Chance Vought F4U Corsair | A Look Into The American Fighter Aircraft That Fought In WW2 And Korea

Video from the channel DroneScapes about Vought F4U Corsair, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 50:38. Language: English. Video type: News.

A talk organized by Warbirds of America during an air show, hosted by David Hartman. In it, Jim Tobul, owner and pilot of an F4U-4 Corsair, reviews the history of his aircraft and of his family. Tobul recounts that the night before, during a dusk performance flying formation with a P-51 Mustang as part of the "Class of 45" routine, he struck birds: one went through the glass of the wing's gun camera and another dented the leading edge. The aircraft kept flying normally. He expects a provisional riveted aluminum patch until the definitive repair in winter. He also announces that he will fly in a Navy Legacy formation with an EA-18G Growler.

The event opens with a piece from the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. It starts with Eugene Ely's flights from ships from 1910 onward and then places the Corsair in the Pacific. According to that piece, the Corsair dropped 70% of the bombs released by fighters in the Second World War, flew more than 64,000 sorties and scored more than 2,100 aerial victories for 189 combat losses. Four aviators received the Medal of Honor for their actions in it: Gregory Boyington, Robert Hanson, Tom Hudner and Ken Walsh.

Tobul's father, who had served in VMF-231, bought the aircraft in 1981 as three truckloads of parts. After ten years of restoration it flew in 1991 and was first displayed in Titusville, Florida, in 1992. In 2002 the father died crashing in it near Columbia, South Carolina, due to an engine failure. Six years later Tobul decided to rebuild it, and WestPac returned it to flight in 2011. Investigating serial number 97143 revealed that the aircraft had been in Korea aboard the carriers USS Boxer and USS Valley Forge. It later passed to the Honduran Air Force and fought in the war against El Salvador.

Tobul explains that the inverted-gull wing made it possible to shorten the landing gear for carrier operations and that it provides no aerodynamic advantage. His version carries six 12.7 mm machine guns with 2,400 rounds and rails for eight 5-inch HVAR rockets, plus a drop tank and a bomb under the fuselage. The trim tabs make its controls lighter than those of a P-51. The rudders are fabric-covered and the ailerons are fabric-covered wood, and they must be perfectly balanced to avoid flutter. The folding wings lock with redundant pins. Finally, he says many Korea veterans tell him the Corsair saved their lives on the ground.