Well boys, this is my first effort at including actual expert commentary into my videos! I hope you like it because I have a ton more coming just like this! A big thank you to the Commemorative Air Force as well as Airbase Georgia for allowing me to get so much great content here! Go check them out here! Commemorative Air Force RUclips - ruclips.net/user/CAFMediaTV Airbase Georgia Facebook - facebook.com/CAFAirbaseGeorgia
My mom was in the marines during ww2 and she used to order parts for them in Philadelphia. My dad was a CPO on the U.S.S Yorktown and he used to work on the corsair. There's footage out there of a zero crashing into the Yorktown. My dad is one of the guys putting the fire out. Love and miss my parents. Thanks to all service men and women. Also my mom was the president of the women's marines association till the day she past. My dad's name is Benjamin Thomas Alger. Mom is Barbara Florence same last name.
I salute your mother and father, sir. My dad, Edwin Lamar Wampler was a Marine fighter pilot in both WW2 and Korea. We counted it up one afternoon when I was folding news papers for my paper route. He flew over 48 different aircraft in the two wars he was in, got shot down twice, I think, and in 14 years of service, made the rank of major. My mom was a control tower operator and he flirted with her on approach one evening. War happens, but so does love brother! Jason Wampler
Growing up in the 70's, my favorite TV show was Baa Baa Black Sheep. I wanted to be Pappy Boyington when I grew up. this show cemented my love for the Corsair. Of course, I also watched Rat Patrol and always wanted a Jeep with the machine gun mount.
Same here! I watched it many years later and thought it was directed at 10 year olds because as a adult, so may things stood out I never noticed as a kid. The same gun cam footage over and over and take off and landing footage. Still, a classic.
I had the opportunity to meet Pappy Boyington back in 1975 at an airshow just outside of Denver Colorado. I’ll never forget those white leather buckle shoes he wore lol. He noticed I was lefthanded and he said he was lefthanded too. He told me at times he would use his left hand to control the stick and with his right hand the throttle’s. As a young kid of 12 years old I was completely astonished and have cherished the Corsair to this day!
@Will Rose Besides it’s ups and downs, I have love the Corsair design for more then 45 years. Ever since I was a young lad., and will be one of my favorites.
@@OH.A.M. I have flown model airplanes and this was my first big scale model, i loved how it performed... it was also my first model with a 4 stroke engine.. loved the sound. I never crashed it, i sold it to someone else who is still flying it. And the funny thing is, the same thing i noticed as well, stalling the left wing happened pretty quick on a straight approach
As a boy growing up in the 80s I saw Black Sheep Squadron on telly. Went out and bought myself an Airfix 1/72 kit. I saw the the Corsairs all had a large white arrow on the right wing pointing forward and another on the tailfin pointing upwards. So I painted these arrows on as well to imitate Pappy's Corsair.
War machines of this era I find the most fascinating. I have a Chinese uncle who was a mechanic in China stationed at Kunming, Wuhan and Shanghai. He worked on C-47's, B-24's and other aircraft and still remembered the oil pressures and all that stuff of B-24 bombers. He did oil changes and refueld P-40's also. Many years ago he said he would of liked to volunteer somewhere to restore B-24s if it wasn't for his limited English. My cousin told me he had a Flying Tiger jacket and some other stuff that was given to his father but his father gave it all away at some point.a
If he wants to move to Southern California there are plenty of places he can help restore and maintain the history (and the planes themselves) at museums nearby!
Couple things that usually get missed about the design are the short landing gear could be lowered as dive brakes around twice the airspeed as a hellcat. 1 of the guys on here talked about the low drag of the wing root which also had all the coolers in them this kept the fuselage narrow for less drag and more speed. The Brits fixed several other things to make it better at carrier landings like fix the strut dampening and tie down the top of the engine cowling for visibility. It's funny to me that seafire had similar visibility issues so the had a head start on the curved landing approach.
Actually the British didn't solve the problems with the oleo struts, and the top cowl flaps, those problems were solved by VF-17 Jolly Rogers, Tommy Blackburn's book about his squadron talks about those issues, and how they found a fix for them. The only things that the British did that made the fighter easier to operate from a carrier were the curved approach, and thoroughly testing it on their carriers, to make it able to successfully operate from the deck of a carrier.
@@johnosbourn4312 "It is clear from the accounts of Lieutenant Commander (A) Norman S. Hanson , RNVR that the Royal Navy had not established the preferred landing procedure of the F4U Corsair until December 1943. This was nearly a year, November 1942, after the training of U.S. Navy pilots at NAS San Diego, CA noted a "curving approach" by Boone Guyton.
Very interesting...Brits landing on carriers contributed so much..I always had the impressiin of Brit carriers, "Well...Here we are....Can we , uh, help?" Great stuff
@@maxschell8823 The Brits did not develop this approach later, they had learned this approach previously with the Spitfire and used it. US doctrine was a straight approach. Early on the US where short of Carriers and due to damage to Enterprise and loss of Yorktown only had one carrier operational in the Pacific. The Brits loaned the US HMS Victorious (This was renamed the USS Robin to not give enemy any intelligence. The Aircrew on the aircraft carrier where talking about being retrained for straight approach rather than curved approach. I would love to get hold of those doctrine guys. See here about the Carrier Victorious, scroll down to US Navy service as USS Robin: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Victorious_(R38)
@@johnosbourn4312 Interesting thanks for that, removing wing tips was Brit thing to get in hangars that removed float, question is who came up with lift spoiler for the wing that did not drop, meaning even stall. At least if the plane crashed it was not upside down.
It was at Okinawa the Corsair was given the nickname “Angels of Okinawa” due to their success against Japanese aircraft. The Corsair compiled an 11:1 kill ratio during World War II. One of the best fighters of World War II, the F4U Corsair tormented the Japanese from Guadalcanal until the end of the war. “Whistling Death.” "Bent Wing Bird." "Gull Winged" fighter. So with F4U the F stood for fighter the U for Vought and the 4 was the 4th aircraft design built by Vought.
The path was made very easy for the Corsair because of the Wildcat and Hellcat. The same Govt that uses a "U" to represent a company starting with a "V" shouldn't be trying to run my life.
@@Despiser25 It was a Navy designation for the aircraft manufacturers that built the various planes (U=Chance Vought, F=Grumman, D=Douglas, H=McConnell, etc).
When I was a little kid, I loved this plane. It was my favorite plastic model, along with the B25 Mitchell. If you ever get to see one, do it! They are friggin’ huge!
the 47 looks like it was designed by a locomotive engineer, the 51 an Italian, the F4u is just scary looking and could have been designed by a bare knucle Boxer, love it and the sounds that it makes too. Imagine them being pushed over the side of a carrier.... tears.
I almost cried when I came to understand what they did. What a shame it was to push them overboard. They should have been given to the pilots who wanted them or sold them to aviators. Crazy crazy!!
The most graceful looking naval based plane of WW2. It and the Mustang p-51 were two of the most beautiful planes ever built. If I could choose one that I could own today, it would truly be a tough choice, but I think I would have to go with those beautiful gull wings!!
Love the F4U! Pappy Boyington was my hero growing up. I vote for the P38 next. Especially some commentary on Lindberg's contribution to fuel efficiency and his enemy kills during "testing" over Rabaul & Bougenville as a civilian.
The TV show with Robert Conrad as Boyington featured the Corsair, but there was one episode that had at least 2 P-38s as the "star attractions". It even showed how the pilots got on to and off of the wing using the trick little stow-away ladder at the rear of the center fuselage. Great show.
Did you know about the Super Corsair variants: Goodyear F2G Corsair It used the P&W R-4360, Wasp Major 4-row 28-cylinder "corncob" radial engine. The F2G-1 and F2G-2 were significantly different aircraft.
The later variance caused death to the unexperienced who was approaching the carrier low, and would suddenly power up to get up to the deck, causing a torque twist of the airplane and a strike.
I recommend reading "The Jolly Rogers" by Tom Blackburn, first skipper of VF-17 who describes in detail the issues he and his squadron faced in preparing to fight in the Pacific with the Corsair on board USS Bunker Hill. Great video.
In the mid 1960's I was a crew chief on F-105 Thunderchief's. This was a very mis-understood aircraft, pushed into service in SE Asia in a role it was never designed for. Pilots loved it but still ..... losses were staggering. Your research and a video on this great aircraft would answer so many questions and perhaps create others.
My father flew the F4U Corsair with the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm in the Pacific theatre. He said it was a fantastic aircraft to fly, a real powerhouse that would get the job done.
One thing my old F-16 buddy John forgot to add in the landing gear length issue? Was the ability to fully retract that landing gear, without making the wing to wide. The F6F and the F4U have the same length landing gear! The only two differences? Yes that bent wing, and the Hellcat landing gear stays extended and not fully retracted, and the Corsairs fully retracts and is collapsed to retract in front of the front spar. Yes, I am a Corsair pilot, SBD pilot and F6F pilot as well :)
Sounds more than interesting, where do you fly, and whose aircraft? CAF birds, private collection, yours? And how the heck does someone wake up and say, ‘hey, I want to fly a Corsair’??
