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The rowood ress


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u bl i sh e d i n 2 0 02 byPress Ltd

S N 8 2 H R

W . B o wm a n 2 0 02

edicationThis book is dedicated t o the memory of: Colonel J Hunter Reinburg USMC 5 M ay1918-23 June 1997 Roy D Eric Erickson USNR V BF-10 and t o all form er C orsai rpilots t hroughout t he world. ontents

knowledgementsts reserved. No part of this publication mayuced or transmitted i n a n y f or m or by anyelectronicor mechanical including

or any information storagesystem without permission in writing

publishers.Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

l o gu e r e co r d f o r t h is book is available fromLibrary.

I 86126492 5

Alan A rm st ro n g; M ik e B ai le y; R ob e rtBailey ASAA; Fred Crash Blechman;City of N or w ic h A v ia t io n Museum;Howard Cook; Lee Cook; GrahamDinsdale; Robert Dorr; Owen W. Dykema;the l at e R oy D Eric Erickson; Andy

Height; Tony Holmes; Philip Jarrett; thelate Colonel J Hunter Reinburg USMC;Gareth Si mons; K elvi n Sl oper; Peter CSmith; Tom Smith; Mark Styling; AndyThomas; Wal lace B ruce Thomson; TerryC Treadwell.

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A Dream is BornLand and SeaAerial Combat Escapades]. Hunter Reinburg USMTh e Black Sheep and th e Jolly Rogers Big BootyC orsairs for Kin g and CountryTh e Sweetheart of OkinawaCorsair ModelsTrue Tales of Trial a nd T er ro r re Crash lechmanWa r in the L an d o f Morning CalmKorean Night-Fighter Close Air SUPPOrt] Hunter Reinburg USMWa r and Peace

by Florence Production LtdDevon

a n d b o un d in Great BritainNorton Nr Bath

by Black Cat Graphics Ltd

Appendix IAppendix IIAppendix IIIAppendix IVAppendix VBibliographyIndex

US Marine Corps Corsair SquadronsUS Navy CorsairsR oy al Nav y Fleet Air At CorsairsWorld War II: Monthly Acceptances of CorsairsSurviving Corsairs


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CHAPTER ONE

rea l orn

Chauncey iltonVought 20 February 1888 25 uly1930 a t t h e c o n t ro l s o f t h eWright B b i p l an e i n which he learned to fly. Vought

Iwas ncar I [cn ycarsold on Sunday 4July 1937when my parents t oo k me to an 8irsho\V atFloyd Bcnnc[[ Field in Ncw York City - a navalair s t at i on a t that time. My face was pressedright up against a chain-link fcncc whcn a sm 111group of far vy silvcr and ycllow figh[crbiplancs Acw ovcr [hc f ie ld i n a right echclonpccled off, landcd Ulxicd up, and parkcd nomorc [han fifty fcC[ from mc I wa[chcd widccycdas [he pilo[s, w i t h [ h c i r c l o [ h h e l mc [ s a n dgoggles and flowing white scarves, climbed outof [ h c t i ny c o ck p it s a n d c l am b cr cd d o wn [ h esidcs of [heir chunky figh[crplancs. Isaw [hcmga[hcr [Ogc[hcr, rail a n d h a n d s o m c all, and was[ h ri l l ed w h c n [ h c y a m b l cd o v c r [he crowd at[hc fcnce. O nc o f [ h cm c v cn [alkcd mcWow I thought I wanna bc o n e o f [hosc guys.

Whcn I grow up I m gonna be a vy fighterpilo[ A[ [ h a t r i m e i[ was just a dream ... IrcadAying books, huil[ solid balsa-wood and s[ickand-papcr Aying models, a n d d c v ou r cd cvcrything I could find abour Aying. Throughou[World War II I followcd [he cxploi[s of [heAycrs,always planning [hmonc day, whcn Iwasold cnough I d join up AI

Frcd Blcchman future Corsair pilo[

Dreams c a n s o me t im es c o me true, especially t o t ho s e w h o h a ve vision, ambitionand a purpose. Pedigree, too, always tellsin the long run . [n the 1930s the stubbylittle Grumman biplanes, such as the F3Fsthat young Blechman saw, dom inat ed t heAmerican Navy scene . Boe ing was a lsomak ing a name for i t se lf in the field ofmilitary aviation. There seemed little likelihood of a shipboard f ighter b e ing conceived in the 1930s that could challengethe big two - but t here w a n ew k id onthe block: ultimately t he V ought Corsairseries would earn i ts rightful place in theannals of aviation and in t he A m eri canhall of fame.

Born of a family w i th m arit i me leanings, C h au n ce y M il t on V ou g ht marriedhis boyhood interest inall th ings mechanical t o a l ov e o f t he sea a nd t he air top roduce a long ser ie s of successful aerop la n es . I n fact this was o n ly n a tu r albecause the young aviation pioneer lovedto raceboats throughout his short life, andhe devoted a l ar ge proport ion of it tocham pi oning naval avi at i on in America.

This young m an s dream balthough sadly, he wouldA me r ic a n a v ia t io n d o mi nstage. When he d ied in [9Vought s influence lived onwhen war c ame, h is g if t wthat wou ld serve h is belowell indeed, especially in tt h en a n d for many years to

C hauncey V ought wasIsland, New York C it y o1888. His parents G eorgand Annie E Vought, ownfamily business designingquali t y sai li ng boats. A ffrom elementary school inyoung V ought ent ered t heof Brooklyn; but, ever anspecialized knowledge, bymoved t o N ew York Univeput hisenergies i nto t he stunal com bust ion engine. Tpublic did not however, shengineering and more espenauti cal engi ne developmfeeling would change rapidlcesses o f t he W ri gh t Bro1903 and 1908, a n d A mbecome more aviation-minthe first international air min t h e U n it e d S t at e s t oo kYork a t t he B el mo nt ParkLong [sland. An avidChauncey Vought who hing around for better enginan d fou nd th em a t thePennsylvania.

Shortly after the race Vout of university a n d j o iMcCormick as an engineeMcCormick was treasurern at io na l H ar ve s te r C oChicago o ne o f t h e foundeC l ubof Illinois, and a vice-A e ro C l ub o f A me r ic a . Mproject at th is t ime was anumbrella plane, a craftwitharound t he fuselage inventS. Romme which McCorwou ld o ff er a v ia bl e a l te

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A DRE M IS ORN A DRE M IS ORN

Vought bought the Northrop XP 948 or Northrop 3A design afterthe prototype was lost on atestthe Pacific on 30 July 1935 and builta newaircraft calledthe V 141. The smallesttype in theit Competition (won by Severskyl. it suffered from tail vibrations and was rejected by the Army.

3 (picturedl was an exportversionwith a longerfuselage and newtail and was flown on 18 Junepowered by a 750hp R 1535 SB4G engine. and was armed with apai rof .30 calibre machinecould carry up to 300lb (136kgl of bombs. The Japanese Army bought the prototypein 1937. via

lyman A. BullardJr, thechiefof f l ighttest atVought-Sikorsky Aircraft ,aloft intheyellow-and-silver-painted XF4U 1 thatfirst flew fromthe BridgeportMunicipal Airport, Stratford,Connecticut on 29 May 1940. Vought

The Corsair s mainwheels couldeasily be retracted backwards. as theydid on theSB2U 1 Kingfisherscout bomberthen in production. and swivelledthrough 87 degreesflat intothewing (which foldedupwardsfor stowage aboardcarriersl. Vought

O n 3 0 June 1938 the US Navy ordered theGrumman XF5F 1 (picturedl and theVought XF4U 1. while athird aircraft, the Bell XFl-1. wasorderedlater.on 8 November. Grumman

In 1938 the U S N avy had decided that thetime was long o ve r du e t o bring carrierbased aviation up t o t h e same performancelevel as land-based aircraft. On 3 0 J un e

Enter th e F4U Corsair

330kmph) at 8,900ft 2,700m). V ought sfirst monoplane design was the X S B 2U -I,which in Navy s e rv i ce b e ca m e theSB2U-I Vindicator, the Navy s first ::tll-metal, low-wing, carrier-based s c ou t a n ddive-bomber. Fifty-four SB2U-Is wereordered on 26 October 1936, a n d t h e firstexample flew on 2 May 1 93 7. Th eVindicator was first delivered to B ombingSquadron 3 VB- 3) a bo at d t he U SSSaratoga in December 1937. In January1938 the U S N a vy o r de r ed f i ft y -e i gh tS B 2U-2 V indicators, and la ter followedt h is w i th a n o r de r for fifty-seven SB2U-3examples in September 1939. T hese, andfifty Vindicators ordered by France, werediverted to G reat Britain when war brokeout in Europe that same month. In Britishservice the type b ec a me k no w n as theV-156B Chesapeake.In the meanwhile, Vought s long expe

rience in build ing scout and observationaircraft for t he U S Na vy l ed f ir st to thedevelopmentof the X O S N -I in 1936, andt he n to t he more successful XOS2U in1937, t o m ee t a new observation-scoutspecification. The m a n uf a ct u r e o f theXOS2U-l was the responsibility of a te amof engineers led by Rex B Biesel, and itwas devised as a two-scat, a ll-metal, lowwing monoplane, powered by a mod es t4 5 0h p P r at t Whitney R-985-4, whichwasfitted t o h e l p the aircraft meet the catapult weight limitations. The prototypeflew for the first t i me o n 1 March 1938 asa landplanej i t f ir st f lew in seaplane formon 9 May that yea r. An order for ftyfour OS2U-l Kingfishers was placed on2 2 May 1 93 9, and deliveries were madeduring May to November 1940. An orderfor a fur the r 158 O S 2U -2 Kingfishers wasplaced with V ought on 4 December 1939.Mass p r od u ct i on o f t h e Kingfisher seriesb egan in Ju ly 1941 wi th t h e O S 2 U -3 , a n deventually some 1,006 examples werebui lt . A further 300 O S 2N-1 Kingfisherswere constructed by t h e N av al AircraftFactory from April to October 1942. Thisagreement was designed to assist Voughtin changing over mass production fromKingfishers to a new, powerful Navyfighter.

Some 132 02U-Is were ordered, the firstb e ing del ive red in 1927. In se rv ic e witht he U S M ar in e Corps, some Corsairs sawaction in Nica ragua in 1928, where theyb ec am e o ne o f t he first aircraft ever usedin a dive-bombing attack against fortifiedpositions.In the following year, t he C ha nc e

V ought C orporation merged with othersto become a division of t he U ni te dA ircraftand T ransportation C ompany. In1930 the Chance V ought C orporationmoved i ts a i rc ra ft production from NewYork to a h ug e p la nt a t East Hartford,

onnecticut. The new venture promisedmuch, although sadly, Chance M. Voughtwould not l iv e to ove r se e the company sfinest successes. His health deterioratedrapidly when, after a n o pe ra ti on t o h av esome teeth extracted, septicemia set in;his untimely death occurred on 25 July athis home in S o ut h H a mp t o n, N e w York.He was only forty-two years old.

