There are few WWII fighter aircraft that successfully transitioned from WWII to the years afterwards. Mostly this was due to the turbine revolution where it if wasn't powered by a jet engine, it wasn't considered to be a properly advanced aircraft. Yet some piston powered fighters did succeed in the post war years and one of them was the F4U Corsair. No longer considered for the pure fighter role, its abilities as a ground attack aircraft, for instance, had been firmly rooted in the successes in this role during the last campaigns of the war.

As such, it was further developed post war to enhance those abilities and soldiered on well into the fifties with both the US Navy, US Marines and with foreign forces such as the French, who also used the Corsair with much success  during the Suez War of 1956.

The Corsair is quite a favorite with modelers as well and so it is understandable that Squadron/Signal publications would bring out a title covering most of the widely used variants. Author David Doyle, whose expertise seems to cover a considerable range of subjects, has authored this one and it follows a familiar format.

There is a brief historical background on the aircraft and then four subtypes, mostly represented by extant war birds, are covered in greater depth. This includes the FG-1D, F4U-4, F4U-5 and F4u-5NL. While it may seem that the choices are rather heavily weighed towards post WWII aircraft, the truth is that these are the one that have survived to be preserved or rebuilt. It would be nice if the F4U-1 and F4U-1A were also included, but apparently these just did not have any survivors available at the time of publication.

Each one of these aircraft have the usual number of crisp and well lit photographs of the salient features of the Corsair as well as line drawings that show the differences between the sub-types.  It all adds up to about as comprehensive a book on the subject that you will find and one that I know you will not only find useful but it is an interesting read as well.

June 2011

My thanks to Squadron Products for the review copy. Get yours today at your favorite shop or on-line retailer.

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