Really enjoyed this video. I wasn’t familiar with the Corsair until recently when I purchased a model kit of one. The wing shape and colour looked interesting. So nice to learn some information about the miniature aircraft I have just spent hours building and painting!
I saw a YT video of a Tuskegee Airmen that said after a few dog fights one day, he saw a P-51 and decided to join it to fly back to base. When he got close he saw that it had German markings on it. He said he let it go because he was so low on fuel. Yes, I know it wasn't a Corsair but I thought a few people might enjoy hearing about this. PS. I'm sure glad that a lot of these people from the Greatest Generation are on video with there stories so that future generations will know what happened. Soon, videos will be all we have of them. " NEVER FORGET " .
Good video. My mother worked on the Corsair gauging the rivet holes and checking for irregular sizes along with other jobs. I still have her tool box that I mistook for my dad's. Moms tool box had a stuck lock I fixed by pulling a Corsair rivet out lodged in the mechanism
My father met a marine air Corp pilot a Korean war veteran in Stanford university, among the many classmate were asked to take German as part of their course to achieve a masters or PhD. These Marine pilot was telling his story in landing onboard an aircraft carrier, you had to drift to the port (left side) before 100 -ft before turning aligning straight.
My dad was a Marine aircraft mechanic, and worked on Corsairs, as well as Grumman F4F Wildcats and SNJ T-6 Texans. His squadron, VMF216, were on Efate and then on Guam. Awesome birds!
Very, very nice touch adding direct interviews in support of your presentations, TJ!! You could do an entire episode just covering the real story of Pappy Boyington and his Black Sheep squadron starring.....of course....this great fighter!! Jim C.
Black Sheep Squadron... my favorite TV show growing up! Led to me becoming a Big Fan of the Corsair, and Robert Conrad, and also a huge military buff, especially Naval Aviation! It continued into my professional life, as I had a co-op job during college at GE Aerospace systems, which built the flight control computers for the F/A-18 Hornet,,,, which became my newest favorite aircraft!
The history of VF-17, Jolly Rogers is just as interesting. Even in training, crazy Ike Kepler flew upside down at treetop height and ran a truck off the road!
Please do one on the Vought OS2U Kingfisher Aircraft. It was used on the USS IOWA (BB61). My dad was a Aviation machinist Mate and qualified as a Flight Engineer. He sat in back and was radio operator and rear gunner.
Three other problems that the Corsair had in its early examples were the top most cowl flaps allowing oil to be sprayed onto the windscreen, extremely stiff oleo struts, and a very short tail wheel strut.
There's an anecdote in the book Black Sheep One about Pappy Boyington trying to clean his canopy with a handkerchief at 5000 feet. My dad flew a Corsair and said the pilots got really good at finding rain showers to fly through that would clear off the oil!
@@teemcshanney8910 It's probably slang from the way the strut works--when the strut compresses or extends, a gas-filled chamber pushes/pulls a piston. This forces oil through a small hole. That action absorbs energy due to the viscosity of the oil (or ''oleum', Latin for olive oil). Just a guess :)
Different aircraft companies had different solutions to the same problem of mounting the P & W R2800 with a 13ft diameter propeller onto an airframe. While Vought went with an inverted gull-wing and shorter landing gear, Grumman went with their evolutionary F6F Hellcat design. Yes, the Hellcat was slower, but it was relatively safer to fly compared to the F4U, and did not have any issues with landing on a aircraft carrier using the traditional USN approach. The Hellcat was the work horse of the USN and the British FAA in the 2nd half of WW2. However, since the F4U was a more advance design than the F6F, the Corsair did end up serving longer in the US Navy than the Hellcat.
Many thanks go to the Commemorative Air Force for their participation every summer in my local Air show in Arlington WA. Got some really good video of Sentimental Journey, your P51 and your Corsair this year. We are privileged to have you on the guest list.
This was an extremely well done video As a student of history and an author I can honestly say I learned a couple things here. Usually when videos are titled like this I don't learn anything new, so this was a pleasant surprise. And this being my most favorite aircraft ever it was awesome to hear these few facts.
I knew a now deceased old boy who had 2000 hours of south Pacific combat time as a Marine aviator in Corsairs. After I landed my LSA plane RANS S-7S) in his very narrow and switchedbacked mountain driveway, with his prior permission of course, he mentioned in passing "when we turned final for the carrier, it dissappeared," or words to that effect. That told me a;ll I needed to know about the over the nose viz! Impressing him with my landing, and it did, was one of the most rewarding things I've done in 40+ years of off airport flying.
My Wood Science professor in college worked as quality control in the factory that made the tail surfaces for the Corsair. They were made from Fir or Spruce. These source wood pieces had to meet very high tolerances that you usually didn’t consider for wood products. Besides being clear wood (no knots or other disfigurements) it had to meet higher tension tolerances. They were then doped fabric covered. The factory had to be kept at a low humidity as that could increase the moisture content of this kiln dried wood that increase a failure rate in the tensile strength of the parts. Why did they used wood framing for these parts? The wood would flex more than metal parts under the stress of operational uses. Making the parts stronger than substitute metal parts.
I'd like to learn more about the TBM Avenger, my fathers squadron was trained for night missions, then were based on the USS Enterprise. I believe they were in Peril Harbor under repairs while Hiroshima was nuked...on his birthday. Luckily Smartt Field in St Charles Mo, 30 min away has one fully restored to flight status along with a B-25. They do a pumpkin drop every year, army vs navy, it's a blast from the past!
Fans of "Baa Baa Black Sheep" / "The Blacksheep Squadron" will remember that the planes made that long curved approach to the landing strip on "Vella La Cava". Somewhere around here I have a couple of black and white snap shots of Corsairs at (I think) Cherry Point, NC taken by my grandfather when he was stationed there. To me, those two personal photos confirm that "they were real", much as my other grandfather's snapshots of steam locomotives in the 1950s confirmed the same. Good commentary, and DOUBLE THANK-YOU for not using one of those computer-generated voices that so many YT videos use today.
Thank you for a fantastic review of the Corsair. Certainly the best carrier fighter of the last big war. Last year at the Goodwood Revival there was one parked on the airfield. About ten Spitfires , two Hurricanes and various other old aircraft. All very impressive but the tough brutal appearance of the Corsair,the first time I have ever seen one stopped me in my tracks. How kind of you to mention that the Royal Navy pilots were the ones who discovered the way to land them on a carrier. I have seen so many documentaries made by American producers who claim that your country won the war all by yourselves. We were all in it together in our grand parents generation. I hope we never have a third world war. Beware of the powers of China and Russia. The megalomaniac governments are a great threat to our future.
Apologies for my countrymen who have a hard time seeing outside the fishbowl. The courage of Britain standing alone after the fall of France is a matter of record, as are the contribution of the Tube Alloys project to the atomic bomb, the gift to the U.S. of the cavity magnetron for powering radar, the hedgehog antisubmarine weapon, license to build the Rolls-Royce Merlin, and a little thing called the jet engine.
I am not sure if it was mentioned in the video or not. One of the reasons the USN did not accept the Corsair early was the high number of crashes as corsairs bounced uncontrollable on landing on carriers. The Brits adopted the Corsair after modifying the undercarriage damper rates and made it a very successful carrier borne aircraft. The improvements then made the Corsair viable for the USN.
I've never seen any documentary that said the USA won WWII all alone. Think maybe you're stretching it a bit just because they didn't mention everyone else?
Holy Hand Grenades, Batman! Very cool list. I father serviced on the U.S.S. Bennington and worked on Corsairs. This became my favorite single prop plane. Thank you for sharing!
Sadly, I was one of the P 38s, wasn't seen much in the video, because I was 3 Km away from the escort, but still happy to play with Tj, also amazing work Tj, LOVE it!
I remember when the Commemorative Air Force was called the Confederate Air Force. Seems that the powers that be didn’t like the idea of operational WWII fighter and bomber aircraft being maintained and flown by what they considered an adversary, in name only. Every last one of those guys that I knew back in the day would still fight for America and her people. Great video. Thanks for putting in the time and research.
I have never wanted one more than I do right now. Great video! I love all the history geek deep dive information on how the aircraft was (were) developed. Please do similar mini-history lessons to this for other legendary (and more obscure) aircraft
The corsair siting behind the two men being interviewed. number 530, is in the movie Devotion, with the number "203" painted on the nose. It also has a three bladed propeller, while the other three, four were used, have four bladed propellers.
Another great clip TJ. This plane is one of my personal favorites. There's a great clip on youtube about the British use of it (which I never knew prior that they used it) where they interview a few old British pilots who flew it and they spoke of how large and "monstrous" and "evil" it looked and they'd never seen anything like it.