Chance Vought w en t o n t o d es ig nand build the 03 U Corsair observat ion biplane, powered by t h e 5 5 0h p Pratt Whitney R-1340-12 radial engine. A6 00 hp P ra tt Whitney R-1690-42engine powered the two-place S U- l scoutversion o f t h e 03U. In 1932 the S B U -lscout bomber was the final ChanceV ought biplane design to be o rdered byt he U S Navy: i t was powered by a 700hpPratt Whitney R-1535-80 radial enginecapable of a maximum speed of 205mph

place flying boats, a nd h e gained valuableexperience visiting England and Francewhere he studied European designs.Finally, Vought resigned from Wright

Martinto create his own aircraft companywith Birdseye B Lewis: on 18 June 1917this became the Lewis Vought Company. Their first venture was t h e V ou g htVE-7 Vought Experimental model 7 ), a nadvanced two-seat trainer powered by anAmerican-built 150hp Hispano-SuizaModel A Seven different sub-types of theVE- 7 wer e c o ns t r uc t e d, i n c lu d in g anadvanced version, the VE-7SF, that wasfitted with flotation devices. The VE-7SFmade i ts f ir st t ak e-o ff f rom the aircraftcarrier U S S angley on 7 October 1922.Birdseye Lewis had been killed in a fly ingaccident in France in 1917, and in l at e1919 the Lewis V ought C orporationmov ed t o Lon g I sl an d C i ty , N e w York.In M ay 1 9 22 V o ug h t r e or g an i ze d thec o mp a ny u n de r t h e n a me Chance VoughtCorporation a n d b eg a n d e li v er i es of asuccession of aircraft to the U S N avy, suchas the UO- l two-seat observation biplane,and a single-seat fighter version. The firstV o ug h t -b u i lt C o rs a ir d e li v er e d t o theNavy was the 0 2 U - l , powered by a 450hpPratt Whitney R-1340-88 radial, andcapable of speeds of 150mph 240kmph)at s ea lev el . I th ad a range of just over600miles 960km), and success was assuredwhen it notched upsome impressiveworlds pe ed , a l ti t ud e a nd e nd u ra n ce records.

brothers more conventionalMcCormick was b ac ke d in t hi sby h i s f a th e r- i n- l aw , J o h n D

eller Jr, a nd a t f ir st a ll s eemed towell; however, it proved unsuccess

V o ug h t m e a nw h il e began flyings w it h M ax Li ll ie in a Wright Bl biplane. On 4August 1912, he was

d A e ro Club o f A m er i ca flyingnumber 156.

1 91 3, Vought left M c Co r mi c k t ochiefengineer for t h e A e ro C l ub

ois. In the following year he becameing contributor for Aero and ydro

By th is time he had becomeby a varie ty of nameSj b u t t h en in

ary 1914 he signed his n am e a t t hehis monthly column Chance M.

and it stuck. Jn August 1914 het he e di to r o f Aero and y ro

th isname; but by t h e w i n t er h e h a dthe Mayo RadiatorWorks where he

the s ol e d es ig n e n gi n ee r of th efirst aircraft, the Mayo Type A

p l ex t r ac t or b i pl a ne ) . Vought alsoon a single-scat, pusher-type scoute , a n d a three-place flying boat

the S implex flying boat; but neithere se designs ever left t h e d r aw i ng

a nd V ou gh t j oi ne d t he Curtissplane and MotorC ompany as a coneng ineer . Late in 1915 he movedfamous W r ig ht C om pa ny , l at er

t-Martin, at D ayton,O hio, as chiefH e c on ti nu ed t o design three-

8 9


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take-off and landing. Theopted for a much longer lathat would have b e en t o oheavy. The solution l ay iwingdesign, which was gull

Using thegull wing instead of a straight wing made possible theuse of a shorter.l ighterlandinggear thanwould ordinari lyhave been possible. va Ph p Jarrett

unless they came up with a fairly radicaldesign to accommodate the massiveengine s 13ft 4 in 4 m 6 cm ) d ia me te r,three-bladed propeller, then its arc wouldgive insufficient ground clearance on both

Gulled Wing Design

Beisel and his t ea m h ad to design thesmallest possible fuselage around them ighty D ouble W a s p. E ve rything possiblethat could be d on e t o limit drag wouldh a ve t o be incorporated in the design, souse of spot welding and flush riveting wasmade t h ro u gh o ut t h e e x te r na l surfaces,and a completely faired-in landing geargreatly reduced the drag penalties. Threegear doors - o ne o n t he forward strutandtwo attached t o t he wing o n e i th e r side ofthe wheel well- ensured t h a t n o t o n e parto f t h e main landing gear or ta il wheel protruded intothe slipstream. Then there wasthe seemingly insurmountable problemposed by the massive 13ft 4in 4m 6cm)diameter three-bladed propeller that hadto b e u s ed i f the XR-2800-4 engine thatwould power the prototype) was to enablethe Corsair t o a t ta i n its optimum designspeed.

Whenthis AssociatedPressphoto of an early Corsairwas released to British newspapersin 94 the caption underthe heading World sfastest PursuitPlane ... As Bomber-Protectorfor Britain? read: It is possiblethat before long. planes ofthis typemay be amongthosesupplied by the US to Great Britain. where itsremarkable cruising range will make such planes invaluable as escorts to our bombersduring their long fl ights overGermany: va Ph p Jarrett

M e an wh i le , t h e U S A rm y A i r C o r ps triedin vain to influence Pratt W h i tn e y t oget them to develop a liquid-cooled inlineengine instead of the air-cooled radial. ButBeisel and his team were committed to theX R- 28 00 , a l th ou gh t he y realized that

engine, but was not proceeded with . H issecond proposal was the V-166B: this wasdesigned a r ou n d t h e n e w 1 , 80 0h p experim e nt a l P r at t Whitney XR-2800-2Double Wasp air-cooled radial, with atwo-stage, two-speed supercharger; it wassubmitted to the Bureau ofA eronauticson8 April 1938. At the time, the huge XR2800-2 engine promised to be the mostpowerful powerplant available. Jts take-offpower alone was rated at 1,850hp at2,600rpm Navy pursuits of the day wererated a t a b ou t 8 4 0h p to 1,200hp at best),and it could develop 1,500hp at 2,400rpma t 1 7, 50 0f t 5 ,3 00 m) . The P ratt Whitney e xp er im e nt a l e ng in e h ad t hepotential to make the XF4U-I the Navy sfirst 2,000hp fighter.

XF5F-1 project was abandoned in favouro f t he XF7F-1, which later b e ca m e t h eTigercat. Equally, the Bell machine, firstflown on 3 May 1940, was not proceededwith either.

At V ou gh t t h e F4U-I project cameunder the wing of C.]. McCarthy, who inMarch 1940 h a d b e en appointed generalm a na g er o f t h e C h a nc e V o ug h t Division.Early in 1938 McC arthy, w ho had workedw i th t h e late C hance V ou g ht o n t h e original Corsair,directed Rex B Beisel and histeam, who were already committed to theV indicator and Kingfisher company projeers, t o t ur n t he ir t ho ug ht s t o t he newcarrier-borne fighter project. Beisel s firstproposal was the V-166A; it incorporatedthe P ratt W h it n ey R - l3 4 0 radial

XF4U showing to good advantage the air intakes forthe oil cooler.and the intercoolerfor thetwo-stage. two-speedger inthe wing roots. Note the early-style squirrel-cage or birdcagecockpit hood andthe gunfair ing inthe engine cowling.

the U S N av y ordered the Grummanand the V ought X F 4U-I, whi le a

aircraft, the Bell XFL-l, was orderedon 8 November. The XF5F-l was

twin-engine, single-scat aircraftbuilt for the Navy, while the Bellwas a carrier-based version o f t he

Airacobra. The XFL-I d if fe red inrespects t o t he P-39, including theof a tail wheel in pl ace of

arrangement. As it turned out,Grumman machine was

by c ooling pr oble m s to i ts Wright- 4 0 C y cl o n e engi nes, and the

did n o t c o mp l et e tests untilary 1941. A ft er t h is setback, more

were e xp er ie nc ed w it h t heAfter just over 200 flights the


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A DRE M IS BORN A DRE M IS BORN

Specification - Vought XF4U-l

The XF4U Flies

The XF4U-1 had sticky blanding gear, and aileronexperimental f igh ter w as s onamically that i t w o uld accedge of compressibility, mafrom e xtr em e ly s te ep divessible. Spinning such a heavrecovery exacting and lateacceptance tests, t h e U S Nthe two-turn spin r e qurequired t ha t t he Corsaironce. Another main concec o olin g. Po or f ue l distribucarburettor caused h o t a ndh ea d t e mp e ra t ur e s a n d b econcern for Pratt W h i tpilot, A. Lewis MacLaindevelopment programme omental versions o f t he RAfter i ts f ir st f lig ht, a seconVought-Sikorsky, Boone T.over the test flying o f t h e XAll went well during h isflights, b ut o n t he fiftfl, whilseries of low altitude cabinand high-speed cruisetests, lXF4U-1 crashed on thecoursefar to the north-cast oStratford. Guyton was notweather, which produced hethe test area. H e attemptedtype landingon the fairway,full flaps and power on, intain the slowest possible lans pe ed . A l l w as f in e u nt i l hthrottle and allowed the Xonto the fairway. The aidown a t t h e relatively highof around 80 knotsand skidgrass. The brakes proved inesl ippery surface and the smounable to get a firm g ri p. IGuyton tried toground-looprevent it crashing off the eway, hut h is e ff or ts w er e

Pratt Whitney XR-2800-4: I,850hp at take-off, I,460hp at 2 ,500fcapacity 273gal l ,2411)Length 31ft II i n 9 m 7 3 cm ) : s p a n 4 f t 1 2 m 5 0 c m ): w in g a r e a 3 1 4 sqheight 1 5f t 7 i n 4 m 7 5 cm )Empty 7,5051b 3,404kg): gross 9,3571b 4,244kg):max. take-off 10,50M ax. speed 405mph 652km/h), lanJing speeJ 73mph 117km/h): ran 1,370km) normal, 1,070 miles 1,722km) max: climb2,660ft 810mserviceceiling31,000ft 9,450m)2 X .30cal machine g u ns a b ov e e n g i ne , a n d 2 X .50cal machinegun40 5 b 2kg) bombs

Engine

Dimensions

Performance

Armament

Weights

After several hours of taxi tests and days ofground engine runs, on 2 9 M ay [940 theyellow-and-silver-painted X F 4U -I wasr ea dy f or i ts f ir st f li gh t a t t he BridgeportMunicipal Airport, Stratford, Connecticut. Lyman A BullardJr, the chiefof flightrest at Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft,would beat the controls. Bullard t o ok t h e fledglingf ig ht er u p t o 1 0, 0 00 ft 300m) w h ile e x ecuting some very basic standard manoeuv r es s u ch a s tu rn s , a nd h e cycled the gearand flapsa few times. H ethen headed awayfrom the airfield to carry out a couple ofstalls a nd t o test the cruise power ability.The flight lasted 38min and went mainlyw ithout a h i tc h, a l th o ug h f lu t te r h adbriefly a tt ac ke d t h e e le va to rs , a nd t hespring tr im ta b s had shimmied off in flight.This had made the aircraft vibrate badly,though it had not prevented Bullard fromreturning safely the airport in f ull control. These were no more t ha n t h e usualniggling l i t t le pr oblem s a s s oc ia te d w ithm os tne w aircraft, and indeed others beganto m a nif e s t the m se lves dur ing the twomonth flight-test programme.

Aeronautics during 8 - [ 0 February [939,a n d s h or t ly afterwards, construction ofthe prototype was given the go-ahead.N ew manufacturing techniques such asspot welding of aluminium, developed bythe N a va l A i rc r af t Factory, would beemployed in the construction. S pot weldin g s p e ed e d u p m as s production because itenabled a structure of heavy aluminiumskin and supportS to be built up to f or m avery strong fuselage and wing framework.By 1 J u ly of that year the basic XF4U-ld es ig n wa s 9 5 p er cent complete. [t waspowered by the XR-2800-4, which was animprovement over the earlier -2.

