Most of these went to Marine Corps or land-based Navy squadrons, due to early difficulties in operating the Chance Vought F4U Corsair from aircraft carriers, and the first operational missions were flown by Squadron VMF-124 of the USMC in February 1943. The initial US Navy contract was for five hundred and eighty-four F4U-1s, delivery of which began in September 1942. Acknowledged universally to be the most outstanding carrier-based fighter to be deployed operationally during the war, the Chance Vought F4U Corsair Is and IIs in service with the Royal navy’s Fleet Air Arm were the first to demonstrate the outstanding potential of this design. This was the prelude to an 11-year production life, during which twelve thousand five hundred and seventy-one of these fighters were built, and a service career that lasted until the mid-1960s. Originated with the Vought-Sikorsky Division of United Aircraft Corporation, the Vought V-166B prototype of the Chance Vought F4U Corsair, designated XF4U-1, flew for the first time on, becoming a few months later the first US warplane to fly faster than 400 mph (644 km/hr). The other design was the V-166B Pratt & Whitney R-2800 twin Wasp Radial engine the most powerful at the time. This model implemented the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 twin Wasp engine. Production of two prototypes were approved by Chance Vought designated the V-166As. Nicknamed the Whistling Death or the Bent Wing bird.
The Hamlyn Concise Guide to American Aircraft of World War II Image source: An Illustrated Anatomy Of the World”s FightersĬhance Vought F4U Corsair Scale Model PlansĬhance Vought F4U-5N Corsair Scale Model Plansįighters 1939-45: Attack and Training Aircraft