FG-1D Corsair at Mid America Flight Museum
Video from the channel Erik Johnston about Vought F4U Corsair, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 6:24. Language: English. Video type: Onboard.
What is covered
A representative of the Mid America Flight Museum presents the museum's FG-1D Corsair next to the aircraft before starting it up. This example never saw combat: in the Second World War it served as a training aircraft at a base.
Details shown
The Corsair carries a 2,000-horsepower R-2800 engine with a Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propeller. The inverted gull wing exists to give that large propeller enough ground clearance. The restoration was completed in 2000 and is very faithful to the original: it even keeps the flare pistol and carries no modern avionics. At the end of the video the engine is started, with its characteristic puff of smoke.
Context
The interviewee describes the training of fighter pilots of the era: primary instruction on aircraft such as the Stearman or the PT-19, then the T-6 for aerobatics and formation flying, and finally single-seat fighters. At the start of the war, the P-40s fighting in China with Chennault's Flying Tigers were outclassed by the Japanese Zero and made up for it with more experienced pilots. In his view, the Corsair outperformed the Zero in climb, dive, load-carrying, range, and speed, and changed the course of the war in the Pacific, where most of the examples were sent. He estimates that about 34 Corsairs remain airworthy, many of them stationed in museums.