The wings featured small bomb c e lls int he o ut er w ing p a ne ls , which in theorywould b e us ed t o d ro p t we nt y 5.2lb 2 . 4k g) b om bs f ou r i n each of five comp ar tm en ts ) o n f or ma ti on s o f e ne mybombers, the pilot sighting the bomb-dropthrough a glass teardrop-shaped p an el i nthe cockpit floor. This feature was neverimplemented on production models.) Fuelw as c ar r ie d i n f ou r i nt e gr al tanks locatedin the wing c en t re s ec ti on s a nd o ut erp a ne l le ad in g e d g es , with a t ot a l capacityof 273gal 0,24[\). The carburettor air,superchargerintercooler, and oil cooler airinlet ducts were situated a t t he leadingedge o f t h e w ing s to remove the need fora dr a g-induc ing s c oop for each. I n f lig htthis layout created a c u r io u s high-pitchedwhistling sound a s a ir w as s u ck e d i n to t h ed u cts . La te r , its e f f ec t w o uld not b e lo st onthe Japanese, who called the Corsair theWhistling D eath after the blood-curdlingscream emitted during high-speed dives ontheir positions. To American troops, particularly t he U SM C grunts f igh tin g inthe Pacific Islands campaign, t h e B en t Winged Bird was their saviour, a nd t heMarines finally dubbed the Corsair theS w eetheart of O kinaw a .

A . 30 calibre and a . 50 calibre machinegun were m o u nt e d a b ov e the massiveengine, firing through the uppe r pr opelle ra rc , a nd a . 50 c al i br e machine gunoutward o f e ac h wing-fold mechanism.The upper fuselage guns h ad 7 50 r ou nd sof ammunition each, a n d e a ch w ing g u nh ad 3 00 rounds of ammunition p e r g u n.Provision was made to r e pla ce the wingguns w ith23mm Madsen cannons ifavailable. On 28 November 1940, t h e N a vya sk ed f or a production configuration withincreased firepower and fuel capacity.)E ve ry th in g a b ou t t h e n ew f ig ht er wasm as si ve : i t weighed 9,3571b 4,244kg)empty, and measured 31ft [1 in 9m 73cm)with a 41ft [1 in 02 m 78cm) wing spread- the largest American f igh ter y e t b u ilt .

On II June 1938 the Bureau ofAeronautics awarded V ought the contractnumber 6[544 f or a s ing le prototype, andthe X F 4U-l was assigned Bureau Number B u No . ) [ 4 43 . B eg i nn in g in January1939, United Aircraft Corporation movedChance V ou gh t A ir cr af t i n to a plantshared w iththe Sikorsky Aircraft Division become the V ought-Sikorsky AircraftDivision, United Aircraft Corporation.)The XF4U-I full-scale engineering mockup that w ou ld be used in wind-tunnelt e st s , w as inspected by the Bureau of

Thestub wings included open vents in their leading edges to allow the passageofcool ing ai r for theengine oi l, and ai r for thesupercharger intercoolerequipment. va Phi p Jarrett

This Corsair II demonstrates wing folding forstowage aboard carriers. EarlyinWor ld War I I ,Br i tain was desperatelyshortof modern aircraft types fortheRAF andthe Royal Navy sFleet irArm,and so looked to Amer ica - thearsenalof democracy - forthe supply ofmany new fighter,bomberand reconnaissancetypes.When fundsquickly ranout,the United StatesCongress on March 1941passedthe lend lease Act to enable Britain andthe otherdemocraciestoacquire American-manufactured aircraft and armaments. One of thenaval aircrafttypesordered bythe British irCommission was the Corsair, although i twas notunti lmid-1943 thatBritain at lastbeganreceivingthe first models.While theseventy F4U 1 Bs supplied retained theirAmericanname,this version became theCorsairI in Fleet irArm service.Subsequently, 334 Brewster-built F3A 1s and535 F4U 1A and F4U 1 Dversions became Corsair l is; some F3A-ls andall F3A-lDs(ninety-sixaircraftin total lbecameCorsairIl ls; and 930 Goodyear-built FG 1s andFG 1Ds became Corsair IVs va Phip Jarrett

e that w o uld a ls o r e s u lt in les s a e r odrag a t t h e j u nc tu re o f wing andThe g u lle d w ing w as achieved by

stub wings at a n a n gle a s theyfuselage, a nd t h en t he o ut er wing

were canted upwards, again with aof 8 d e gr e es 3 0 m i nu t es in the

sections. The stub w ing s in clu de dvents in their leadingedges to allow

of cooling a ir f or the engineairfor the supercharger intercooler

g ull w ing d e sig n w as not new.[7 S eptember 1935 the Bellanca

Corporation, N e w C a s tle , Delah a d b e en is su ed a US patent for an

g ul l w in g - and in January 1941M. Be lla nc a , c ha ir ma n o f t he

of governors o f t h a t company, cont h a t V ou g ht m i gh t h a ve infringed

p a te n t. The matter remaineduntil the U n i te d A i rc r af tsuccessfully p o in t ed o u t t h a t

w e re s e ve r al Br itish patents to thegn dating back t o t he late 1920s.

both Bellanca, who were anxiousb e s e en rocking t h e b o at in time of

w h en e v er y on e should be pullinga nd t he Bureau of Aeronautics,

a t t h e b e h es t o f V o ug h t h a d carriedown investigation, fully exonerated

p a ny f ro m a ny patent infringethe g ull w ing in s te a d of a straight

made possible the usc of a shorter,landing gear than would ordinarily

b ee n possible. Also, the maincould easily be retracted backwards

did on t h e S B 2U - I Kingfisher-bomber then in p r od u ct i on ) a n d

through 87 degrees flat into that f old ed u pw a rd s f or s to w

carriers). The wing arc joinedfuselage at 90-degree angles to

the a ir t o flow s m oo t hl y o v er t h eroot/fuselage joint, eliminating thefor a w in g f il le t. The w ing s w e re

construction and were builtintegral part o f t he fuselage centre

The outer wings were madeforward o f t he spar, and ofplywood to the trailing

They folded upwards over thecanopy, folding a t t he elbow of

l l w in g. Fabric-covered plywoodspanned the width o f t he stuba nd o ne h al f o f t he d is ta nc e of thew in g p an el s. A i l er on s f or me d the

o f t h e o ut er wing pa ne l s tr a il ing

12 13


9/98


JT104 of the FAA in flight. via Ph ip Jarrett

by t h e a dd it io n o o n e halaminnred, bullet-proof glasforward windshield. Identifior Foe I FF) radar transpondwas installed. The wings stiluse o f f ab ri c- co ve re d p anslightly reducing t he s pa n oflaps, it was possible to increasize overand above t ha t o n tThis prompted a (as te r r atehad been possible o n t hecompl icated deflector platehad been used o n t he p rreplaced with NAC A slottewere lighter, and had fep ar ts a s wel l as g iv ing a higlift coefficient. Maximum fwas decreased from 60 todecrease drag in the landingModifications were made tohook and tail landing gear sthese changes increased thefighting weight to 12,0611b

The up- r ate d Pr a tt Whi8 D ou b le W a sp , w h ic h usEclipse starter cartridge systemas the pOlverplant for the prodof the Corsair. The -8 produc2,700rpm a t sea level, and2,550rpm at 22 OOOft 6,706altitude powerwould give thespeed o f 4 1 7 mp h 6 7I k mp h 5,79Im), a nd 3 97 m ph 23 OOO t 7,000m). The F 4U

t he p et ro l b ei ng ignited by gunfire incombat. F 4U-I fuel capacity was replacedw it h a 2 37 US-gallon (8961) self-sealingtank w hich included a standpipe reserveo 50gal (2271)) in the fuselage betweent he e ng in e a nd t he pilot. Mounting thist a nk a h ea d o f t h e c o ck p it a n d n c a r t h e aircraft s c e nt r e o f gravity obviated the needfor altitude changes as the fuel was used,but the fuselage ha d t o be e x te n de d t omake room for the fuel tank. The cockpitwas therefore moved about three feet onem e tre ) f ur the r back t ha n on t he prototype, which in turn made the forwardview worse for the pilot, especially duringthe nose-high landings that were a characteristic of deck landings. Improvementsdesigned to increase pilot visibility overt he n ew h os e- no se were rudimentaryat best: t he n um be r o f m et al r ib s in thejettisonable canopy - n i ck n am e d t h esquirrel cage or birdcage canopy, socalled for t he n um be r o f reinforcing barsin t he s li di ng c oc k pi t c an o py - wasreduced, and fuselage cut-outs were introduced behind teardrop-shaped windowsas a further a id to v is ion.

A f te r t h e removal o f t h e wing tanks tomake room for the additional guns, newwingfuel cellswere installed, which addeda urther 62 US gal (2341) t o e a ch wing.Some 15 Sib (70kg) o f a r mo ur plate wasadded to the area around the cockpitand oil tank, while the pilot was protected

Corsair II JT274 of the FAA. via Phip Jarrettdelivered t o t he Royal N avy.) G oodyearAircraft, a division o f t h e G o od y ea r T y rea nd R ub be r C om pa ny , j oi ne d t he programme in December 1941, ami theirA kr o n, O h io , f ac il ity bui l t 3 ,941 FG-Iversions, 35 per c en t o f all Corsairs built .

The p r o du c t io n m o de l w o ul d d i ff e rfrom the prototype in several respects, notl ea st i n h a vi n g a n increased length, tomore than 33ft 41\in 1 0 1 m 6 c m) . At first,two mor e . 50 calibre M-2 machine gunswere installed in the wings, while the twomachine guns m ou nt ed a to p t he e ng in ecowling were permanently deleted. Later,the four wing guns were i n cr e as e d t os ix . Each i n bo a rd a n d intermediate .50machine gun was fed w i th 4 0 0 r o un d s ofa m m un i t io n , a n d t h e two outboard gunswere supplied with 375 rounds apiece.A n ti - ai r cr a ft b o mb s a n d w i ng - mo u nt e dflo tation bags were deleted, ami two Mk41-2 bomb racks and two mounts for 100Ib(45kg) bombs were installed b e ne a th t h ewings.The increases in wing armamentresulted in the l eading edge fue l tanksbeing removed, a l th o ug h t h e two outerwing panel leading edge fuel tanks, eachwith a capacity of 63gal (2861 ), werer e taine d. E xpe rie nce ga ined by the RoyalAir For ce i n combat led t o t he t ank sbeing fitted with a carbon dioxide vapourdilution system. This system inerted theatmosphere above the fuel t o p re ve n t

H amilton S tandard H ydromatic airscrewincreased effiCiency o v er t h e previous propeller arrangement, and power was furtherboosted by using a jet thrust exhaustsystem. This, and very high ram pressurerecovery by the wing leading edge carburettor air in takes, contributed g reat ly tothe excellent ove ra ll pe r f or m a nce of theaircraft. At a normal fighter weight of9,3741b 4,252kg), the Corsair s sea-levelrate of climb was 2 ,6 00 ft 8 00 m ) p erm i nu t e, a n d its s e rv i ce c ei l in g 3 5 , 50 0 ft 10,800m). Take-off distance in calmconditions was 3 6 2f t 1 1 0m ) , a n d w i th a25 knot headwind, just 150ft 46m). Ithad a range of 1,040 miles l , 67 3 k m) a t3,500ft (I ,070m) altitude.

