Since the end of the Second World War, there has raged a continuous debate over which manufacturer and indeed country produced was the best overall fighter aircraft to emerge from that conflict. This debate shows no sign of abating to this day. From the school boys of the mid nineteen forties to the aviation scholars of the second millennium, opinion remains divided.
While these debates certainly do not lack for passion, they frequently lack accurate analysis of the aircraft in question. There is some solid evidence that strongly supports the argument that the Chance Vought F4U-4 Corsair was America’s finest all around fighter of the war. Certainly in the mind of this author it qualifies as the best fighter/bomber.
Chance Vought's F4U-4 came about as a development of the F4U-4XA, which was first flown in early April 1944. It was fitted with an up-rated Pratt & Whitney R2800-18W or -42W engine. This power-plant developed 2,450 bhp with water injection. It was also fitted with a four blade hydromatic propeller which provided the necessary efficiency to utilize the greater power. The carburetor inlet was moved from the wing root leading edge to a duct located under the engine. The exhaust stacks had to be re-route d as a result. Armament remained the same as the F4U-1, with six .50 caliber Browning MGs. The limited production F4U-4B was armed with four M3 20mm cannon. Under-wing load capability was substantial. Up to three 1,000 lb. bombs along with eight 5 inch rockets could be carried. Reportedly, it was not unusual to rig the F4U-4 with as much as 6,000 lbs of ordnance. Apparently the robust structure of the Corsair could bear these loads without undue wear and tear on the airframe. Almost certainly, such overloaded Corsairs did not operate from carrier decks, but exclusively from shore bases.
The F4U-4 arrived in combat early in 1945. Therefore, it had only about six months to establish its combat record against the Japanese. However, the big fighter remained in service throughout the Korean War, where along with the F4U-5, it gained a sterling reputation for delivering ordnance with great accuracy. Indeed, the Corsair earned the respect of enemy pilots flying the MiG-15. Vought's Corsair was a fighter that could not be treated lightly. In a turning fight below 350 knots, the MiG pilot could find himself in big trouble very quickly.
While the -4 has a more powerful engine, it also weighs more than the early F4U-1. This marked increase in climb rate can be attributed to the more efficient 4 blade propeller as well as the higher power of the up-rated power-plant. The increase moves the Corsair into stellar company with other American fighters such as the P-38L and the F7F Tigercat. The F4U-4 climbs at a rate 20% better than the P-51D.
There is little doubt that the Corsair was likely the greatest load-carrying fighter of its era. There is little to compare to it except perhaps late-war models of the P-47, which still fall somewhat short in maximum loading.
In terms of maneuverability, all models of the Corsair were first rate. The F4U-4 was better than the F4U-1 series. Why? More power and better performance in the vertical regime. Very few fighters, even pure fighters such as the Yak-3 could hang with an -4 maneuvering in the vertical. Its terrific climbing ability combined with very light and sensitive controls made for a hard fighter to beat anytime the fight went vertical.
Ease of flight. The Corsair was much less a handful than the P-51 when flown into an accelerated stall, although it was by no means as forgiving as the F6F Hellcat. Torque roll was no worse than most of its high power contemporaries.
The F4U also rolled well. When rolling in conjunction with power-plant torque, in other words, rolling left, it was among the very fastest rolling fighters of the war. In the inventory of American fighters, only the P-47N rolled faster, and only by 6 degrees/second.
In level flight acceleration the F4U-4 gained speed at about 2.4 mph/sec, the P-51D accelerated at about 2.2 mph/sec. The F4U-1 could not keep up with either, accelerating at only 1.5 mph/sec. The real drag racer of American WWII fighters was the P-38L. It gained speed at 2.8 mph/sec. All acceleration data was compiled at 10-15,000 ft at Mil. power settings.
Turning to dive acceleration, we find the F4U-4 and Mustang in a near dead heat. Both the P-47D and P-38L easily out distance the Corsair and P-51D in a dive. Still, these two accelerate better than the opposition from Japan and Germany. Moreover, both the Corsair and the Mustang have relatively high critical Mach numbers allowing them to attain very high speeds in prolonged dives before running into compressibility difficulty. With the exception of early model P-38's, it was almost always a mistake to attempt to evade American fighters by trying to dive away. This goes for early war fighters as well, such as the P-40 and F4F Wildcat.