The F4-U Corsair is my favorite WWII Fighter Air Craft, Number 2, would be the F-40 Flying Tiger. Back to the F4-U, it was also nicknamed the "Whistling Death" by the Germans because of the whistling sound it made during strafing runs at high speed, the air traveling through the radiators is what made the sound, I'm told. I just wanted to share that.... BTW, Great video, the commentary was exceptional. Thank you for sharing this with all of us.
@@alphaaquilla1359 Yes, the name "Whistling Death" was allegedly given to the Corsair by the Japanese NOT Germany. If you read Boone Guyton's book "Whistling Death" (Guyton was the primary Corsair test pilot.) you will find the Japanese gave the Corsair the nick name. BTW some will say it was a Chance Vought marketing name.
There’s a Corsair sitting on a bed of sand about 100ft down just off Honolulu. I dived it back in 1986 after finishing up a business trip to Hawaii. It was in pretty good shape…went down in 1946 if I remember correctly. Just a mundane training accident according to accounts. Big treat for me since I’ve been a fan of the aircraft since I first saw one as a kid.
I'm reading the book 'Devotion' and that's what brought me here. Thinking of Ensign Jesse Brown fighting this monster in attempts to land on the Leyte in rough seas and your video just brought it to life. Well done Sir
Just watched the movie Devotion and it is to the Corsair as Top Gun was too the F-14. Fantastic movie and an important story about the first Black American naval Aviator, Jesse Brown.
I remember when I was in school every Tuesday night, Robert Conrad and the Baa Baa Black Sheep at 8 pm. The story of Major Greg " Pappy" Boington and the 214th Marine squadron flying their Corsairs against the Japanese Zeroes.
ok i knew about the landing gear and wing needing to be a gull wing because of blade clearance... but i never knew that the gull wing reduced drag... man i would kinda enjoy seeing wind tunnel results and what it might do to everything if u kinda swept em back a few degrees. Was on another youtube channel and they were discussing a german built P-51 built by a German Company who used an Austrian Engineer and dubbed it the SW-51.... for Scale Wing - 51 Mustang. they were building this smaller scale replica out of Carbon fiber... and selling it as kit plane. Will send them a suggestion for a Grummen F4F.... would love to see modernization or a complete rebuilt in carbon fiber all of the WW2 Aircraft.
The aero gain was from the wing root being at 90° to the fuselage. A low wing on a round fuselage needs a fillet to fill in the gaps, adding much drag, probably some weight and more build time too. Look at a P-40 wing root, for instance. You can get avoid the fillet with a straight mid wing like the F4F, but it used fuselage landing gear. Everything is tradeoffs.
I saw the wreck of a corsair on Santa Cruz Island off Santa Barbara, CA. This was in 1998. The wreckage is on the upper eastern flank of the Montanon mountain on the eastern end of the island on the same ridge as an abandoned exploratory oil drilling rig. The park rangers said the plane was flying in fog and smacked at high speed into the mountain flank. The slope was gradual enough that the debris splashed over a large area. I remember the prop blades had shattered and bent with the radial engine being the largest piece recognizable.
Corsairs were also extensevely used by French Forces in its last version (F4U7) during Indochina war's last year (1954), during the Suez crissis (1956) and during Algeria war (1955-1961).
Excellent video. I fly Milviz's outstanding FG-1D Corsair in MS2020, along with numerous other Iconic WWII warbirds and it's just a JOY to fly. Sims of today give people who will never get a chance to fly the real deals a wonderful idea of how marvelous it must be to fly the real ones. The Corsair has always been in my top 3 favorite planes of all time. Those were some great sim clips you put in the video too. Well done.
I’m sure others have commented But the landing gear oleo bounce was also a major carrier landing issue solved by adding a pressure release valve - the RN certainly were very grateful when the revised aircraft incorporated this mod I believe
From South Africa Thanks, great vid. As a young boy, in the early 1960's I built several Airfix plastic model aeroplanes ✈ Although the Spit was always my favorite, I remember building the Cosair..... Watching this took me back more years than I care to tell, to a young boy playing dog fight with his collection of model planes.... RGDS & thanks Warren
Hmmm! You may want to read further Lieutenant Commander (A) Norman S. Hanson , RNVR Royal Navy F4U experience. Read "Carrier Pilot" by Hanson and F4U Corsair at War by Abrams in which Hanson gives us additional information on the Royal Navy's experience with the Corsair.
Capt Eric Brown pretty much despised the Corsair as much as I could tell in that section of his book on Royal Navy aircraft. It might have helped if he had been at least 6 feet tall. The reason the Corsair was kept around so long was it could carry 4000+ pounds of ordinance and had twice the range of the early jets. It was also the first airplane that would tear up the aircraft carrier as much as the aircraft carrier could damage it.
@@harryhudson5140 Being 5'4" is what kept Captain Brown alive in his many test flight crashes. The US Navy paid to try to beat his carrier landings, and many died trying.
I’m only repeating what he wrote in the story about it being designed for 6 foot tall pilots. Guess he didn’t have to worry about banging his head on the gunsight.
I could be wrong. I thought I read or heard somewhere that later carrier versions had the 4 bladed props which were smaller which gave it more clearance also. Later models had a more powerful engine so a four blade prop was probably needed but an added benefit would be more clearance when making a hard landing on a carrier.
Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown (RN test pilot with the world record for most aircraft types flown, as well as, a veteran combat pilot is the man who discovered the safe approach for landing Corsairs on carriers safely. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Brown_(pilot) He was a spectacular and fascinating man.
Save, Brown did not “discover the safe approach for landing Corsairs on carriers safely.” VF-12, VF-17, and VOC-1, USN squadrons, were all fully Corsair qualified by April 1943, prior to the British getting their first Corsair. The US Navy was using that “curving approach” to the carriers at least by the mid 1930s, and can be seen in the 1940 movie “Dive Bomber.” My Sources? “Jolly Rogers” by Tom Blackburn, “Whistling Death” by Chance Vought test pilot Boone Guyton, “Corsair” by Barrett Tillman, and the Corsair series by Dana Bell. Yes, there are more sources that will confirm this.
@@cfzippo the brits received a small number of f4u for the navy to evaluate, this is how the us navy learned to fly them off of carriers from the Brits testing
@@dralangrant6138 That is incorrect. Well before any British airplanes, VF-12, VF-17 and VOC-1 were fully carrier qualified by April 1943. The USN was using the curving approach well before WWII. And some of the first USN carrier evaluations were actually done by Swede Vejtasa in March 43, listing 18 concerns to be addressed before full integration into USN Air Training command. I invite you to read Chance Vought test pilot Boone Guyton’s book “Whistling Death,” LtCdr Tom Blackbutn’s book “Jolly Rogers,” and the archival film of Vejtasa here, all happening before the British got any airplanes. No, the British hade zero to do with the “US Navy learning to flying them off carriers.” That’s a false narrative. The British learned their own technique, while training with the USN in the States, for their Corsair operations. Https://archive.org/details/NPC-921
@@dralangrant6138 It is also clear, from the writings of Lieutenant Commander (A) Norman S. Hanson, RNVR, that the Royal Navy had not established the preferred landing procedure of the F4U until December 1943, this, more than a year after VF-12 and VF-17 began carrier qualifications on the airplane.
Ahh my second favorite WWII bird ...(the P-51 being first). Also called "whistling death" & I believe it was also a night fighter. The British landing pattern was news to me. I wouldn't think a mid-air-collision qualified as a "Kill" ...nor was it the preferred method of most WWII Aces ...but it did achieve the "kill" & I suppose out of respect for the pilot one might describe it that way ...but it certainly is not what I would consider a first success ...more like a failure! Again ...this is all "news" to me about a great war bird ...thanks. I subscribed!
Thank you for this video. If I may add, there was another country who operated F4U Corsairs in World War 2 and even in the Pacific was the New Zealanders. The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) operated over 25 Squadrons in the Pacific and purchased under a 'Lend Lease' deal. I hope this adds to your video and thanks again, great video!
I actually touched one, caressed one, groped one! It was at the Navy Air Museum. There was an amazing, Navy blue specimen just glistening there, in front of me. It took me by surprise when I went around another plane and was met with it right in front of me! It was an instant heartbeat increase, heavy breathing, heat all over my body! It was near closing time but there were still other visitors. I felt an instant male, "reaction," that really could not be hidden! There were female visitors there that I had to hide the, "male condition," from them. There was a nearby bench I made a quick exit to so I could sit down and sort of cross my legs to hide the condition. But it was right next to the F4u Corsair! That made it impossible to become unexcited. Thus, I stayed there until the lights started being turned off to notify the visitors it was time to leave. Everyone left my location so I got up, way up, maybe too up, and started caressing the lines, running my finger up and down the body, I even heavy petted the small squared area on the front of one of the wings that allowed for both wings to have the same lift at low landing speeds. I can see it in my mind right now! OMG!!! I am going to have to stop this written experience of what I was feeling! I am getting out of breath! Nothing that sexy can ever be Madd again! The one I saw was over 70 years old! No woman can possibly be that sexy, even at 30! Sorry. I need to take a shower.