On 3 March 1941, Vought received aletter o f i nt en t from the Bureau ofA e ro n au t ic s i n vi t in g t h em t o propose aproduction version of the Corsair. On 2April 1941, V ought submitted ProposalVS-317, which would become the F4U-1.On 14 june the XF4U-I was flown t o t heN ational Advisory Committee forAeronautics NAC A) facility at LangleyField , Virginia . Less than a month later,the XF4U-1 returned to Anacostia, onlyto b e t rans fe rr ed to t h e N av a l AircraftF a ct o ry N A F ) in P h il a de l ph i a , o n IAugust 1941. The XF4U-1 returned toVought later in A ugust w he re it remained,w ith pe r iodic postings to A nacostiaand tot he N AF . M ea nwh il e, o n 3 0 june theBureau of A eronautics awarded VoughtContract 82811 for 584 F4U-1 productionaircraft for the Navy, with initia l deliveries to beg in in Feb ruary 1942 the firstproduction model was actually deliveredto the USN on 31 july 1942). Massproduction of all types of combat aircraftin A me ri ca b ec am e c ri ti ca l a ft er t hej a p an e se a t ta c k on Pearl H ar bo r o n 7December 1941, the action that finallyforced t he U SA i nt o t he s ta rt o f a globalwar. The C or s ai r b e ca m e o n e o f t h e firstc om ba t a ir cr af t t o h av e its product io n p ro gr am me e xp an de d, a nd theVGB programmer - consisting of Vought,

oodyear and Brews te r - was formed tomass produce the F4U-1. The BrewsterA eronautical C orporation was designedas a n a s so c ia t e contractor for Corsairproduction on 1 November 1941. ButB r e ws te r s f a c tor y at j o hn s vi l l e, P e nn sylvania, b u il t o n ly 735 F4U-I s designated F3A-1 s: these finally began deliveryin A pr il 1943 - a nd t he n in july 1944,t h e U S N av y put it o ut o f business. Morethan h al f o f Brewster s production was

652kmph), making the Corsair the firstsingle-engine single-scat Navy fighter tofly over 400mph 644kmph). The effectso f t h e a c hi e ve m en t were not lost o n t heArmy Air C orps, especially its chief,Major G e ne r al H en r y H. Hap Arnold,w ho n ow re-evaluated his s t an c e o n theair-cooled radial p o we r pl a nt . H e gavePratt Whitney p e rm i ss i on t o ceasedevelopment o n l iq ui d- co ol ed , i nl i neengines a nd t o forge ahead instead withradial engine development.

On 24 October 1940 the XF4U-1 wasdelivered to NA S Anacostia for US Navyevaluations. Final U S N a vy d e mo n st r ations were carried out by Boone Guytonat Anacostia during 24-25 February 1941.M uc h t o the d el i gh t o f the Navy, whowere already pleased with the top speed ofthe n ew a ir cr af t, t he ir e va lu at io nsrevealed that, despite its size and weight,the XF4U-1 had a n e x ce l le n t all-roundperformance, too. The fitting of a new

F4U-1A Corsair II JT505 of theFAA in flight. via Ph ip Jarrett

-1 crashed into a wood and the prowas catapulted upwards by trees, itflipped o v er o n t o i ts hack, and slidr udder first until it hit a tr e e s tum p,finally coming to rest midway down

l l ow r a vi n e. I nc r ed i hl y , Guytonunhurt and was able to scramble

crumpled wreckage. But damagee aircraft was severe, and i t lookedtime as i f i t might have t o b e written

one wing h a d b e en s h ea r ed off, thehad b e en t o rn (rom the fuseand the propeller was smashed- butmain fuselage, e n gi n e a n d undercarwere relatively unharmed. V ought

nightand day, and they were ablerebuild the Corsair: within

m on th s t h e XF4U-1 was airworthyagain.I October 1940, Lyman Bul la rd

nstrated the XF4U-I for USN offiHe flew from Stratford to Hartford,

at a speed of 405mph


10/98


Negotiationsand suggestions on thepartof theRoya Navy the US Navy and Voughtto turnthe bent-wingbastard intoa more malevolentcarrier aircraft had been an ongoing sincethe beginning of theyear.However before theflying and operational characteristics could be improvedupon there was a moreimmediateproblemto contend with. Early on theFleet AirArm had realized thatthe Corsair could not beaccommodated on thelow-ceilingedhangardecksof Roya Navyaircraftcarriers.Becauseof theirarmouredflight decks British carriers had only 16ft 4m 87cm ofvertical clearance available on thehangar deck while the F4U-1 Corsair with its wings folded had a heightof justover 16ft2in 4m 93cm .Nevertheless althoughthe armoureddecks ofthe RN carrierspresented somethingof an immediateproblemfor thestorage ofaircraft such as the Corsair during Japanese k mik z suicideattacks inthePacific in 1944-45 it was theAmerican carrierswith their largelywooden flight decksthat suffered worst.va Ph p Jarrett

el rate of climb of 3,000ft l,OOOm) pere , a n d a s er vi ce c ei li ng of 37,000ftw hil e, i nJanuary 1942 the XF4Ufitted with the XR-2800-4 engine

at 1,850hp at 2,600rpm at take-off.t h a t mo n t h the aircraft was flown toNaval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia,lvania, forfield carrierlanding tests

t he a ir f ie ld r un wa ys . F or f iv e d ay spi lot s had the chance to fly theU-1 before the ai rcraft w as ret urnedthe factory. On 12 May 1942 the4 U- 1 l ef t f or a twenty-nine day t est atA na c os ti a ; i t w as a ls o u se d t o t es tre modifications on t h e p r od u ct i onmodels. Th e X F4 U- 1 l ef t thefactory on 3 D ec e mb e r 1 94 2, a n d

30 June 1943 had relocat ed t o the newT es t C en te r a t NAS Patuxentr, Maryland. The XF4U-1 spent the

of i ts career at the technicalc en t re a t Norman, Oklahoma,re being snuck from the USN s invenon 22 December 1943. Meanwhile, atStratford, Connecticut plant duringearly summer of 1942, the productionbegan turning out the first of themodels. Boone T. Guyton tookmaiden flight of F4U-1 Bu N o. 02153,fourt h producti on F4U-1, on 25 June

The n e w C o rs a ir notched up aum speed of 415mph 668kmph),-l evel rate of climb of 3,120ft 95Im)m i nu te , a n d a s er vi ce ceiling of

l1,300m).

s MountN o. 0 21 56 , t h e s e ve n t h productionwas the first t o bedel i veredt o theNavy, at NA S New York, on 15 August

This aircraft was flown aboard theUSS ng mon C V E -26) i nBay by Lt Cdr Sam Porter on

September 1942 for carri er qual ifi caPortercarried out four l andi ngs andt ake-offs t o determine the Corsair sfor carrier-borne operations.it b e ca m e i m m ed i at e lyi ous t o the Navy observers that therea series of landing problems, raisingous doubts as to the aircraft s ability toused as a future shipboard fighter.r st ly , i t w as q ui ck ly a p p ar e n t t h a t

the three-point landing a t ti t ud e t h es visibility was impaired by the longengine installation. Nor waslity helped by his location well aft

of the aircraft fuselage, or by oil from thehydraulically actuated upper engine cowlflaps and engine v al ve p us h r od s, w hi chd e po si te d a f in e f ilm of oil to coat thewindscreen. The individual actuators ofeach cowl-flap, and the early magnesiumrockerbox covers, w hich tended t o w arp,l eaked oi l badly. The cowl-flap problemwas finally solved by a m od if ic at io n i nDecember 1942, using one actuator a nd acable-and-roller mechanism, while themagnesium rockerbox c ov er s w er e r eplaced by aluminium ones, m any of themborrowed from F4F Wi ldcats and PB4Y-IL i berat ors. ) A lso, during the sl ow speedapproacht o the carrier, w h en t h e pilot wasgiven the cut over the deck, the Corsairdescended almost stalling onto the flightd ec k in a n attempt t o g ra b an arrestingw ire, and the F4U-1 s stiff main landingg ea r c au se d i t t o b ou n ce v er y b ad ly a f te rl anding: t his w as because on touchdownthe l andi ng gear oleos w ould compress,and then extend quickly backto full travel,bouncing the fighter i n to t h e air again.

Other serious problems were caused bythe Corsair s unhappy stallcharacteristics.To start wi th, the huge flaps and l ow -sett ai l w he el c r ea te d a d ir e ct io na l s ta bi li typrobl em correct ed only l ater on the production l i ne w i th the use of an inflatablet ai l w he e l and the fitting of a stiltedt ai l- wh e el l eg ). A ls o, a s h ar p f al l i n theF4U-I s li ft c ur ve s co pe n ea r the stall,c o mb i ne d w i th t h e h i g h power and t orqueo f t h e huge propeller, caused the aircraftt o s ta ll s ud de nl y a nd d ro p its p or t w in gbefore the ri ght w ing, especial ly duringdeceleration. The port wing tended tostall first because of the upwash from thepropeller. True, a highly skilled pilotcouldpre-em pt t his probl em , but it w ou ld b ebeyond the capability of most newlyt rained carri er pil ots, and i f the inexperie n ce d p il ot t ri ed t o r eg ai n c o nt r ol a ft erbouncing on the first landing, touchingdow n agai n w it h the brakes on could putthe aircraft over on i ts back, with disastrous results. Another annoying malfunction was the rudder kick , something thathad al ready occurred during t est i ng o f t h eXF4U-1. It was evident to Vought and theNavy that al l t hese probl em s w ould havet o besol ved, andsol ved fast, i f the Corsairwas t o g o t o s ea .

Vought flight-test a n d e ng i ne e ri n gdepartments w ent t o w orkqui ckl y t o t ry t oremedy the situation, and a series of designchangesweresuggested and later institutedduring producti on. Vought suggest ed t o

16

the Navy that the top three cowl-flaps bepermanently seal ed t o prevent oil coatingthe w i ndscreen, and that the individualhydrauli c cowl -fl ap actuat ors be repl acedw i th a si ngl e hydrauli c cow l-flap m ast eractuator and mechanical l i nkage t o theremaining cowl-flaps. Later, pilots wouldl ea r n t o l oo k f or r a in c lo ud s t o g iv e theirw i ndscreens a quick w ash. ) B efore agreeing to these modifications, t he N av yrequested that a t es t a ir cr af t b e f lo wn atmilitary power w it h t he t op t h re e c ow lflaps opened, and then with them sealed,in order to c o mpa r e e n g in e -c o o li n gdata. A s expect ed, seal i ng the t op t hr e ecowl-flaps did not significantly increasecylinder-head t e mp e ra t ur e s, b u t it d idcomplicate engine maintenance, in thatmechanics h ad to r em ov e a pa ir o f t hemechanical cowl-flap pulleysto gainaccessto the spark plugs of the top rearcylinder.

To cure the st al l probl em s a smal l, 6in l5cm) wooden spoiler, or stall strip, wasadded t o the leading edge o f t h e rightwingpanel j ust out board o f t h e m a ch i ne - gu nports. This refinement effectively spoiledthe airflow over the area o f t he wingimmediately behind i t, a n d c au se d bothw in gs t o s ta ll a t t he same t im e. Bu No.02510 became the first F4U-l t o be fi tt edw i th t h e stall improvement device and i twas delivered to NA S Anacostia and thento the Naval A i rcraft Fact ory for t est ing.The addition of the spoi l er w as i ncorporated continuously from the 943rd Corsaironwards t o solve a pot ent ial ly dangerousflight characteristic. Equally, the rudderkick problem was e as il y s ol ve d, byincreasing t h e l en gt h of the tail-wheelstrut, which effectively reduced the aircraft s ground cl earance angl e from 13. 5 t o11.5 degrees. This reduced the percent ofmaximum lift coefficient used for landing,and the downw ash angl e over the tail.

