, development was underway for an aircraft specifically designed to intercept kamikazes. Speed and rate-of-climb were of the essence, and range became a secondary consideration. Some real monsters were hatched along the way, including modified Corsairs.
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