5 Minute Guides to Aircraft: Chance Vought F4U Corsair

Called Whistling death by its enemies, the Corsair is arguably the most effective naval fighter produced in WW2, able to both duel against fighters like the Zero and win, while providing close air support to Marines on the islands.
A true hot rod of a fighter that still flies today in civilian hands!

[@chonqmonk]

*My favorite plane!*

[@DavidOfWhitehills]

Very good, enjoyed, beautiful aircraft. The gull wing was not to reduce the height of the landing gear. It was to make the low wing exit the circular fuselage in a way that would minimise turbulent airflow. You will note that the wing root exits the fuselage at right angles to the circle of the the fuselage frontal profile. Thus, the Corsair had a cleaner airframe and achieved higher speeds per hp than other low wing fighters with similar hp, like the P47 Thunderbolt.
I think it was Greg's Airplanes did a deep dive into this, so I am merely parroting his research here.
Higher landing gear wasn't really a problem : if anything it gave more travel for shock absorbers.

[@maxschell8823]

Yes, experiments conducted in the late 1930's had shown that the most effective relative position between the airfoil surface and fuselage was a normal or right-angle attachment resulting in minimum interference drag. Rex Biesel and the design team could have used the straight wing design but it would mean the wing would attached midway between the top and bottom of the fuselage. Thus the low wing design resulted in the least drag. We don't doubt the Vought design team spent thousands of hours considering many factors in designing this navy fighter aircraft. Among these (1) Propeller blade clearance. (2) The design of a shorter, lighter, sturdier landing gear. NOTE: The Corsair was always intended for carrier operation unlike the P-47. (3) The inverted gull wing design provided the low wing or "valleys" on either side of the aircraft providing better pilot visibility. (4) Because of the gull wing design the overall height of the aircraft was reduced when the wings were folder.

[@maxschell8823]

"When the British developed the landing procedure for it." I'd encourage those interested in the F4U to read the accounts of the Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander (a) Norman S. Hanson, RNVR. Deck landing trials for the Royal Navy began on the HMS Illustrious in December 1943. Because the Royal Navy had serious problems landing the Corsair further "intensive training" was conducted on the escort carrier Ravager. During those "intensive training" trials a "new landing pattern" was established. Source: F4U Corsiar at War by Abrams pg. 73. Keep in mind the United States navy was using the "curved approach" long before the Royal navy used the "new landing pattern". The landing pattern was NOT new to the United States Navy. Also read "Whistling Death" and "Jolly Rogers". The "curved approach" or landing procedure was NOT unique for the Corsair. For those interest there is a U.S. Navy WWII standard carrier landing pattern diagram.

[@MrDino1953]

Never understood why such an “advanced” design would persist with a built-up fuselage behind the cockpit instead of having a bubble canopy. Also why the cockpit was placed so far back. It seems the designers were intent on blocking the pilot’s view in both forward and rear directions.

[@5MinuteGuidesToAircraft]

Canopy visibility wasn't greatly understood as a design fact until little after mid-war point, with the mass adoption of bubble canopies to many deigns (P-51D, P-47M, later Spitfires, Typhoon and Tempest) Or redesigns of pre-existing canopies (such as the Malcolm Hood for the P-51Cs and Bs). The reason why they didn't adopt a bubble canopy out of the gate is, well. . .because they didn't exist yet when the Corsair was first designed, the technology to allow their creation wouldn't really exist till mid war.
Visibility out of USN aircraft has always been a bit iffy, especially in the rear view. As for why, I don't know to be honest. Later Corsairs did adopt a blown style canopy that increased visibility drastically over the old "birdcage design". But if I had to guess as to the reason the canopies were designed as they were originally for the Corsair, it was for performance in having it streamlined into the fuselage to reduce drag, with pilot visibility a secondary concern.
The reason the Cockpit is placed so far back however *is* something I can answer. It allowed pilots to see out the side and get into the plane while the wings were folded. Since they couldn't really place the cockpit forward, they pushed it back.

[@5MinuteGuidesToAircraft]

@@johnklatt3522 Huh, that I did not know, thanks for sharing!