Other problems were not s o e as il ysolved. During fl i ght t est i ng, a number ofF 4U -1 s w er e f ou nd t o h a ve a w in g h ea v iness, which required aileron trim tabdeflection of from 8 toW degrees o u t o f t h e5 degrees avail abl e t o achieve l evel fli ghtat cruisi ng speed. A number of correctivem ea su r es w er e t ri ed u n ti l Vo ug h t c o ncluded that the problem was the result ofmanufacturing irregularities in the aileronsthat w er e t oo s ma ll t o p os it iv el y d e te c t.Replacing the aileronscould alleviatewingheaviness, butV ought h ad to tr y a numberof different pairs before the problem wassolved. B e gi n ni n g w i th t h e F4U-4, thecompany used ailerons fitted with balance

t ahs. In t h e m e an t im e , V o ug h t engineerscorrected the w ing heavi ness probl em bygl ui ng a X 18in 3mm X 46cm) st ri p ofw ood t o t he b ot t om o f t h e aileron on thewing that rode high.Earlyon, the FleetAir Arm had realizedthat Corsair could not be accommodatedon the low-ceilinged hangar decks of RoyalNavy aircraft carriers. After discussing theproblem with the R oy al N av y , on 23January 1943 the Bureau of Aeronauticsinstructed Vought to find ways of reducingthe F4U-l s overall hei ght w i th the wingsfolded. A month later Rex B Beisel, thenVought engineering manager, s en t t he

Bureau then suggested methods of reducingthe height of the Corsair so that i t could becarried aboard British carriers. Mostly, thesuggestions involved r e tr a ct i ng t h e tailwheel, compressing the m ai n g ea r o le oswith the jacking devices, or retracting thet ai l w he el a n d d ef la ti ng the main tyres.Meanwhile, the R oyal N avy came up w i tha m uch si mpl er sol ut i on of i ts own: L t CdrR M Smeeton, RN, o f t h e British LiaisonOffice, suggested that a reduct ion o f t hewingspan, achieved by removing the 8in 20cm) wing-tip panels of the Corsair, becarri ed out, and the w ings fairedoff w i th awooden fillet. Beisel responded by outlin-

17

ing the designdifficulties andre-drafting of drawings thatsucha proposalwereadoptedN av y w on the day. Smeetoobtained data from Vought ptheory, removing the wing-tgreatly affect the Corsair sActually, a l th o ug h t h e clipi nc re as ed t ak e- of f d is ta n cehead wind by 15ft 4.5m), thduceda slightly increased stagave the pi lot m ore of a wbefore stalling and less rollThey would also improve mat lower altitudes.


11/98

A DRE M IS ORN

BrewsterCorsairadvertisement in 1944 The Corsairbecameone ofthe firstcombataircraftto have itsproduction programmeexpanded and the VGB programmerconsisting of Vought Goodyearand Brewster was formedto mass producethe F4U 1 r News

Meanwhile, the Bureau of A eronauticsw a nt e d t h e pilot s seating position raisedto increase visibility;this was done, but on27 February 1943 Vought requested that adifferent model designation h e g iv en toCorsairs with the raised seating modification. This w as d ul y c ar ri e d out hy theBureau of A e ro n a ut i cs , a n d the newmodel hecame known as t h e F 4 U- I A: itf e atu re d a semi-bubble canopy w ith onlytwo r e inf o r cin g b ar s in the upper surfaceo f t he h lo wn glass structure, replacingt he F 4U -I s s q u irr e l c a ge or birdcagec a nopy. H ow eve r , there w as a w ar o n , a n dthe Bureau of A eronautics requested thatthe -I A modifications be incorporaredin the earliest airplanes in which it can bemade without seriously affecting production . Bu No. 02557, t he 6 89 th F 4U -I ,s e rv e d a s the prototype aircraft, with theseating raised 9 in 2 3c m) a nd a s em ibubhle canopy; the n ew s ca t raised thep ilot s line of sight Sin 13cm). Bu No.1 76 4 7 w as the first F4U-I A productionmodel t o h av e t he raised cabin.

I n a ll , forty-tw o significant changeswere made on the F4U-IA productionrun, many of the m a jo r o n es b e in g to thecockpit. As we have seen, the pilot s scatcould be raised and lowered approximately9in 23cm ), and it i n co r po r at e d a narmoured headrest. The control s tick w as

aircraft, and w as p e rf o rm e d on Corsairsdur ing m a jor o v er h au ls. A s ide b e ne f it ofthis m o dif ica tion w as a reduction of 20ft 6m) in the F4U-1 s take-off distance in a25-knot headwind. Meanwhile, Voughtwasrequested by the vy to redesign thetail-wheel yoke so that i t r ai se d theCo r sa ir s ta il 6in I Sc m) and improvedpilot visibility o n t he ground. At the sametime, the arresting hook-down a n gle w aschanged from to 65 degrees to preventthe Corsair from sitting o n t he h oo k in afull stall landing .

Bu No. 02557, the 404th F4U-I, becamethe first Corsair with t h e e x te n de d tailw he el , a n d it was delivered to NA SPatuxent River, Maryland, on 8 September1 94 4. B u N o. 0 21 6 1, the ninth F4U-Ib u ilt , w as delivered to the NAC A fullscale wind t u nn e l a t Langley, Virginia, tof in d w ay s of reducing the drag. NAC Arecommended the installation of smoothsurface wing walkways and smoother wingsurfaces, plus smoother, tighter fittingwingaccess doors; a nd t he a dd it i on o f ailerongapseals a n d a n arrestor hook cut-out fairing. The vy s o on c a rr i ed out all ofNACA s drag-reducing recommendationsexcept for the aileron gap seals. The tailhook w as p a rtially f air ed o ve r w it h t hee x te ns i on o f t h e tail wheel g e ar d o or ,enclOSing the hook up to the lastsix inches.

t o n s r e c om m e nd a t io n s wereon 16 J ul y 1 94 3. The revisedg - tip d e sig n w o uld b e c a r rie d o ut o n

No.17952 British serial JT270).prior to JT270 w o uld b e m od ifie d

o s pe c tiv e ly b y Bla ck b ur n Aircraft inand by Andover Kent Aviation

o ra t io n o f N ew Brunswick, NewAnother British improvement was

fitting of small air-scoops t o t he fusee sides to help prevent life-threatening

monoxide fumes accumulating infuselage abaft the cockpit. It was

that, because the exhaust stubsflush with the engine cowlings, theynot throw ingthe expelled gases clearforward e nd o f t he fuselage. Later,

VHF radio equipment waso in sta lle d in the Corsair.A l te r in g t h e Corsair s landing charac

p r ov e d m o re difficult, and ProDog was instituted to modify thegear quickly and get the Corsair

qualified. The programme ran ayear before the problem was finallyThen i t w as a c as e of simplyreplac

the landing gear oleo s Schrader v lvea Chance Vought v lve and increas

the strut s air pressure, something thatk ju st ten days, although it t o ok m u ch

t o i mp le me nt . T hi s c ha ng eo ve rincorporated on all production line

Corsairs in a hangar deckaboarda British carrier va Philip Jarrett

8 19


12/98

CORSAIR FIGHTERS

BUCCAN EER AN ERM UOA DIVE M ERS

x

2

BOVE Chance Vought Corsairadvertisement in lying October 943 ymRIGHT: rewster advertisementin October 943 yn


13/98


was not declared fully operational untill hr e e m o nt h s l at er . I n October VF-12wmmanded by Lt Cdr Joseph c JumpingJlle Clifton became the first USN Corsairsquadron to be form ed at NAS NorthIsland California. However after navalI :ed Corsairs h ad b ee n declared unser\ tceable f or use aboard carriers thei nrended C orsairs w ere soon repl aced byF6F Hellcats. The USMC - the FlyingL eat hernecks - w ould t ake the Corsair towar. V MF-124 w hich had pri ori ty forCorsairs departed for t he Sout h Pacific inJanuary 1943 arriving on C uadal canal on 2 February 1943.

ABOVE: A Corsairbeingtestedat Stratfordin 1942Vl ughtRIGHT: Engineers at work on the Corsair'smassivePratt Whitney R 2800 DoubleWasp engine. USMC

and kits t o correct both h ad t o b e f it te d i nthe field at Espiritu Santo. Neverthelessmost o f t he other m yriad probl em s w erealleviated if not solved completely.

M a ri ne s qu a dr on VMF-124 commanded by Maj or Wi ll i am C i se at CampKearney California received i ts f ir stC orsai ron 7 September 1942 although it

r

a,;;a;;'_ f ~ ~

to be improved a n d t h e a t ta c h me n ts fas-t ening t he fuselage fuel t an k t o t he bulkh ea ds ha d to b e r e in f or c ed . A ls o thehydraulic engine cowl-flap controls h ad t obe replaced with mechanical controls. Theignition harness problems and problemswith the radios were not rectified by thetime VMF-I 2 4 l ef t f or t h e S o ut h Pacific

The Stratford Corsairassemblyplant in ful l swing. Vought

-\F3A 1 (F4U-1 showing the earlyframed canopy, and bomb attachments beneaththe wings. Brewster

a nd t he rudder/brake pedalsrevised. There w as a n ew instrumentn el g u ns ig ht a n d t ur tl e d ec k a nd

armour plating; a n d t h e o v er t ur nre was reinforced.Despite all the last-minute changes thehad decided t hat t he Corsair was notblefor carrieroperations and itwouldt h e U S M a ri n e C o rp s t h a t would intro

t heF4U -l to combat . A C orsai rm odcentre was formed a t S an Diego

Air Base Croup Two Fleet MarineWest C oast com m anded by ColRidderhoff. Vought field service

a g er J a ck I l os p er s s u pe r vi s ed thetion of 159 changes that w ent onht around the c lo ck t o g e t t h e Corsair-ready in time. And timewasshort.changes went from the sublime such

having t o add a rear-vi ew m i rror to theto the extreme. Other pressing

centred on the m ast er brakew hi ch h ad t o be modified andthe engine ignition harness had to beoved for operation at altitude. Theontal stabilizer in the t ail needed to

reinforced and the rudder controlr n a tt ac h me nt s t o t he rudder neededbe strengthened.Changes also had to be made to improvebelt feed o f t he .50-calibre machine

The duct seals betw een t he engineintercoolers ami t ot he carburet tor had

22 23


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L N N SEA

: : : : : ~ ~ ~

t ionaI tests in the Chesapethe jeep carrierCharger ACverted merchantman. Oncehad suffi ci en t f li gh t t ime ithey began their init ial cqualifications (carquals) oproved difficult landing a Cjeep carrier s 50ft ISm) dweremishapsalong the way;tered it, encouraged by the kthe Essex-class deck of the that much larger. During tht r ai n in g , f o rm a t io n loobetweeneight and twelve F4was not uncommon - but Bone grand finale in mind. Wto Bostonfor the unkerHiing on 23May 1943,Blackbm a ti o n o f twenty-five F4York, and they all droppedunder the Brooklyn Bridge

unker Hill cleared the wMassachusetts in june, andoffNorfolk, where VF-I7 scomed the carr i er in s ty leplane fl ights buzzing hedifferent directions. On 7julnow part o f C AG-1 7 (Carr17),were embarkedaboardfor her shake-downcruise toby 70-mile(50 km by 112kmBay. CAG-17 also includedo f V T- 17 , a nd t he troubHelldivers of VB-17 and Voperations concentrated mfully, and bouncing over thand flipping over o r c r asparked a irc ra ft ahead becaplace. On final a p pr o ac helongated nosemade itdiffic

oped the new wing ant i-stal l device, andpilots tried toovercome the restricted viewout o f t h e birdcage c anopy by sitting ontwo, and eventhreeparachutecushions. Incombat theyknew they would not be ableto see diddly-squat from the birdcage,andthe si tuat ion only really improved whenVF-17 received t he F 4U - IA with thesemi-bubble canopy. But VF-I7 s freespiri ted aviators were prepared to forgivethe Corsa ir i ts fau lt s because more thananything else they wanted to fly them incombat as soon as possible.

