Corsair F4U : La vraie tête brûlée
Video from the channel AlphonsineVintage about Vought F4U Corsair, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 19:49. Language: French. Video type: Documentary.
What it's about
Educational video in French that reviews the history of the Vought F4U Corsair and presents a preserved example, named "Devotion," displayed at the Colmar airfield during the events marking the 80th anniversary of the Liberation.
Historical context
In 1938 the US Navy wanted to replace the Grumman F4F Wildcat, and Rex Beisel proposed an aircraft as compact as possible with the most powerful engine available, the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp. Its large Hamilton Standard propeller, just over 4 m in diameter, explains the W-shaped wing, which allowed a shorter landing gear. The XF4U prototype flew on May 29, 1940 with Lyman Bullard at the controls. Bouncing landings and poor visibility on approach meant it was handed over mainly to the Marine Corps, which operated it from land bases. The video devotes a good part to Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, commander of VMF-214 "Black Sheep," and compares his career with the television series that popularized the squadron. It also recounts how Bob Klingman shot down a Kawasaki Ki-45 by striking it with his propeller.
Key facts
The aircraft is an F4U-5NL built in 1950 that fought in Korea with VMF-513 "Flying Nightmares," a unit that painted its aircraft matte black for night missions, and it retains its service history. It later went to the Argentine Navy and a museum, then to a French association that restored it as an Aéronavale F4U-7, to Max Alpha Aviation in 2009 and to Flying Legends in 2023. Its name refers to Adam Makos's book about Jesse Brown and Tom Hudner. More than 12,000 Corsairs were built.