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FU Corsair

The U.S. Navy's Corsair flew its first combat mission of World War II on February 13, 1943, from a land base on Guadalcanal. Although it was expressly designed for shipboard operations, the F4U Corsair, built by Chance Vought, spent most of its wartime career confined to land bases. Not until the end of 1944 did the F4U make its first operational sorties from American carriers in the Pacific theater. Pilots who flew the Corsair claimed it to be the best single-seat fighter of the Second World War. Corsairs also enjoyed a distinguished postwar career in Korea. They carried more of a payload than jet and could stay longer on station. During the first ten months of the Korean fighting, Corsairs were used for 90% of all ground-support missions by Navy and Marine pilots.
On one occasion over Korea, Marine pilot Capt. JesseFolmar was credited with downing of a MIG-15 jet fighter. The F4U-4 was powered by a Pratt and Whitney R-2800-18W engine driving a 13ft. 2in. diameter propeller. It was armed with four 20mm cannon and eight 5 in. rockets or two 1,000 lb. bombs. Drop tanks were used to extend range and were mounted on the center section of the wing. The Corsair was the first U.S. fighter of any type to exceed a speed of 400 m.p.h. in level flight and gained the distinction of being the last propeller driven fighter built in the United States. The Revell/Mongram 1/48 scale model scene on this site depicts two different types of F4U-4 of Marine Squadrons VMF 312 and VMF 323 which flew in the Korean War.

Manufacturer: Vought
Specifications:
Vought F4U-4 Corsair
Dimensions:
Wing span: 41 ft (12.5 m)
Length: 33 ft 8 in (10.3 m)
Height: 16 ft 1 in (4.90 m)
Wing Area: 314 sq ft (29.17 sq m)
Weights:
Empty: 9,205 lb (4,175.3 kg)
Gross: 12,420 lb (5,633.6 kg)
Maximum Take-Off: 14,670 (6,654.2 kg)
Performance:
Maximum Speed: 446 mph (717.75 kph) @ 26,200 ft (7,985.8 m)
Cruise Speed: 000 mph (000 km/h)
Service Ceiling: 41,500 ft (12,649.2 m)
Normal Range: 0,000 miles (0,000 km)
Maximum Range: 1,560 mi (2,510.5 km)
Powerplant:
One Pratt-Whitney R-2800-18W Double Wasp eighteen-cylinder radial engine, developing 2,100 hp (1,567 kW) for take-off, 1,950 hp (1,455 kW) @ 23,300 ft (7,101.8 m), 2,450 hp (1,828.4 kW) for "War Emergency".
Armament:
Six .50 cal (12.7 mm) Colt-Browning M2 machine guns (some variants had four 20mm cannon) and two 1,000 lb (453.6 kg) bombs or eight 5 in (127 mm) rockets.

When the Korean conflict began, VMF(N)513 was sent from MCAS (Marine Corps Air Station) El Toro with twelve F4U5(N)s to Atsugi, Japan. They flew night interdiction missions from Atsugi until southern South Korea was cleared. VMF(N)513 then moved to K-1 airfield near Pusan. By that time the 38th parallel was secured as a front. VMF(N)513 then covered three roads coming from North Korea during night hours. A navy PB4Y2 flew from Japan and dropped flares over these roads so that the F4Us could work underneath, attacking trucks, tanks, trains, and troop movements. The F4U5(N)s were equipped with 20mm cannons in the wings, four bomb/rocket racks under each wing. Additionally they could carry, one drop fuel tank and two napalm tanks. A radar dome was mounted in the right wing. Radar was extremely useful in these operations. These flights were very effective in slowing down traffic to the front lines.

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