Operating from land bases, Blackburn sIrregulars had broken in the Corsair; butt h e n o n 1Maytherewasa portent of thingsto come. Tom Blackburn, with the skiliedLSO, S hailer C atwalk Cummings, madethe firstreal carrierlanding on a simulatedcarrier landingarea marked off on a con crete runway. VF-I7 s CO approached at90 knots, chopped t h e t h ro t tl e , hit thedeck - and bounced about 20 ft (6m) intothe air Blackburn made further opera-

One of VF-1Ts F4U 1s onthe USS ChargerlACV 301 a converted merchantmanduring carrier landing qualifications. March 1943 USN va Lee Cook

Pratt Whitney R-2800-8 (B) Double-Wasp18-cylinder two-row radial; 1650hp at21,000fr (MOOm); fuel capacity237-537gal (l,077-2,4411)Length 33ft4in (lOm16cm);span 41ft (12m50cm);wingarea314sq ft (29sq m);height 16ft lin (4m90cm)Empty8,9821b (4,074kg); gross 12,039Ib (5,460kg); max. 14,0001b(6,350kg)Speed 417mph(671kmfh) at 19,900ft(6,065m), 359mph (578kmfh) at sea level,182mph 2 9 3 k m ~ 1 cruising, 87mph l40km/h) landing; range 1,015 miles I,633km) normal, 2,220 miles (3,570km)ferry; climb 2,890ft(880m)/minute;serviceceiling36,900ft l1,250m)6 X 0.50calibre machineguns in wings with 2,350 rounds; I X 1,000lb(450kg)bomb 01 8 X Sin(13cm) rockets

Dimensions

Performance

Armament

Engine

Weights

Specification - Vought F4U-l

25

Operation TQ1 ch the invasion o f N o rt hAfrica in November 1942, andhad been aflight i n s tr u c to r a t NA S Miami OpaLocka). When Blackburn assumed commanu ofV F -l 7 he recruited fellow instructor Lt Cdr Roger R. Hedrick as hisl xecut ive officer. VF-17 were to becomefully operational on the improved F4UIAs,anu woulu take them to seaaboaru thenew Essex-class escortcarrier USS unkerIfill CV-I7), that would make i ts shakedown cru ise i n j ul y. The pilots of VF-17were high-spirited, rugged individualsw it h l it tl e o r no combat experience.They were t hr il led wit h their new hotplanes, and flew them under bridges and~ k i m m e d the waters near the fleet at everyopportunity. Flat-hatting , or low-level fly-mg, and other hell-raising escapades soonl arned t he m t he nickname Blackburn sIrregulars .Ensign Howard M. Teeth Burriss ran atruckoff a highway while playing chickenm an inverted Corsair, while Ensign IraIke Kepford upset the good people ofNorfolk w he n h e and a n A rm y P-51Mustangpilot entered into a low-leveldogfightoverhe ad. I n M a r c h 1943 VF-17 wereordered t o l eave t own, and B lackburn sIrregulars relocated to NAAS NavalAuxiliary Ai r S t a ti o n ) Manteo, on thecoast near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina,where they completed their pre-carriertraining. During training a t M a nt e o, VF17 lost six pi lots, including two who collided in mid-air duringgunnery practice.Blackburn s Irregulars worked hard toh re ak in their wild Corsairs, a nd t he yhelped improve some of the F4U-ls morealarming traits; for instance, they softenedthe shock of landing by changingthe fluidai rmixture in the oleo compression cylinders. L t ( jg ) Merl W. B utch D avenport,VF-I7 s engineering officer, partly devel-

VF-12 not only had to convert to theCorsair, i talsohad to pract isecarrierlandings, e v en t h ou g h it was d es ti ne d as aland-based Corsair squadron. VF-12 lostseven pilots while training on the Corsair,four o f t he m in an early morning storm.At the same t ime Vought engineers werest il l wrest ling with the myriad problemsthat were still troubling Corsair operationaboard carriers. Pilots disliked the Eci ipseshotgun starters (laterreplaced with elect ric starters), and the flap blow-up featureand the bat tery instal lat ion were provingunpopular. Leaking cowl-flap cyl indersa lso adued to the general mistrust.

To improve landingstability,larger tailwheel bearings were used on F4U-Is, andtwo Corsai rs were f it ted wit h pneumatictail wheels on longer st ruts and tested byVF-12 on the escort carrier USS Core(CVE-13). There was some improvementon carrier landings, but the tail wheelstended to blowout. VF-12 considered theCorsai r t ri cky t o fly with a bad s ta ll ingcharacteristic, and the aircraft was soondubbed t h e H o g because i t was about asco-operative as a hog on ice . An F4U-lwas written off aboard the Core andanother crashed t ry ing t o l and on boardthe USS Enterprise near Hawaii. Inflatabletail wheels that were suppo sed t o a idCorsair stability on landing, proved moreof a hindrance w hen several began burst ing during hard landings. These, and theother well documented c a rr i er l a nd i ngprobl ems, hard ly won over the Corsairpilots; but the overriding problem, and theo ne t ha t would prevent VF-12 rakingthe Corsairto sea, was the lack of a supplyof spare parts on board the carriers. Bythe t ime VF-12 sai led aboard t he U SSSaratoga f rom Hawai i in j ul y 1943, F6FHellcats had repl aced the Corsairs forcombat sea duty.VF-17 became the second Navysquadron to opera te the Corsa ir , and i nFebruary 1943 began receiving their firstF4U-ls for t ra in in g a t N A S Norfolk,Virginia. Its CO , Lt Cdr john T.Blackburn, had previously led VGF-29 in

24

Fighting Squadron 12 andBlackburn s Irregulars

l ife li ne t o Australia. Guadalcanal wascaptured by US Marines i n August 1942,and the captured a irs tr ip was renamedHenderson Field after the commander ofthe USMC dive-bombers at Midway; andfrom t h en o n t h e C a c t us A i r Force as itwas known, gradual ly took shape. Furtherj ap an es e a nd US MC reinforcementsarrived on Guadalcanal in September andOctober 1942, and the fierce fight ingcarried on into N ovember 1942, with airattacks on Guadalcanal and the neighbouring islands of Tulgai, Gavutu andTanambogo. One of the most frequentAmerican aerial missions was against theTokyo Express , t h e j a pa n es e transportand combat ship task force that plied theSlot the channel between New Georgiaand Santa Isabel Islands n o rt h -w e st o fGuadalcanal) almost night ly to reinforcetheir hard-pressed ground troops on theembattled island. The enemy then builta n ew a ir fi el d a t O n do n go in a coconut grove on t he N ew Georgia Islands atMunda. In the local language, Ondongomeant the Place of D ea th . A rm y A irForce bombers and f ight ers made manya ir r ai ds on these enemy bases andothers i n the S olomons area, at Rabaul,Bougainville and the Russell Islands. On4 january 1943 the japanese Imperial Stafffinally issued orders for the evacuation ofGuadalcanal to begin.

CHAPTER TWO

On 9 january 1943 VF-12 FightingSquadron 12) was commissioned a t S anDiego u nd er t he c om ma nd o f Lt Cdrjumping joe Clifton, with Cdr H. H.Caldwell as CA G C om m an d er , A i rGroup). Fivedays later VF-12 received i tsfirst ten F4U-ls, and t h e u n i t was declaredoperational. By 25 j a nu a ry t h e Navys qu ad r on h ad t w en ty -t w o Corsairs onstrength. Fighting Squadron 12 movedto H a wa i i p r ep a ra t or y to moving toN ew C aledonia because, unlike VMF-124,

and and eaZeros were all around us Their big

meatballs flasheJ angrily in the sun. If theyI didn t see any tracers. We knew Zeros

ldn t dive with the Corsa ir s, espec ia lly i ffeared t ha t ot her American planes werethere. Their arrack endeJ as quickly as it

starreJ. The Zeros disappeareJ forgood.USMC Corsair pilot, Wallace Thomson

VMF-211Checkerboards had recei vedfirst Corsair on 26 October, and wasriedly brought up to st rength. On 281942, although its twenty-twoCorsairs were not strictly combatdy and none of i ts pi lots was combatnced, VMF-124 was declared oper

Such was the urgency o f t hein the South Pacific that thewith or w i th o ut t h ei r Corsairs,e shipping out in j an ua ry , a nd i f theshad t o bep i cked up at Pearl Harborroute, t h en t h a t was how i t would be.

at31 December 1942 the US Navy hadand tot al of just 178 Corsairs, havingpted fifty-five aircraft in Novembersixty-eight F4U-ls in December. Earlyanuary 1943 VMF-124, commanded byor Will iam E Gise, sailed from San

California, for New Caledoniathe Loyal ty Islands aboard an unrted passenger ship. Meanwhile itsrsa irs were fre ight ed and sh ipped via

Santo in t he N ew Hebrides, toa h il ly , tropical, jungleered i sl and in t h e S ol o mo n G r ou pere , in j ul y, t h e j a pa n es e had startedan airfield on the Lunga Plain.Lunga airfield. was c o mp l et e t h ecould send land-based bombersraids on t h e N e w Hebrides for a thrust

small islands of Tulagi, Gavutu andenclose Guadalcanal. Asas April 1942 T u19ai had been

the number one American objeci n the Solomons. The deep and spaharbour, with air cover fromal, presented the japanese withexce ll ent nava l base t o threaten the


15/98

TDP One of VF-l7 s F4U-1s succesthewire on the deck of the USS landing qualifications, March 1943MIDDLE An F4U-1 of VF-17 is brougaboard the USS harger March 19L FT It was no easier on the USSICV-17 in July 1943. USN via ee ook

see the l anding s ignal offo pened h is fourteen cowl-down forward visibility to aif he left them closed, theoverheated. Soon F4U pejudged in some circl es t o bdeck opera ti ons- and on owere the pilots: one VFgroundedfora few daysafterel rollover the flight deckOther problems manifes

o n t h e voyage. Enginesandchanged f re qu en tl y. I t wCorsair s arrestor hook siwhen i t c a me i n to contactdrain channels on landinhookcaught a barrier wire twas lifted clear of the deck,missed the arresting wire tha drain channel and snapplem was solved with a redes

Sadly, although many oother faul ts had also beencombination of squadronVought adaptability, in thet h e N a vy brass would decidcraft had not gained i ts seVF-I7 s vali ant ques t t o beU SN u ni t to go to war atCorsai r would be in vai n.