Favorite TV show of all time is "Baa Baa Black Sheep" with Robert Conrad and John Larroquette, 1976-1978...I will always, always remember the F4U Corsair.
I knew only about the British Corsair, because of War Thunder and because i have seen a photo in Wikipedia with a group of Corsairs parked in the stern of HMS Illustrious or HMS Indomitable in the Pacific
Great informative video! A longtime warbird fan, I was a 70's kid, and the TV show, "Black Sheep Squadron," starring Robert Conrad, was a Corsair-lover's dream to watch every week!
My dad flew the dc-3 on ba ba black sheep. I got to got to the field one day when I was 8. My dad sat me in the cockpit of a Corsair to get a picture. You couldn’t see in the pic but I had tears in my eyes from how hot that cockpit was. Couldn’t imagine what those pistols went through in the pacific of hot days.
Great video. Reminds me of the show, "blacksheep squadron." I wonder why the never thought of a periscope type idea so the pilots could see the carrier. Something mounted underneath, behind the cowling then up into the cockpit!! a tube and couple of mirrors.
As a child in my motherland, mes amis, I read the memoirs of a chap who was a combat pilote of one of these in WWII. He Claimed the flight manual said that the glide-characteristics were SO poor, that if the engine stopped, you should bail-out (if high enough) ... OR 'Whistle A Happy Tune and Kiss Your Ass Goodbye '! ... because a 'dead-stick’ landing was very iffy.
As always, I love your video! I have always loved Corsairs even though I have never seen one in real life, even on display. I watched Black Sheep Squadron in grade school and read Pappy Boyington's autobiography "Baa Baa Black Sheep". Col. Boyington became my favorite fighter pilot (along with George E. Preddy - tie) behind my dad, a Wild Weasel commander and Silver Star recipient (along with 5 Distinguished Flying Crosses).
As a former naval aviator who was trained on the naval landing pattern, what was the carrier landing pattern like before the F4U? Seems like the current landing pattern is a direct result of the Corsair
If you go to the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, you can see _AND_ touch the stall strip on the Corsair. FWIW, it's painted as Greg Boyington's.
In 1948 when I was but a small child, my family lived Grand Prairie, Tx just north of the Chance Vought plant where F4U aircraft were being built. In addition, F4Us flew out of Naval Air Station Dallas across the airfield from Chance Vought. I'll never forget these inverted gull wing planes flying right over the roof of our house.
Anyone who's ever worked in retail won't be surprised that they would rather destroy all of those aircraft than give them away without receiving payment. I understand their reasoning, but it still doesn't change the fact that it's fucked up...
@whocares notme or at least loan them with promise to repay? Profiteering is all the US has ever been about. That makes sense often, but sometimes, like when it leads to the destruction of perfectly functional equipment, it shows the stupid nature of blind capitalism.
Very good video. I thought it was going to be another cut & paste video that so many RUclipsrs do without putting any work into it, but yours actually surprised me with the last four things I didn't know.
The comment that the shape reducing drag was an accidental discovery is false. It was known and a deliberate motivation of the design. You could have had a low wing that came out straight from the bottom of the fuselage but at an angle that's not perpendicular to the cylindrical fuselage. This is what the F6 did to handle its large propellor.. But doing that adds drag as the most clean approach is for the wing to attach perpendicular to the fuselage's curve. If you want the wing to be low but also perpendicular to the fuselage it comes out at a downward angle. Thus the idea to have it attach to the fuselage aimed perpendicular angled down, then bend it back up once it was away from the fuselage. Yes it was done to make the landing gear fit the propellor, but the reason to do that with the bent wing instead of a low straight wing was the thing about drag being less if the wing attaches to the fuselage perpendicularly, which they did know about ahead of time and is why they did it. It wasn't accidentally discovered after the fact as implied here.
Gotta admit, most times the “Facts you didn’t know about…” vids on RUclips are filled with … well, facts I did kinda know. But not this time! Kudos to you my friend for your research! I’m 55 and have had a love affair with the Corsair since Bob Conrad introduced this 10 year old son of a salty old Marine to “Pappy” Boyington and the Corsair. I would have thought I had heard it all. But you did a great job and taught me a few new things. Going to need to read up on the Soccer War. Would be interesting to know how the 2 pilots matched up in training, skill and tactics to better understand exactly how those 2 iconic fighters matched up. The expert commentary was great and the presentation was first rate all the way round! Imma clicking that sub button! Looking forward to more! Cheers!
Out of all the aircraft that flew during the second world War I like the corsair the most. It's nimble and small. And the wings make it look very elegant
During the Korean War, my dad was assigned to Marine fighter squadron VMA-312, The Checkerboards. The Corsairs had a distinctive checkerboard pattern painted on the engine cowling. At that time they flew off of the USS Bairoko, CVE 115.
Of the events/facts discussed in this video, I'm most interested in the F4U Corsair vs. the P-51 Mustang, in particular how these two aircraft ended up in the two opposing countries in the first place, as well as a more detailed look at the actual conflicts between the aircraft involved. Of the "things never known" about the F4U Corsair, I actually knew much about the design "flaws" (and remedies) of the aircraft, but most of the "while in use" events I was not aware of.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
Well boys, this is my first effort at including actual expert commentary into my videos! I hope you like it because I have a ton more coming just like this! A big thank you to the Commemorative Air Force as well as Airbase Georgia for allowing me to get so much great content here! Go check them out here!
Commemorative Air Force RUclips - ruclips.net/user/CAFMediaTV
Airbase Georgia Facebook - facebook.com/CAFAirbaseGeorgia
I think it came out great! It was a pleasure working with you!
Thanks Kevin! Likewise!
Thank you for the nice story!!!
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As someone whose cut documentaries, and docu-drama Prime Time-- EXCELLENT WORK
My mom was in the marines during ww2 and she used to order parts for them in Philadelphia. My dad was a CPO on the U.S.S Yorktown and he used to work on the corsair. There's footage out there of a zero crashing into the Yorktown. My dad is one of the guys putting the fire out. Love and miss my parents. Thanks to all service men and women. Also my mom was the president of the women's marines association till the day she past. My dad's name is Benjamin Thomas Alger. Mom is Barbara Florence same last name.
You were blessed with parents like that!
@@lwmcvay9045 Thanks.
God's good rest to your dad, Chief Petty Officer Ben Alger, and to your mom, Marine Barbara Alger, valiant and faithful warriors.
I salute your mother and father, sir. My dad, Edwin Lamar Wampler was a Marine fighter pilot in both WW2 and Korea.
We counted it up one afternoon when I was folding news papers for my paper route. He flew over 48 different aircraft in the two wars he was in, got shot down twice, I think, and in 14 years of service, made the rank of major.
My mom was a control tower operator and he flirted with her on approach one evening.
War happens, but so does love brother!
Jason Wampler
@@ivanhoedokkrau1439, I can almost picture it, the banter and the flying. Thanks for the story,and all the best to your family!
Growing up in the 70's, my favorite TV show was Baa Baa Black Sheep. I wanted to be Pappy Boyington when I grew up. this show cemented my love for the Corsair. Of course, I also watched Rat Patrol and always wanted a Jeep with the machine gun mount.
Same here! I watched it many years later and thought it was directed at 10 year olds because as a adult, so may things stood out I never noticed as a kid. The same gun cam footage over and over and take off and landing footage. Still, a classic.
the whistling death, my favorite!
I had the opportunity to meet Pappy Boyington back in 1975 at an airshow just outside of Denver Colorado. I’ll never forget those white leather buckle shoes he wore lol. He noticed I was lefthanded and he said he was lefthanded too. He told me at times he would use his left hand to control the stick and with his right hand the throttle’s. As a young kid of 12 years old I was completely astonished and have cherished the Corsair to this day!
I love this plane. The fact that it has slanted wings gives it a unique style design and it’s my favorite.
@Will Rose what does that have to do with anything?
@Will Rose Besides it’s ups and downs, I have love the Corsair design for more then 45 years. Ever since I was a young lad., and will be one of my favorites.
@@OH.A.M. I have flown model airplanes and this was my first big scale model, i loved how it performed... it was also my first model with a 4 stroke engine.. loved the sound. I never crashed it, i sold it to someone else who is still flying it. And the funny thing is, the same thing i noticed as well, stalling the left wing happened pretty quick on a straight approach
My favorites are the P-40, P-47, F-4 and my all time favorite, the P-61 Black Widow.
