The Untold Story of the Fighter the Navy Rejected Twice: The Vought F4U Corsair
Video from the channel Wings of History about Vought F4U Corsair, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 47:48. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.
What it's about
A documentary about the Vought F4U Corsair that traces its path from the 1938 design to the end of the Pacific War. It tells how a fighter initially rejected by the US Navy for carrier operations ended up being one of the most effective of the conflict.
Historical context
The Vought-Sikorsky team led by Rex Beisel responded in 1938 to a Navy requirement calling for over 400 mph in level flight. It designed the aircraft around the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine, 18 cylinders and more than 2,000 hp, with a propeller over 13 feet long. The inverted gull wing allowed the landing gear to remain short. The prototype flew on 29 May 1940 and reached 405 mph. Poor visibility over the nose and the left wing's tendency to stall at low speed earned it the nickname "Ensign Eliminator." The Navy assigned it to land-based Marine squadrons, and VMF-124 arrived at Henderson Field (Guadalcanal) in February 1943. A small stall strip on the right wing's leading edge fixed the problem, and in 1944 the aircraft returned to carriers.
Key facts
Pilots learned not to engage the Zero in turning fights: they attacked in a dive and climbed back up. Kenneth Walsh of VMF-124 shot down four aircraft in a single combat on 15 August 1943 and ended the war with 21 victories and the Medal of Honor. Robert Hanson of VMF-215 scored 20 kills in a little over two weeks before dying in February 1944. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington's VMF-214, the Black Sheep, was credited with 97 Japanese aircraft in 84 days. Boyington was shot down over Rabaul on 3 January 1944 and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner. The whistling of air through the wing-root intakes gave rise to the nickname "Whistling Death." Water injection and underwing hardpoints for bombs and rockets came later. In 1945 Corsairs intercepted kamikazes at Okinawa and provided close support at Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Vought, Goodyear and Brewster built 12,571 units by 1952. By war's end it was credited with more than 2,140 kills against 189 Corsairs lost in air combat, a ratio above 11 to 1.