At first the omens had agood. On 10 August, VF-1Norfolk aboard the unker17 returned t o s ho re bacarrierand the squadrons wto combat readiness. By 26had received thirty-sixnew,F4U-IAs; t hese embodiedmodifications recommendeas a resul t o f th e shake-dowCaribbean. In deference t oHog nickname Torn Bls ig n b ec ame B ig Hog , a nn am e p ai nt ed o n t he tasonal F4U-l Bu No. 1764910 September, when VF-1ofCAG-17 leftNorfolk forPacificaboard the unkerHCorsairs had a small skul l am ot i fpai nt ed on its engine17 was going to war - or so

27

L N N SE

26

L N N SE

o f VF-l7 s F4U-1 Corsairs picking up the barrier cable and flipping over onto its back during initiallanding qualifications carquals) aboard the USS hargerin May 1943. It proved difficult landing aon the jeep carrier s 50ft 15m) deck, and there were mishaps along the way. USN via e e o ok

21 is prepared for a catapult launch from the USS hargerACV-30 in Chesapeake Bay, May 1943.via e e o ok


16/98

LAND AND SEA

e f u n a n d h i g h j i n k s. US va ee Cook

F A. Andy Jaggerin F4U-117-F-26has a hook-pointfailure landingrdthe USS BunkerHil l , o n 2 6 July 1943. US va Lee Cook

28

The carrier sailed south off the eastcoast of the USA and on through theP an am a C an al t o S an Diego, California,before heading westward to Hawaii on 28September. A few days o u t, h o we v er ,orders were received det achi ng VF-17from C A G- 1 7 , a n d t h ei r beloved Corsairswere to be put ashore upon arrival at PearlHarbor o n O a hu . The Jolly Rogers couldremain aboard the Bunker ll and fly F6FHellcats if they w a n te d - b u t t o a man, VFITs dejected pilots v ot ed t o retain theirF4U-IAs. When Bunker ll docked atPearl H arbor on 2 O ct ober, t hei r beloved

orsairs were flown ashore to Ford Island- n e xt t o which, on 7 Decembel 1941, theJapanesehad decimated Battleship R o w to a wa it o nw ar d t r an sp or ta t io n t o t heSolomon Islands. VF-17 was replacedaboard the unk r ll by VF-18, equippcdwith the F6F. (Bunker ll and CAG 7first w en t i nt o a ct io n on Novemberwith a s t rike on Rabaul.)

A perceived shortage of spares in thefleet supply line which was full of partsfor the hundreds of G rum man fleet fighters, b u t n o t for one squadron of thirty-sixfighters of a different type) was furtherjustification that t h e C o rs a ir was not yetready for com bat operat i ons aboard UScarriers. Nevertheless, al t hough t hey weres ho rt o f o n e o r two important items, theU SMC Corsairs in fact had all the sparesthey needed.

Go Tell It t o t he MarinesVMF-124 arrived o n G u ad a lc a na l o n 2February 1943 with twelve Corsairs . Themost experienced of VMF-I24 s pilots hadaccumulated just twenty hours o n t he newfighter. A n h ou r after l an di ng a t t he irairstrip, called C act us , t hedozen Corsairswere t as ke d t o fly CAP Combat AirPatrol) o ve r t h e island and e scor t a PBYC a ta l in a o n a nO -m i l e 370km) rescueflight to Sandfly Bay on Vella Lavclla torescue two downed F4F pilots. The followingday, 3 February, t he Mari ne C orpsorsairs were plunged i n to a c ti o n w he nthey were chosen in favour o f t he relatively shorter-ranged Navy F4F Wildcatsas long-range escorts for US Navy PB4Y-I L ib er at or s, t o m ak e the 300-mile 480km) trip t o b o mb s h ip p in g in Bui nHarbor. N o e n em y fighters appeared.

LANDAND SEA

Next d ay , 14 Feb ru ar y, VMF-124 sCorsairs saw action for the first time whent h ey j o i ne d PAO W a rh a wk s a n d P 38Lightnings in a n e sc or t for PB4Y-1L i be r at o rs r a id i ng Kah i li a i rf i eld onRougainville Island. But it was hardly anauspicious debut. In w hat becam e known,IS t he S t Valentine s Day Massacre , theforce encountered fifty Mitsubishi A6M7ero fighters, which s h ot d ow n two ofVMF-124 s Corsairs flying middle-levelescortcover, allfour P-38s flying top cover,and two P-40s flying low cover; two of thePR4Y-ls were also brought down, and oneo f t h e A m er i ca n pilots was strafed in thewaterafter he haddi t ched. For t he enemy,o n ly t h re e Zeros were shot down, and afourth collided w it h o ne o f t he d ow ne dCorsairs . Even so, despite this setback, thesigns were t ha t t he Corsair could morethan hold i ts own, and i t soon hecameobvious in combat with Zeros that if theAmerican pilots h ad t he a dv an ta ge o faltitude, t he C orsai r largely had the upper

TOP: F4U 1s of V F 17 on atraining flight i n t h e US in1943. v a P h i p JarrettMIDDLE: Ijgl Clement D. Timmy Gileleading aflight of F4U 1 Corsairsof VF 17 offManteo,NorthCarolina, in thespring of 1943. Notethat the censorh as t r i e d t o o b li t er a te t h e 1 7 on t he s id e s o f t h efuselage. Gile was credited with eightvictories,including t h re e Z e k es s h ot d o wn i n o n e d ay , 17November 1943 at Empress AugustaBay. Hereceived two DFCs andthree strike fl ight AirMedals forfi fteencombatmissionsl. He wasWIAon 18 March 1945 flying inVBF-10aboardtheIntrepid. USN va Mike BaieyLEFT: Carquals complete,in August 1943VF 17received thirty sixnew raised cockpit F4U-IAsandsailed aboard the unker ill f ro m t h e e a st c o as t o ftheUSA and on throughthe PanamaCanal, to SanDiego,California, before heading westward toHawaii on 28 September. US va LeeCook

29


17/98

30

It Kenneth A Walshof VMF 124 thefirst Corsairace. shortlyafter recording hisfifthvictory.which tookplace on 13 May 1943 when he shotdown three k s 15miles 24km eastof theRussell Islands.Walsh finished thewar with twenty-oneconfirmed victories. twentyof themwith VMF 124 on F4U 1 Corsairs. andonewith VMF 222 on 22 June 1945 flyingthe F4U 4 US

Night-Fighting CorsaMeanwhile, lln II SeptVF(N)-75 arrived at Espiritwithin a f or tn ig ht h ad movwith s ix F4U-2 night-fightOperational ratrols of F4U-2ers began o n M un da o n 2F4U-2 night fighter of VF(N )Navy s first successful radar-cept ion over New Georg iaOctober/ November 194Ilugh D. ' Da nny' O 'N ei l l

the South Pacific and becVMF-I22; he relinquishedthe squadron a ft er b re ak in gdrunken barracks room wreBoyington s new squadron, wdesignation from the squadrto t he U S after thei r tour oSolomons, quickly filled up wfrom other Marin e CorpPappy s pilots wanLed to ca'Boyington's Bastards , butrisque even for Boyington,was fittingly re ti t led the BSquadron.

On 16 September Royinthe first Corsair pilot to becoa d ly. I Ie led twenty Corsairmission against the airfieldsmall is land west o( Bougaiwas to be attacked by threeSBD Dauntless dive-bombsquadrons of Avengers, somin all . On t hi s momentBoyington s ho t d own fou rZero, while other Black Shepilotswere credited with the dsix more Zeros and eight proa mon th o f c omba t t he BSquadron was credited witconfirmed aerial victories, anof the year Boyington had rateen more victories on Corsprobables. At Rabaul, BoyinBlack Sheer' Squadron defightersweep technique, andtactic for the first time on1943 when he led seventy-si40s and I lel lca tsover the isldown the gauntlet to the enFew appeared, and Boyingtoreduce the fighter total to a mable forty-eight aircraft, moThis t ime they destroyed thfighters, and more successfulRabaul followed.

Also on TSeptem :ler 1943, VMF-214 wasreorganized at Mundaunder the commando f t he legendary thirty-year old MajorGregory Boyington. 'Pappy' Boyingtonh ad b ee n a n av al aviator since 1937. Hehad n ow n P -4 0C s w it h t he A me ri ca nVolunteerGroup - the Fly ing Tigers - inBurma, where be was credited with 3 .5victories in the air and on t he ground,although h e c on si de re d h is s co re wasnearersix aerial victories and th ir ty on theground. Boyington left the AVG in April1942wi th a dishonorable discharge; threemon th s l at er h e h ad r ej oi ne d th e U SMarine Corps . Ear ly in 1943 h e w en t to

31

L N N SE

and shoo t ing down seven teen Japaneseaircraft, th ree of them falling t o t he gunsof 1 st Lt Ken Walsh of VMF-124. On 28August, Lt Alvin J. Jensen of VMF-214made a spectacular solo strafing a t tackonKahili airfield, having become separatedfrom the rest of h is f li gh t i n a t ro pi ca lstorm. Ill' strafed the airfield from north tosouth, leaving eight Zeros, four Vals amiadozen Bet ty b ombe rs b ur ni ng . P ho to reconnaissance photos taken the next dayconfirmed the dest ruc t ion of the twentyfour Japanese planes.

On 7 Sertember 1943, VMF-124 completed its hrst derloyment in the SolomonIslands andre tu rned to the United States.I t h ad sco red s ixty -e igh t a er ial v ic to riesoverthe past seven months, for the loss ofseven pilo ts killed (three to enemy ac tionand f ou r i n opera tiona l acciden ts) andnine seriously injured. Altogether, VMF124 had written off thirty-two Corsairs,a l th ou gh onl y e le ve n were caused byenemy action. By the time of VMF-I24 swithdrawal from the combat zone, 1 st L tKen Walsh, who o n 3 0 August had surviv being shotdown near Vella Lavella,had taken his score to twen ty confirmedvictories, two probables a nd one aircraftdamaged. VMF-I24 had written offthirtytwo F4U-1 and F4U-IAs, though onlyeleven o f t hem to enemy action. Of theseven pilo ts killed, four were the result ofnon-combat accidents.

VMF-124 a rr iv ed a t M ir amar , C al ifornia, on 13 October and trained thereuntiI 18 Sertember 1944; then i tmoved toPearl Ilarbor, a nd on 28 e c ~ m e r 1944went aboard t he USS ss x for a se conddeployment to the Pacific.

Boyington s Black SheepSquadron

, lIrcraft, while P-40 Warhawks destroyed,tnllther c leven enemy planes. FourteenUS fighters were shot down, withseven ofthe pilots lost.

On 2July, VMF-123 'Eight Balls flew itsfirst mission after converting to Corsairs ,hringing t he n umbe r o f USMC Corsairsquadrons in theSolomon Islands to eight.hv e days later, on 7 July, twelve Jaranesehllmbers escorted bysixty Zeros attemptedt l ls ink the US invas ion shipsoff RendovabLind. Intercepted by the Corsairs ofVMF-I22 , VMF-I21 and VMF-22I , sixIl l n Ze es and Bettys were claimed shotdllwn, and the r ai d was broken up.Meanwhile, seven ty-e igh t US bombersl scorted by forty-four Corsairs and sixtynine P 38s, PAOs, and F4F-4s, bombedshipping in the Kahiliarea at Bougainvilletn a surprise raid .

During three Japanese raids, on 11, 14,tnd 15 July, VMF-213 added to their scorel{ enemy fighters destroyed. On the 15ththe Corsairs of the newly formed ComAirNew Georgia claimed fOrLy.four Japanese, lIrcraft destroyed, fourteen o f t he m byVMF-I22 in a f i ft een -minu te a ir b a tt l e.Nllt to be outdone, eight Corsairs ofVMF213 claimed another sixteen victims. On17 July the four Corsair squadrons, rarL oflhe escort covering almost eighty SBDs,TBFs and PB4Y-Isagainst enemy shirping,It Kahil i claimed forty-one ofthe fifty-twol nemy aircraft reported destroyed duringthe raid. On 26July, ten PB4Y-Is bombedKahili a irfield af te r twen ty-one MarineCorsairs had strafed the a re a wi th theirmachine guns. Four days later, n ine of the vy Liberators, escorted by sixty-twolIghters including F4U-1 Corsairs, bombedBallale Island, a few miles south of Kahili.