I love it as well
As a boy growing up in the 80s I saw Black Sheep Squadron on telly. Went out and bought myself an Airfix 1/72 kit. I saw the the Corsairs all had a large white arrow on the right wing pointing forward and another on the tailfin pointing upwards. So I painted these arrows on as well to imitate Pappy's Corsair.
Did the rearview mirror say "Japanese aircraft in mirror are closer than they appear" also?
🤣
War machines of this era I find the most fascinating.
I have a Chinese uncle who was a mechanic in China stationed at Kunming, Wuhan and Shanghai. He worked on C-47's, B-24's and other aircraft and still remembered the oil pressures and all that stuff of B-24 bombers. He did oil changes and refueld P-40's also. Many years ago he said he would of liked to volunteer somewhere to restore B-24s if it wasn't for his limited English.
My cousin told me he had a Flying Tiger jacket and some other stuff that was given to his father but his father gave it all away at some point.a
If he wants to move to Southern California there are plenty of places he can help restore and maintain the history (and the planes themselves) at museums nearby!
That's pretty cool
They were built right here in Grand Prairie, Texas. Only a few miles from where I’m sitting. My home town.
GPHS class of 1985.
Thank you. My dad flew the Corsairs in WWII. He was with VFM 314 in the South Pacific
Couple things that usually get missed about the design are the short landing gear could be lowered as dive brakes around twice the airspeed as a hellcat. 1 of the guys on here talked about the low drag of the wing root which also had all the coolers in them this kept the fuselage narrow for less drag and more speed. The Brits fixed several other things to make it better at carrier landings like fix the strut dampening and tie down the top of the engine cowling for visibility. It's funny to me that seafire had similar visibility issues so the had a head start on the curved landing approach.
Actually the British didn't solve the problems with the oleo struts, and the top cowl flaps, those problems were solved by VF-17 Jolly Rogers, Tommy Blackburn's book about his squadron talks about those issues, and how they found a fix for them. The only things that the British did that made the fighter easier to operate from a carrier were the curved approach, and thoroughly testing it on their carriers, to make it able to successfully operate from the deck of a carrier.
@@johnosbourn4312 "It is clear from the accounts of Lieutenant Commander (A) Norman S. Hanson , RNVR that the Royal Navy had not established the preferred landing procedure of the F4U Corsair until December 1943. This was nearly a year, November 1942, after the training of U.S. Navy pilots at NAS San Diego, CA noted a "curving approach" by Boone Guyton.
Very interesting...Brits landing on carriers contributed so much..I always had the impressiin of Brit carriers, "Well...Here we are....Can we , uh, help?"
Great stuff
@@maxschell8823 The Brits did not develop this approach later, they had learned this approach previously with the Spitfire and used it. US doctrine was a straight approach. Early on the US where short of Carriers and due to damage to Enterprise and loss of Yorktown only had one carrier operational in the Pacific. The Brits loaned the US HMS Victorious (This was renamed the USS Robin to not give enemy any intelligence. The Aircrew on the aircraft carrier where talking about being retrained for straight approach rather than curved approach. I would love to get hold of those doctrine guys. See here about the Carrier Victorious, scroll down to US Navy service as USS Robin:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Victorious_(R38)
@@johnosbourn4312 Interesting thanks for that, removing wing tips was Brit thing to get in hangars that removed float, question is who came up with lift spoiler for the wing that did not drop, meaning even stall. At least if the plane crashed it was not upside down.
It was at Okinawa the Corsair was given the nickname “Angels of Okinawa” due to their success against Japanese aircraft. The Corsair compiled an 11:1 kill ratio during World War II. One of the best fighters of World War II, the F4U Corsair tormented the Japanese from Guadalcanal until the end of the war. “Whistling Death.” "Bent Wing Bird." "Gull Winged" fighter. So with F4U the F stood for fighter the U for Vought and the 4 was the 4th aircraft design built by Vought.
Bent Winged Bastard....NOT Bent Winged Bird.
@@Mr.XJ.96 There were many nick names given to the Corsair INCLUDING "Bent Wing Bird," "Bent Wing Bastard" {Royal Navy} etc., etc.
The path was made very easy for the Corsair because of the Wildcat and Hellcat.
The same Govt that uses a "U" to represent a company starting with a "V" shouldn't be trying to run my life.
@@maxschell8823 : “whistling death” as the Japanese nicknamed it
@@Despiser25 It was a Navy designation for the aircraft manufacturers that built the various planes (U=Chance Vought, F=Grumman, D=Douglas, H=McConnell, etc).
When I was a little kid, I loved this plane. It was my favorite plastic model, along with the B25 Mitchell.
If you ever get to see one, do it! They are friggin’ huge!
the 47 looks like it was designed by a locomotive engineer, the 51 an Italian, the F4u is just scary looking and could have been designed by a bare knucle Boxer, love it and the sounds that it makes too. Imagine them being pushed over the side of a carrier.... tears.
No doubt the Jug was a beast. The Mustang was like a Ferrari back in the day.
I almost cried when I came to understand what they did. What a shame it was to push them overboard. They should have been given to the pilots who wanted them or sold them to aviators. Crazy crazy!!
@@abbottsplace8080 why did they toss them?
@@williammitchell4417 P-51! Cadillac of the Skies! :D
@@CakePrincessCelestia Not quite.... The Mustang's more like a hot rod Ford vs the Corsair being a souped up Chevy 😎
The most graceful looking naval based plane of WW2. It and the Mustang p-51 were two of the most beautiful planes ever built. If I could choose one that I could own today, it would truly be a tough choice, but I think I would have to go with those beautiful gull wings!!
Love the F4U! Pappy Boyington was my hero growing up. I vote for the P38 next. Especially some commentary on Lindberg's contribution to fuel efficiency and his enemy kills during "testing" over Rabaul & Bougenville as a civilian.
Hopefully he’s still a hero.
The TV show with Robert Conrad as Boyington featured the Corsair, but there was one episode that had at least 2 P-38s as the "star attractions". It even showed how the pilots got on to and off of the wing using the trick little stow-away ladder at the rear of the center fuselage. Great show.
P38K ,shame it never got past a test phase
Did you know about the Super Corsair variants: Goodyear F2G Corsair
It used the P&W R-4360, Wasp Major 4-row 28-cylinder "corncob" radial engine. The F2G-1 and F2G-2 were significantly different aircraft.
The later variance caused death to the unexperienced who was approaching the carrier low, and would suddenly power up to get up to the deck, causing a torque twist of the airplane and a strike.
I recommend reading "The Jolly Rogers" by Tom Blackburn, first skipper of VF-17 who describes in detail the issues he and his squadron faced in preparing to fight in the Pacific with the Corsair on board USS Bunker Hill. Great video.
The F4U was a true all-rounder fighter in World War II. Its Ground attack, Air combat and sea combat capabilities are all quite strong.
In the mid 1960's I was a crew chief on F-105 Thunderchief's. This was a very mis-understood aircraft, pushed into service in SE Asia in a role it was never designed for. Pilots loved it but still ..... losses were staggering. Your research and a video on this great aircraft would answer so many questions and perhaps create others.
Missile development made a difference.
My father flew the F4U Corsair with the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm in the Pacific theatre. He said it was a fantastic aircraft to fly, a real powerhouse that would get the job done.
Those radial engines were powerful and did have an absolutely great sounding engine.
One thing my old F-16 buddy John forgot to add in the landing gear length issue? Was the ability to fully retract that landing gear, without making the wing to wide. The F6F and the F4U have the same length landing gear! The only two differences? Yes that bent wing, and the Hellcat landing gear stays extended and not fully retracted, and the Corsairs fully retracts and is collapsed to retract in front of the front spar. Yes, I am a Corsair pilot, SBD pilot and F6F pilot as well :)
Sounds more than interesting, where do you fly, and whose aircraft? CAF birds, private collection, yours? And how the heck does someone wake up and say, ‘hey, I want to fly a Corsair’??
Really enjoyed this video. I wasn’t familiar with the Corsair until recently when I purchased a model kit of one. The wing shape and colour looked interesting. So nice to learn some information about the miniature aircraft I have just spent hours building and painting!
I saw a YT video of a Tuskegee Airmen that said after a few dog fights one day, he saw a P-51 and decided to join it to fly back to base. When he got close he saw that it had German markings on it. He said he let it go because he was so low on fuel.
Yes, I know it wasn't a Corsair but I thought a few people might enjoy hearing about this.
PS. I'm sure glad that a lot of these people from the Greatest Generation are on video with there stories so that future generations will know what happened. Soon, videos will be all we have of them.
" NEVER FORGET "
.
Good video. My mother worked on the Corsair gauging the rivet holes and checking for irregular sizes along with other jobs. I still have her tool box that I mistook for my dad's. Moms tool box had a stuck lock I fixed by pulling a Corsair rivet out lodged in the mechanism
My father met a marine air Corp pilot a Korean war veteran in Stanford university, among the many classmate were asked to take German as part of their course to achieve a masters or PhD. These Marine pilot was telling his story in landing onboard an aircraft carrier, you had to drift to the port (left side) before 100 -ft before turning aligning straight.
