The dark reason why so many F4U Corsair pilots died

Video from the channel El Lado Secreto de la Guerra about Vought F4U Corsair, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 22:08. Language: Spanish. Video type: Documentary.

Documentary about the Vought F4U Corsair. It focuses on the flaws that made it dangerous to its own pilots, how they were fixed, and its combat career in World War II, Korea, and the 1969 conflict between Honduras and El Salvador.

The aircraft originated from a 1938 United States Navy requirement for a faster, better-armed carrier fighter. The design centered on the Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp engine, producing more than 2,000 hp. Its propeller, over 4 m across, forced the adoption of an inverted gull wing to keep the landing gear short and sturdy. The prototype flew in May 1940 and was the first American fighter to exceed 640 km/h in level flight. On carriers, the long nose and the rearward cockpit blocked the view of the deck on final approach. In addition, one wing stalled before the other, and the stiff landing gear made the aircraft bounce on touchdown. In late 1942 the Navy withdrew it from carriers and assigned it to the Marines, who operated from land bases. The Royal Navy, which could not do without it, adopted a curved approach that kept the deck in view. A stall strip on the right wing corrected the asymmetric stall. Later the landing gear was redesigned, the seat was raised, and a bubble canopy was fitted, and the Navy again cleared it for carrier operations.

Its combat debut came on February 14, 1943, escorting B-24 bombers from Guadalcanal. It ended with heavy losses and is known as the Valentine's Day Massacre. From mid-1943 it began racking up victories in the Solomons. The Japanese called it "whistling death" for the sound of air passing through the wing ducts during dives. Against the Zero it was faster, dived better, and carried more firepower: six .50-caliber machine guns, four 20 mm cannons in later versions, up to 900 kg of bombs, and eight rockets. It fought over Okinawa and the Philippines and ended the war with a kill ratio of 11 to 1. In Korea it moved to close air support and night missions. On September 10, 1952, a Corsair shot down a MiG-15 with its 20 mm cannons. In 1969, during the Football War, Honduran Corsairs fought Salvadoran P-51 Mustangs, in some of the last air combats between World War II-era propeller fighters.