Aircraft Pictorial #8: F4U-1 Corsair Vol 2

After much acclaim, we now have the second volume on the F4U-1 Corsair. This volume concentrates on the rest of the -1 series. The author notes that during the war, there was no '-1A' F4U. That was used by Vought to help differentiate the new variant from the birdcage Corsair. While the nomenclature was not officially approved, the terminology did start to see wider use in the service. Not so the -1C and -1D which were given the blessings of BuAer.

The book looks at all of the different versions including those built for the British as well as those produced by Brewster and Goodyear. Urban legend has it that the Brewster built Corsairs were inferior aircraft and that is not true. Brewster was simply poorly managed and eventually lost its contract to build the plane. Most British Corsairs were built by Brewster. Brewster also developed the centerline bomb rack and the shorter wing tips for British Corsairs. In fact there were two different shortened tips for the FAA planes as newer British carriers had even less overhead room and required a 'short-short' wing tip. This item was easily retrofitted as required.

The British Corsairs were also initially provided in US spec FAA camouflage that differed from home brew camouflage paints. Later, the FAA accepted planes in overall gloss sea blue. These planes were fitted with British specific equipment. Not so those supplied to the Royal New Zealand Air Force which operated planes straight off US assembly lines.

The other company that made the Corsair was Goodyear. Nearly 1/4 of their -1 production was made with no tail hook and fixed wings until 1944 when the Navy decided to start operating Corsairs from carriers. This occurred due to the Kamikaze threat and the additional speed of the Corsair over the Hellcat mandated their placement on ships to counter the threat. Eventually the Corsair saw much more widespread fleet use and post war, the more sedate Hellcat quickly disappeared from the inventory while the Corsair kept being produced.

Other variants produced were the cannon armed -1C, a plane very much appreciated by the Marines who wanted all cannon armed planes and the improved -1D. This aircraft had two inner wing racks that could be used to hold either bombs or fuel tanks. Originally only the right rack was plumbed for fuel but eventually both were and many were retrofitted. Same goes for the canopy which was developed to remove all the frames and could be refit to earlier aircraft. The -1D also had provisions for outer wing rocket rails though not all planes were so equipped.

There were numerous other changes including radios, gun sights and antenna configurations, much of the latter brought on by the frequent breaking of the plane's pole antennas. Even plastic wing tips were developed and there were many other differences that occurred as the plane was produced.

In this book, author Dana Bell provides the results of a lot of primary research to give us an excellent reference on these aircraft. All this is accompanied with large and crisply printed images as well as informative photo captions. It is a book that I would have to say is very much a 'must have' issue for those who are Corsair fans and those just wanting to know more about the plane. It is a book I most highly recommend and a great companion to the earlier volume.

April 2015

Review copy courtesy of Dana Bell and Classic Warships Publishing. They have a full selection of Nautical titles you will like. When you shop there, say Modeling Madness sent you.

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