Easily my favorite fighter of WWII. Always a treat when I can see one in person - the latest was at the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, MI.
My grandfather flew the Corsair during WW2 in the pacific. He always talked about that aircraft!
My dad was a Marine aircraft mechanic, and worked on Corsairs, as well as Grumman F4F Wildcats and SNJ T-6 Texans. His squadron, VMF216, were on Efate and then on Guam. Awesome birds!
Very, very nice touch adding direct interviews in support of your presentations, TJ!! You could do an entire episode just covering the real story of Pappy Boyington and his Black Sheep squadron starring.....of course....this great fighter!! Jim C.
Thanks Jim!
@@TJ3 THE FIRST NIGHT FIGHTER IN LATIN AMERICA: THE CORSAIR F4U-5N/NL OF THE ARGENTINE NAVY.
ruclips.net/video/1_QNlW_VlPM/видео.html
Absolutely
Black Sheep Squadron... my favorite TV show growing up! Led to me becoming a Big Fan of the Corsair, and Robert Conrad, and also a huge military buff, especially Naval Aviation! It continued into my professional life, as I had a co-op job during college at GE Aerospace systems, which built the flight control computers for the F/A-18 Hornet,,,, which became my newest favorite aircraft!
The history of VF-17, Jolly Rogers is just as interesting. Even in training, crazy Ike Kepler flew upside down at treetop height and ran a truck off the road!
Please do one on the Vought OS2U Kingfisher Aircraft. It was used on the USS IOWA (BB61). My dad was a Aviation machinist Mate and qualified as a Flight Engineer. He sat in back and was radio operator and rear gunner.
As a Retired USN CHIEF PETTY OFFICER I appreciate the narration of this informative video of the Corsair..Anchors Away!⚓
Thanks for your service!
Three other problems that the Corsair had in its early examples were the top most cowl flaps allowing oil to be sprayed onto the windscreen, extremely stiff oleo struts, and a very short tail wheel strut.
There's an anecdote in the book Black Sheep One about Pappy Boyington trying to clean his canopy with a handkerchief at 5000 feet. My dad flew a Corsair and said the pilots got really good at finding rain showers to fly through that would clear off the oil!
"Oleo?" As in oleomargarine??
@@teemcshanney8910 It's probably slang from the way the strut works--when the strut compresses or extends, a gas-filled chamber pushes/pulls a piston. This forces oil through a small hole. That action absorbs energy due to the viscosity of the oil (or ''oleum', Latin for olive oil). Just a guess :)
Brits wire the cowl flaps directly in front of screen closed, no oil on screen.
Oleo legs an Oil and air damper suspension system for aircraft see here.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleo_strut
Different aircraft companies had different solutions to the same problem of mounting the P & W R2800 with a 13ft diameter propeller onto an airframe. While Vought went with an inverted gull-wing and shorter landing gear, Grumman went with their evolutionary F6F Hellcat design. Yes, the Hellcat was slower, but it was relatively safer to fly compared to the F4U, and did not have any issues with landing on a aircraft carrier using the traditional USN approach. The Hellcat was the work horse of the USN and the British FAA in the 2nd half of WW2. However, since the F4U was a more advance design than the F6F, the Corsair did end up serving longer in the US Navy than the Hellcat.
Many thanks go to the Commemorative Air Force for their participation every summer in my local Air show in Arlington WA.
Got some really good video of Sentimental Journey, your P51 and your Corsair this year.
We are privileged to have you on the guest list.
I found the part about the British pilot refusing to tell the Germans how to fold the wings pretty funny. This was a really interesting video, thanks!
I laughed pretty hard at that part too
I wonder if they ever managed to find it out how to do that :D
This was an extremely well done video
As a student of history and an author I can honestly say I learned a couple things here. Usually when videos are titled like this I don't learn anything new, so this was a pleasant surprise. And this being my most favorite aircraft ever it was awesome to hear these few facts.
I knew a now deceased old boy who had 2000 hours of south Pacific combat time as a Marine aviator in Corsairs. After I landed my LSA plane RANS S-7S) in his very narrow and switchedbacked mountain driveway, with his prior permission of course, he mentioned in passing "when we turned final for the carrier, it dissappeared," or words to that effect. That told me a;ll I needed to know about the over the nose viz! Impressing him with my landing, and it did, was one of the most rewarding things I've done in 40+ years of off airport flying.
Omg this is epic. I’m so glad I got to help make this
Thanks for the help!
My Wood Science professor in college worked as quality control in the factory that made the tail surfaces for the Corsair. They were made from Fir or Spruce. These source wood pieces had to meet very high tolerances that you usually didn’t consider for wood products. Besides being clear wood (no knots or other disfigurements) it had to meet higher tension tolerances. They were then doped fabric covered. The factory had to be kept at a low humidity as that could increase the moisture content of this kiln dried wood that increase a failure rate in the tensile strength of the parts.
Why did they used wood framing for these parts? The wood would flex more than metal parts under the stress of operational uses. Making the parts stronger than substitute metal parts.
I'd like to learn more about the TBM Avenger, my fathers squadron was trained for night missions, then were based on the USS Enterprise. I believe they were in Peril Harbor under repairs while Hiroshima was nuked...on his birthday. Luckily Smartt Field in St Charles Mo, 30 min away has one fully restored to flight status along with a B-25. They do a pumpkin drop every year, army vs navy, it's a blast from the past!
Hey my dad and his brother tom and bill spalding were members of that squadron on the big E at that time of the war
@@davidspalding4532 was it squadron no VTN 55? He took some cool pics, has 1st names of his buddy's, not sure about last names.
Fans of "Baa Baa Black Sheep" / "The Blacksheep Squadron" will remember that the planes made that long curved approach to the landing strip on "Vella La Cava". Somewhere around here I have a couple of black and white snap shots of Corsairs at (I think) Cherry Point, NC taken by my grandfather when he was stationed there. To me, those two personal photos confirm that "they were real", much as my other grandfather's snapshots of steam locomotives in the 1950s confirmed the same.
Good commentary, and DOUBLE THANK-YOU for not using one of those computer-generated voices that so many YT videos use today.
Thank you for a fantastic review of the Corsair. Certainly the best carrier fighter of the last big war. Last year at the Goodwood Revival there was one parked on the airfield. About ten Spitfires , two Hurricanes and various other old aircraft. All very impressive but the tough brutal appearance of the Corsair,the first time I have ever seen one stopped me in my tracks. How kind of you to mention that the Royal Navy pilots were the ones who discovered the way to land them on a carrier. I have seen so many documentaries made by American producers who claim that your country won the war all by yourselves. We were all in it together in our grand parents generation. I hope we never have a third world war. Beware of the powers of China and Russia. The megalomaniac governments are a great threat to our future.
Apologies for my countrymen who have a hard time seeing outside the fishbowl. The courage of Britain standing alone after the fall of France is a matter of record, as are the contribution of the Tube Alloys project to the atomic bomb, the gift to the U.S. of the cavity magnetron for powering radar, the hedgehog antisubmarine weapon, license to build the Rolls-Royce Merlin, and a little thing called the jet engine.
I am not sure if it was mentioned in the video or not. One of the reasons the USN did not accept the Corsair early was the high number of crashes as corsairs bounced uncontrollable on landing on carriers. The Brits adopted the Corsair after modifying the undercarriage damper rates and made it a very successful carrier borne aircraft. The improvements then made the Corsair viable for the USN.
@@danpatterson8009 Yes, thank you Sir Frank Whittle.
I've never seen any documentary that said the USA won WWII all alone. Think maybe you're stretching it a bit just because they didn't mention everyone else?
Holy Hand Grenades, Batman! Very cool list. I father serviced on the U.S.S. Bennington and worked on Corsairs. This became my favorite single prop plane. Thank you for sharing!
Sadly, I was one of the P 38s, wasn't seen much in the video, because I was 3 Km away from the escort, but still happy to play with Tj, also amazing work Tj, LOVE it!
Thanks for helping regardless!
What does that mean, you "were one of the P38s??"
That's nonsensical.
@@teemcshanney8910 it means he was flying with me in the simulator when we recreated these scenes.
I remember when the Commemorative Air Force was called the Confederate Air Force. Seems that the powers that be didn’t like the idea of operational WWII fighter and bomber aircraft being maintained and flown by what they considered an adversary, in name only. Every last one of those guys that I knew back in the day would still fight for America and her people.
Great video. Thanks for putting in the time and research.
I have never wanted one more than I do right now.
Great video!
I love all the history geek deep dive information on how the aircraft was (were) developed.
