Vought F4U Corsair - Whistling Death
Video from the channel World War Military History about Vought F4U Corsair, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 12:06. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.
What it's about
It's a brief overview of the history of the Vought F4U Corsair, from its design to the postwar period. It combines narration, testimonies from veteran pilots, and footage from films.
Historical background
Development began in 1938 around the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp, an 18-cylinder engine rated at 2,000 hp. That engine required a three-blade propeller over four meters in diameter. The inverted gull wing allowed the landing gear to be shortened. The leading-edge air intakes produced the whistle that earned it the Japanese nickname "whistling death." In September 1942, the first carrier trials showed deck bounces and arresting-hook failures. Because of this, the Navy handed the aircraft over to the Marines, who used it at Henderson Field (Guadalcanal) from 12 February 1943. The Royal Navy was the first to operate it from carriers, with the wingtips clipped eight inches. It entered combat on 3 April 1944 with 1834 Naval Air Squadron, from HMS Victorious, against the battleship Tirpitz. The British also devised a curved approach for carrier landings. The US Navy did not use it in carrier combat until late 1944.
Key facts
It carried six .50-caliber machine guns with 2,350 rounds. The video credits it with an 11-to-1 kill ratio against the Zero. Boyington's VMF-214 "Black Sheep" fought for 84 days, shot down 203 aircraft, and produced nine aces. The Corsair supported troops at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and later fought in Korea, Indochina, and Algeria. 12,571 examples were built in 16 models between 1942 and 1953.