On 14 August, the Corsairs ofVMF-123


18/98

LAND ANDSEA

ignIra Ike Kepford of VF 17 in the cockpitof hisF4U-117684, afterhis first,ond,third andfourthvictories, al l on 11 November 1943. Kepford was credited

thedestruc tionof threeValsanda Kate as well as oneVal damaged. va Cook

Cdr John T Tommy Blackburn (left).the CO of VF 17 and J.J . Jack Hospers,service representative for Vought Aircraft, infront of Blackburn s

F4U 1A Corsair No Bu No. 17629 BigHog atOndonga on Newrgia Island afterhis fourth victory, which occurred on 11 November 1943.

e thefour patched bulletholesto the rightof theaircraft number, which weresame day by the XO RogerHedrick, who mistook Blackburn s

sairfor a Zero USN via Cook

32

Betty bomber that he spotted by the lightof its exhaust flames. At about t his t i me,VMF N)-531 C orsairs began their successful night-fighter patrols aroundBougainville, a nd o n 3 November 1943made the first successful enemy aircraftinterception by a M ar in e C or s ai r n i gh tfighter. VF N)-75 w er e c re di te d w it h atotal of seven night victories flying F4U2s in World War II. On t h e n i g h t o f 11/12D ecem ber, L t H ugh D Danny O Neill ofV F N ) -7 5 d es tr oy ed another Betty.Operating from Torokina Field on 3D ecem ber, L t John S. Hi ll was creditedwith the probable destruction of an enemyfloatplane. On successive nights, IS and 6 D ec em be r 1 94 3, H il l d es tr oy ed t woRufe floatplane fighters, a n d t h re e nightslater, o n t he 19th L t R uben L. Johns alsodestroyed a Rufe O n the night of Ijanuary 1944, Lt Charles L. Pennerd es tr oy ed a V al , a nd was c re di te d w it hprobably destroying another. Lt johnsb ag ge d h is s e co n d night victory on 3january, when he dest royed a V al .

The Jolly Rogers Finally SetSailIn the meantime, VF-17 and its thirty-sixnew raised-cockpit F 4U -IA s in H aw ai iawaited their assignment to ComAirsePacSolomon Islands. On 2 October 1943,VF-17 departed Pearl H a rb o r a b oa r dt h e j e ep carrier, USS Prince William amithirteen days l ater t heir C orsairs w ere catapultedoff the CVE to Espirito Santo. VF 7 flew upt o Henderson Field o n t h e 2 6 t h,and finally arrived a t t he former japaneseairfield carved out of t h e c o co n ut p l an t ation at O n do n ga , o n N e w Georgia. Lt CdrB lackburn described Ondonga asclean, virtually bugless, free of snipers, andabove all, near the enemy . By t his t i memoSL of the c e nt r a l S o lo m on s w er e i nAmerican hands, although Bougainvillc tot h e n o rt h of New G eorgi a st il l had to bet a ke n a n d occupied. The next objectivewas the Bismarck A rchipelago and thejapanese stronghold at Rabaul o n t henorth-east tip of New Britain. The maintenance crew of Marine Squadron VMF-215adopted the Jolly Rogers from the outset.

On 27 October VF-17 began their firstt ou r , f ly in g f ro m the 4,000ft l,220m)w h it e c o ra l runway, a nd p ut t in g three ights over the Treasury Islands in supportof the 3rd New Zealand Division that hadlandedthere. On 28 October, CorSc irs flew

LAND ANDSEA

It jgllra Ike Kepford of VF 17. va Cook

Lt Cdr Roger R. Hedrick, XO VF 17 on the wing of hisCorsair. via Cook

33

forty-four combat sorties onp or t o v er t h e T re as ur y I sl ann o e n em y pl anes show ed. Ca ls o i n action elsewhere: ontwenty-four raided Kahili andtwenty Zeros. The F4Us shoo f t h e Zekes for the loss of tOn the 29th, VF-17 contentewith a sixteen-plane s tr ikand on the 30th, twenty-tescorted bombers over theThat evening, L t j am es Aeight F4Us on a Dumbo mi ng a PBY Catalina that hadr es cu e a p i lo t w h o had ditenemy-held coast. While Vt he e ne my shore installatiolanded a nd t he p il ot wa s pwithin reach of the JapaneseVF-17 s Corsairs saw actiotime on I November. On thiinvasion of Bougainville toEmpress Augusta Bay, atT orokina beachhead, code-nBlossom Eight of B lackbuwere among the thirty-twfighters detailed t o c o v er t h eings, with staggered eight-plstation untilmid-afternoon.Boff the first flight, and at 090intercepted a formation of eiVals at 14,000ft 4,270m), anescorts flying t op c ov er fohombers. Both of Blackburndivisions w e nt i n t o a l ong,building up their speed t o 3 5 0at tacking. L t Shelton R. B eThad Bell s second di vi sioblood for the Jolly Rogers whaul eda Zeke i na di ve and blo f t h e sky from 200yd. ShortB eacham s C orsair was jumZekes out o f t h e sun: they showing badly, but he m anagedF 4U h ac k t o Ondonga. Blackup on a Zeke at 500yd b u tenemy planetook hit s, i t di dA f te r t h e first attack the Cort o 20,000ft 6,000m). B l achimself on a Z eke s t ai l, and

e ro e xp lo de d, a nd B lat h ro u gh t h e b u rn i ng debris.destroyed three more ZekesRogers CO a dd ed a s e co ndscore as t heyheaded for homA d iv is io n l ed b y L t Johnstrafed t he s ou th shoreB ay a f te r a two-hour patrolinvasion fleet had fai led t ofi nai rcraft . L t Cdr R oger H ed


19/98

L A N D A N D S E A L A N D A N D S E A

sion leader, M ajor Buck Ireland,to signal that Iwas goingbackto cBuck nodded, aprarently not s ehappened ro Mac.

By the time I caught up with Mmade a water landing, was floatiWest and was fum bling with hislic i r cl e d a n d h e w a ve d t o s h o w thacontinued t o c i r cl e , w o n d er i n g w ha PT boat or crashboat appearedfrom a direction I j ud ge d t oOndonga. If M cCaleb radioed fdidn t hear him. I checked o ut tt he b oa t a n d c o ul d sec thating srraight for McCaleb. A t t h a tfor Bam koma hoping to r e j oi nguys.

Landing at Barakoma Iwas a b land gas upfor our mission to Bous t a rt l e d t o realize that the rest ofdidn t see M cCaleb go down, dib a ck t o h e l p , and didn t seem woof us were missing. Ourchief misswasstill ahead o us. The Third Mwas invading Bougainville at EmBayclose to a placecalled C ape Twere surposed to be a b o ut 4 0 , 00island. There were seveml jap aend of Bougainville, plus the fivefortress of Rabaul. F or a ll w e km i gh t a t ta ck o u r invading forcecom ing fromall directions.

The flight f mm B ar ak o ma ut o o k a b o u t orty-five m i nu t e s. Wout to the left, then back to thethe five or six jap fields at placShortland, Buin,Kahili and Karaof LS finCllly arrived on station. Fcould sec dozens of landingcraftmwhite wakesas they sped toward tour vantage point up there at 20,or so, t h i n gs s e e me d t o be goinr eal i ty a swe later ound o u t) t hhaving a terrible time: l a n di n g cthe wrong places, vital suppliesjaps raked the invaders with 75mthe shore was open to rough se ound them selves waist deep in m

The g o od n e ws was t ha t t heprised, not so m uch that we h athat we h a d c h o s e n T o r o k i n a - ng o o d p l ac e for an airfield and als w a mr s . W a r d H o we r , my usualback on my wing. We c l im b e17,500mJ to look thingsover. In athat you don t k n o w w h e t h e r to fIfyou fly low t o p r o te c t the troopsa v it al a l t i tu d e a d v an t a ge , b u t ibombers and strafers c a n g et a t thand troops ,md you n e v er k n o w

Corsairs lined u p o n Barakomaa irstrip autumn 1943. USMCva Waly Thomson

F4U Corsairs on a coralfighterstr ip at BanikaIsland inthe Russell Islands.;MC va Waly Thomson

An F4U Corsairafter an emergencylanding on theunfinished runway atTorokinaairstrip. USMCva Waly Thomson

structair stripsclose enough 200 m iles/300km )to Rabaul so that fighter planescould m anage rofly from this bay over ro Rabaul a n d r e t ur n , t oa v o id j a p a ne s e military forces c o n c en r r a te d a tthe s o u t h a n d north ends of the island. And tol o c at e w h e re the construction of airstrips andradar siteswas takingplace wasa feasible projectfor the Sea Bees. The Third Division disem barking f rom a doz en transports assaulted thebeaches in the Empress Augusta Bay at CareTorokina and Puruata Island. The s u r f r an h i g h,landing craft landed at the wrongbeaches, boatsbroached in the surf, andjapanese shellfirekill edm a n y M a r i n es . B u t by nightfall several beachheadsweresecured, although m any o f t h e troopsended ur waist-deep in swamps all night.

On the m orning of I Novem ber 1943, sixteenof us t o o k o f f for V e lb t he airstrip wasusuallycalled Barakom a). Iw a s i n the last division, mywingm anbeing Lt M cCaleb. Norm ally we wouldtry to use up the g as i n the internal wing-tiptanks, then r u r g e t h e s e two t a n ks w i t h c a r b o ndioxide so that in c o m b at t h e y would notexplode. The g as i n t h es e t a nk s w ou l d l as troughly a half-hour, then we would switch overto the main 230gal 11,0451J tank between thep i l ot a n d the engine. I h a d j u st e mp t ie d a n dpurged my w i n g- t i p t a n k s w h e n o u t o f t h e corner of mye ye I s aw M cCaleb abrurtly drop outof formation. My first thought was that h e h a dforgotten t o s w i t c h tanks. But his engine didn ts t a rt a n d it looked like he would ditch in thewaterncar asma ll is land. I pulled ur t o t h e d i v i-

oppressive trorical hum idity, the swarms ofinsects, t h e t o r re n t ia l trorical rainstorms, thewaist-deep swam ps and t he t hr e at o f rroricalfevers,all m adeBougainvillea wretchedplace roconduct military operations.

But on I Novem ber 1943 t h e T h i r d MarineDivision under the com m and of M arine M ajorG e n e ra l T u r n ag e i n v ad e d the south-west coastof Bougainville at Empress Augusta Bay. Thereasons for c h o o si n g t h i s l o c a t i o n were t o c o n -

Marine FighterSquadron 211 Wake Avengers in Hawaii August 1943. Wally Thomsoni s a t r e ar l e ft . In September 1942 2/lt Thomson begantraining on the Grumman F4FWildcat in MarineFighter Squadron VMF 221 which had been decimatedat Midwaythe previousJune.In November 1942 he was sentto the Palmyra Island Naval Base todefend thatbaseflying the Wildcat in VMF-211 which h ad b ee n w i pe d o u t a t W ak eIsland in December 1941. InJune 1943 VMF 211 returnedto Hawaiito begintrainingon the F4U 1A Corsair; thatAugustthey setoff forthe Marinebase atTurtle BayEspirutu Santo inthe New Hebrides arr iving in October; and a few weeks laterbeingsent to the Russell Islands inthe Solomons. USMC va Waly Thomson

For the la st f ew days in Ocrober 1943 weweretold that there would be a n i n va s io n ofBougainville Island and that we would supply airc o v er . F r om the Russells, Bougainville wasbeyond our effective r ange , sowe would h a v e t ostage t h r ou g h M u n d a o r Vella Lavella, refuellingat those airsrrirs. Bougainville is the most northwestern largeisland o f t h e I ,OOO-mile II ,600kmllongSolom on Island chain. It is about 125miles1200kml in l e n gt h a n d averages a b ou t 3 0 miles150kmlin width. Down its centre runs a srine ofvery rugged m ountains including the smoking,a c t iv e v o l ca n o , Mt Bagana, a t s o me 10,000ft13,000ml in elevatio