Please do similar mini-history lessons to this for other legendary (and more obscure) aircraft
At this time there is one for sale for 4 Million dollars. Sounds like a deal (not for me of course, I cant even afford a second car 🤪.)
The corsair siting behind the two men being interviewed. number 530, is in the movie Devotion, with the number "203" painted on the nose. It also has a three bladed propeller, while the other three, four were used, have four bladed propellers.
Another great clip TJ. This plane is one of my personal favorites.
There's a great clip on youtube about the British use of it (which I never knew prior that they used it) where they interview a few old British pilots who flew it and they spoke of how large and "monstrous" and "evil" it looked and they'd never seen anything like it.
The F4-U Corsair is my favorite WWII Fighter Air Craft, Number 2, would be the F-40 Flying Tiger. Back to the F4-U, it was also nicknamed the "Whistling Death" by the Germans because of the whistling sound it made during strafing runs at high speed, the air traveling through the radiators is what made the sound, I'm told. I just wanted to share that.... BTW, Great video, the commentary was exceptional. Thank you for sharing this with all of us.
I thought japan called that, but instead its called sikorsky right?
@@alphaaquilla1359 Yes, the name "Whistling Death" was allegedly given to the Corsair by the Japanese NOT Germany. If you read Boone Guyton's book "Whistling Death" (Guyton was the primary Corsair test pilot.) you will find the Japanese gave the Corsair the nick name. BTW some will say it was a Chance Vought marketing name.
Thank you, I stand to be corrected, the nickname was right just not the the people who named it.
Love the work you put in to this.
Nice cinematic experience and we'll put together information.
Keep it up!
I loved the series " Black sheep squadron" with Robert Conrad.
There’s a Corsair sitting on a bed of sand about 100ft down just off Honolulu. I dived it back in 1986 after finishing up a business trip to Hawaii.
It was in pretty good shape…went down in 1946 if I remember correctly. Just a mundane training accident according to accounts.
Big treat for me since I’ve been a fan of the aircraft since I first saw one as a kid.
I dived on the same Corsair in 1971-72. Still have what I was told is the internal shute for the spent .50cal brass.
I'm reading the book 'Devotion' and that's what brought me here. Thinking of Ensign Jesse Brown fighting this monster in attempts to land on the Leyte in rough seas and your video just brought it to life.
Well done Sir
You're constantly raising the bar with every video you upload, really good stuff
Thanks Yas!
Old Man was on CV21 USS BOXER. First carrier with a jet squadron but at beginning of Korean War it was all Corsairs.
Just watched the movie Devotion and it is to the Corsair as Top Gun was too the F-14. Fantastic movie and an important story about the first Black American naval Aviator, Jesse Brown.
Cover the Australian CAC CA-15 Kangaroo or the CAC Boomerang (CA-12, CA-13, CA-14 and CA-19) or if that's to hard the P61.
I remember when I was in school every Tuesday night, Robert Conrad and the Baa Baa Black Sheep at 8 pm. The story of Major Greg " Pappy" Boington and the 214th Marine squadron flying their Corsairs against the Japanese Zeroes.
ok i knew about the landing gear and wing needing to be a gull wing because of blade clearance... but i never knew that the gull wing reduced drag... man i would kinda enjoy seeing wind tunnel results and what it might do to everything if u kinda swept em back a few degrees. Was on another youtube channel and they were discussing a german built P-51 built by a German Company who used an Austrian Engineer and dubbed it the SW-51.... for Scale Wing - 51 Mustang. they were building this smaller scale replica out of Carbon fiber... and selling it as kit plane. Will send them a suggestion for a Grummen F4F.... would love to see modernization or a complete rebuilt in carbon fiber all of the WW2 Aircraft.
The aero gain was from the wing root being at 90° to the fuselage. A low wing on a round fuselage needs a fillet to fill in the gaps, adding much drag, probably some weight and more build time too. Look at a P-40 wing root, for instance. You can get avoid the fillet with a straight mid wing like the F4F, but it used fuselage landing gear. Everything is tradeoffs.
I saw the wreck of a corsair on Santa Cruz Island off Santa Barbara, CA. This was in 1998. The wreckage is on the upper eastern flank of the Montanon mountain on the eastern end of the island on the same ridge as an abandoned exploratory oil drilling rig. The park rangers said the plane was flying in fog and smacked at high speed into the mountain flank. The slope was gradual enough that the debris splashed over a large area. I remember the prop blades had shattered and bent with the radial engine being the largest piece recognizable.
Corsairs were also extensevely used by French Forces in its last version (F4U7) during Indochina war's last year (1954), during the Suez crissis (1956) and during Algeria war (1955-1961).
Excellent video. I fly Milviz's outstanding FG-1D Corsair in MS2020, along with numerous other Iconic WWII warbirds and it's just a JOY to fly. Sims of today give people who will never get a chance to fly the real deals a wonderful idea of how marvelous it must be to fly the real ones. The Corsair has always been in my top 3 favorite planes of all time. Those were some great sim clips you put in the video too. Well done.
I’m sure others have commented But the landing gear oleo bounce was also a major carrier landing issue solved by adding a pressure release valve - the RN certainly were very grateful when the revised aircraft incorporated this mod I believe
I remember watching your videos during covid, and I can confidently say that your videos have gotten so much better. Cheers
Thank you!
From South Africa Thanks, great vid. As a young boy, in the early 1960's I built several Airfix plastic model aeroplanes ✈ Although the Spit was always my favorite, I remember building the Cosair..... Watching this took me back more years than I care to tell, to a young boy playing dog fight with his collection of model planes.... RGDS & thanks Warren
Thank you for this this! This aircraft means so much to me. It’s more than just my all time favorite airplane.
It was Captain Eric Brown, RN, whom taught the US how to land the Corsair on carrier.
Hmmm! You may want to read further Lieutenant Commander (A) Norman S. Hanson , RNVR Royal Navy F4U experience. Read "Carrier Pilot" by Hanson and F4U Corsair at War by Abrams in which Hanson gives us additional information on the Royal Navy's experience with the Corsair.
@@maxschell8823 Hmmm! 65% of all US airplane losses in WW2 was due to accidents.
Capt Eric Brown pretty much despised the Corsair as much as I could tell in that section of his book on Royal Navy aircraft. It might have helped if he had been at least 6 feet tall. The reason the Corsair was kept around so long was it could carry 4000+ pounds of ordinance and had twice the range of the early jets. It was also the first airplane that would tear up the aircraft carrier as much as the aircraft carrier could damage it.
@@harryhudson5140 Being 5'4" is what kept Captain Brown alive in his many test flight crashes. The US Navy paid to try to beat his carrier landings, and many died trying.
I’m only repeating what he wrote in the story about it being designed for 6 foot tall pilots. Guess he didn’t have to worry about banging his head on the gunsight.
I could be wrong. I thought I read or heard somewhere that later carrier versions had the 4 bladed props which were smaller which gave it more clearance also. Later models had a more powerful engine so a four blade prop was probably needed but an added benefit would be more clearance when making a hard landing on a carrier.
Yes, for detailed information on the engine and props read, "R-2800 Pratt and Whitney's Dependable Masterpiece."
Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown (RN test pilot with the world record for most aircraft types flown, as well as, a veteran combat pilot is the man who discovered the safe approach for landing Corsairs on carriers safely. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Brown_(pilot) He was a spectacular and fascinating man.
Save, Brown did not “discover the safe approach for landing Corsairs on carriers safely.” VF-12, VF-17, and VOC-1, USN squadrons, were all fully Corsair qualified by April 1943, prior to the British getting their first Corsair. The US Navy was using that “curving approach” to the carriers at least by the mid 1930s, and can be seen in the 1940 movie “Dive Bomber.” My Sources? “Jolly Rogers” by Tom Blackburn, “Whistling Death” by Chance Vought test pilot Boone Guyton, “Corsair” by Barrett Tillman, and the Corsair series by Dana Bell. Yes, there are more sources that will confirm this.
@@cfzippo Bull shit
@@cfzippo the brits received a small number of f4u for the navy to evaluate, this is how the us navy learned to fly them off of carriers from the Brits testing
@@dralangrant6138 That is incorrect. Well before any British airplanes, VF-12, VF-17 and VOC-1 were fully carrier qualified by April 1943. The USN was using the curving approach well before WWII. And some of the first USN carrier evaluations were actually done by Swede Vejtasa in March 43, listing 18 concerns to be addressed before full integration into USN Air Training command. I invite you to read Chance Vought test pilot Boone Guyton’s book “Whistling Death,” LtCdr Tom Blackbutn’s book “Jolly Rogers,” and the archival film of Vejtasa here, all happening before the British got any airplanes. No, the British hade zero to do with the “US Navy learning to flying them off carriers.” That’s a false narrative. The British learned their own technique, while training with the USN in the States, for their Corsair operations. Https://archive.org/details/NPC-921
@@dralangrant6138 It is also clear, from the writings of Lieutenant Commander (A) Norman S. Hanson, RNVR, that the Royal Navy had not established the preferred landing procedure of the F4U until December 1943, this, more than a year after VF-12 and VF-17 began carrier qualifications on the airplane.
About 1972 I remember climbing around a stripped out Corsair. A week later it was on a trailer headed on it’s way to finish being scrapped
The Corsair and the Hellcat had the exact same engine. The fule tank was in front of the cockpit, behind the engine.
Yet the F4U was 20-30 mph faster. Had to do with carb and carb air flow. See Wings/Airport has a whole article on this.
love it how you just use WarThunder
Ahh my second favorite WWII bird ...(the P-51 being first). Also called "whistling death" & I believe it was also a night fighter. The British landing pattern was news to me.
I wouldn't think a mid-air-collision qualified as a "Kill" ...nor was it the preferred method of most WWII Aces ...but it did achieve the "kill" & I suppose out of respect for the pilot one might describe it that way ...but it certainly is not what I would consider a first success ...more like a failure! Again ...this is all "news" to me about a great war bird ...thanks.
I subscribed!
The British (correct me if I'm wrong) also improved the P-51 with the Merlin engine, but I'm not sure what engine was in it to begin with.
@@jimmaurer8361 Yes ...the Allison V1710 was the original power plant. But the Rolls royce engine made it perform better.
Thank you for this video. If I may add, there was another country who operated F4U Corsairs in World War 2 and even in the Pacific was the New Zealanders. The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) operated over 25 Squadrons in the Pacific and purchased under a 'Lend Lease' deal.
I hope this adds to your video and thanks again, great video!
I actually touched one, caressed one, groped one! It was at the Navy Air Museum. There was an amazing, Navy blue specimen just glistening there, in front of me. It took me by surprise when I went around another plane and was met with it right in front of me! It was an instant heartbeat increase, heavy breathing, heat all over my body! It was near closing time but there were still other visitors. I felt an instant male, "reaction," that really could not be hidden! There were female visitors there that I had to hide the, "male condition," from them. There was a nearby bench I made a quick exit to so I could sit down and sort of cross my legs to hide the condition. But it was right next to the F4u Corsair! That made it impossible to become unexcited. Thus, I stayed there until the lights started being turned off to notify the visitors it was time to leave. Everyone left my location so I got up, way up, maybe too up, and started caressing the lines, running my finger up and down the body, I even heavy petted the small squared area on the front of one of the wings that allowed for both wings to have the same lift at low landing speeds. I can see it in my mind right now! OMG!!! I am going to have to stop this written experience of what I was feeling! I am getting out of breath! Nothing that sexy can ever be Madd again! The one I saw was over 70 years old! No woman can possibly be that sexy, even at 30! Sorry. I need to take a shower.
My dad grew up in Connecticutt, right across the river form the Corsair plant. They still have a Corsair out front. Stunning aircraft.
Awesome!
Thanks!
Favorite TV show of all time is "Baa Baa Black Sheep" with Robert Conrad and John Larroquette, 1976-1978...I will always, always remember the F4U Corsair.
Thank you for the information, I have passed it on to my superiors. My wife.
I knew only about the British Corsair, because of War Thunder and because i have seen a photo in Wikipedia with a group of Corsairs parked in the stern of HMS Illustrious or HMS Indomitable in the Pacific
Great informative video! A longtime warbird fan, I was a 70's kid, and the TV show, "Black Sheep Squadron," starring Robert Conrad, was a Corsair-lover's dream to watch every week!
My dad flew the dc-3 on ba ba black sheep. I got to got to the field one day when I was 8. My dad sat me in the cockpit of a Corsair to get a picture. You couldn’t see in the pic but I had tears in my eyes from how hot that cockpit was. Couldn’t imagine what those pistols went through in the pacific of hot days.
Great video. Reminds me of the show, "blacksheep squadron." I wonder why the never thought of a periscope type idea so the pilots could see the carrier. Something mounted underneath, behind the cowling then up into the cockpit!! a tube and couple of mirrors.
As a child in my motherland, mes amis, I read the memoirs of a chap who was a combat pilote of one of these in WWII. He Claimed the flight manual said that the glide-characteristics were SO poor, that if the engine stopped, you should bail-out (if high enough) ... OR 'Whistle A Happy Tune and Kiss Your Ass Goodbye '! ... because a 'dead-stick’ landing was very iffy.
I grew up watching BaaBaa Black Sheep and I love this plane
As always, I love your video! I have always loved Corsairs even though I have never seen one in real life, even on display. I watched Black Sheep Squadron in grade school and read Pappy Boyington's autobiography "Baa Baa Black Sheep". Col. Boyington became my favorite fighter pilot (along with George E. Preddy - tie) behind my dad, a Wild Weasel commander and Silver Star recipient (along with 5 Distinguished Flying Crosses).
Demanding our toys back, but destroying them because we had no use for them is the most American thing I've ever heard.
As a former naval aviator who was trained on the naval landing pattern, what was the carrier landing pattern like before the F4U? Seems like the current landing pattern is a direct result of the Corsair
So sad that they dumped all those British Corsairs into the sea like that 😢
I wonder why they did that instead of just giving them back...
Right! They should have given them to our allies. :(
If you go to the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, you can see _AND_ touch the stall strip on the Corsair. FWIW, it's painted as Greg Boyington's.
The B25 Mitchells that were modified to attack shipping in the pacific would interesting.
I have an interesting video coming up in a few weeks concerning one of these :)
In 1948 when I was but a small child, my family lived Grand Prairie, Tx just north of the Chance Vought plant where F4U aircraft were being built. In addition, F4Us flew out of Naval Air Station Dallas across the airfield from Chance Vought. I'll never forget these inverted gull wing planes flying right over the roof of our house.
Anyone who's ever worked in retail won't be surprised that they would rather destroy all of those aircraft than give them away without receiving payment.
I understand their reasoning, but it still doesn't change the fact that it's fucked up...
Indeed.
@whocares notme or at least loan them with promise to repay?
Profiteering is all the US has ever been about.
That makes sense often, but sometimes, like when it leads to the destruction of perfectly functional equipment, it shows the stupid nature of blind capitalism.
I'm getting replies in my notifications but I can't reply to you because Utoob is a toxic platform.
@@deejayimm 🙄 You lost me there. Adios.
Very good video. I thought it was going to be another cut & paste video that so many RUclipsrs do without putting any work into it, but yours actually surprised me with the last four things I didn't know.
The comment that the shape reducing drag was an accidental discovery is false. It was known and a deliberate motivation of the design. You could have had a low wing that came out straight from the bottom of the fuselage but at an angle that's not perpendicular to the cylindrical fuselage. This is what the F6 did to handle its large propellor.. But doing that adds drag as the most clean approach is for the wing to attach perpendicular to the fuselage's curve. If you want the wing to be low but also perpendicular to the fuselage it comes out at a downward angle. Thus the idea to have it attach to the fuselage aimed perpendicular angled down, then bend it back up once it was away from the fuselage.
Yes it was done to make the landing gear fit the propellor, but the reason to do that with the bent wing instead of a low straight wing was the thing about drag being less if the wing attaches to the fuselage perpendicularly, which they did know about ahead of time and is why they did it. It wasn't accidentally discovered after the fact as implied here.
Gotta admit, most times the “Facts you didn’t know about…” vids on RUclips are filled with … well, facts I did kinda know.
But not this time!
Kudos to you my friend for your research! I’m 55 and have had a love affair with the Corsair since Bob Conrad introduced this 10 year old son of a salty old Marine to “Pappy” Boyington and the Corsair. I would have thought I had heard it all. But you did a great job and taught me a few new things. Going to need to read up on the Soccer War. Would be interesting to know how the 2 pilots matched up in training, skill and tactics to better understand exactly how those 2 iconic fighters matched up. The expert commentary was great and the presentation was first rate all the way round! Imma clicking that sub button! Looking forward to more! Cheers!
Both air forces used the corsair during the soccer war
If only I had been born in this generation! To be able to make videos about my favorite aircraft would be heaven on Earth!
And possibly fly one too!
Out of all the aircraft that flew during the second world War I like the corsair the most. It's nimble and small. And the wings make it look very elegant
During the Korean War, my dad was assigned to Marine fighter squadron VMA-312, The Checkerboards. The Corsairs had a distinctive checkerboard pattern painted on the engine cowling. At that time they flew off of the USS Bairoko, CVE 115.
Of the events/facts discussed in this video, I'm most interested in the F4U Corsair vs. the P-51 Mustang, in particular how these two aircraft ended up in the two opposing countries in the first place, as well as a more detailed look at the actual conflicts between the aircraft involved. Of the "things never known" about the F4U Corsair, I actually knew much about the design "flaws" (and remedies) of the aircraft, but most of the "while in use" events I was not aware of.