There is one story recorded by a Luftwaffe pilot who, while flying a Bf-109F over North Africa tangled with several FAA Martlets (the British name for the F4F). Finding himself alone with a Martlet on his tail, he elected to half roll into a steep dive to shake off the slow flying carrier fighter. Hurtling down in a screaming dive, the German looked over his shoulder and was stunned to see the Martlet (Wildcat) closing with guns blazing. Pulling back on the stick, under heavy G loading, the German eased into a zoom climb. The F4F was still with him firing bursts. As the speed bled down, the Bf-109 began to pull away in a steady rate climb. Had the F4F not run out of amunition the German was certain he would have been shot down. He had underestimated the diving ability of the American fighter. Indeed, many of his comrades would do the same over Europe and not be as fortunate as he.
There was no other single engine fighter flown during the war that could absorb greater battle damage than the Corsair and still get home. Even the USAAF admitted that the F4U was a more rugged airframe than the tank-like P-47 Thunderbolt. That is a remarkable admission. The big Pratt & Whitney radial engine would continue to run and make power despite have one or more cylinders shot off. The P-51D, on the other hand, could be brought down by a single rifle bullet anywhere in the cooling system.
In conclusion, it would be hard, no, impossible to dismiss the F4U-4 as the leading candidate as America’s best fighter/bomber of WWII. Furthermore, there is strong evidence that it very well may be the best piston engine fighter of the period. Certainly, everyone can agree the F4U Corsair was at the pinnacle of WWII piston engine technology and performance. When people debate the relative merits of America’s great fighter aircraft of WWII, they would be remiss in not acknowledging the F4U-4 as one of the very best.
At my last count there are no less than twenty-two model kits of the F4U covering 1/350 – 1/100 -1/144 – 1/60 – 1/72 – 1/80 – 1/48 – 1/32 – 1/12 with many in the 1/72 range reissued and modified so many times the count becomes meaningless.
There have been numerous 1/72 F4U kits since the 1950’s; in fact, these 60-plus year old kits are still in production! (Testors re-box of the Hawk kit.) There are many variants of the F4U Corsair, but I shall only mention F4U-1 kits that I am aware of.
•Academy,
•Airfix (re-boxed by Heller & MPC),
•Frog (Re-boxed by Novo & Intech, and possibly Air Lines too),
•Forces of Valour,
•Hasegawa (re-boxed by Minicraft),
•Hawk (re-boxed by Testors),
•Heller (own tooling, re-boxed by Aurora, SMER & MisterCraft),
•Hobby Boss,
•Johan,
•Revell (1963 tooling, re-boxed by Lodella), and
•Tamiya.
Having built a couple of 1/72 ones in the past I decided to tackle the SMER Hi-Tech version of the Heller 1970’s issue (because it was cheap) which will be the subject of this article.
The designation F4U-1A does not appear in lists of Corsair Bureau Numbers and was not officially used, being applied post-war to differentiate mid-to-late production F4U-1s from the early production variant. Mid-to-late production F4U-1s incorporated a new, taller and wider clear-view canopy with only two frames, along with a simplified clear view windscreen; the new canopy design meant that the Plexiglas rear-view windows could be omitted. The pilot's seat was raised 7 in (180 mm) which, combined with the new canopy and a lengthened tail wheel strut, allowed the pilot better visibility over the long nose. In addition to these changes the clear view panels under the cockpit were also omitted. These Corsairs introduced a 6 in (150 mm)-long stall strip just outboard of the gun ports on the starboard wing leading edge and improved undercarriage oleo struts which eliminated bouncing on landing, making these the first ‘carrier capable’ F4Us. The early F4U-1s supplied to the USMC lacked arrester hooks and had a pneumatic tail wheel, instead of the smaller diameter solid rubber type used for carrier operations.] Additionally, an experimental R-2800-8W engine with water injection was fitted on one of the late F4U-1As. After satisfactory results, many F4U-1As were fitted with the new powerplant. The aircraft carried 237 gal (897 l) in the main fuel tank, located in front of the cockpit, as well as an unarmored, non-self-sealing 62 gal (235 l) fuel tank in each wing. This version of the Corsair was the first to be able to carry a drop tank under the center-section. With drop tanks fitted, the fighter had a maximum ferry range of just over 1,500 mi (2,400 km).
A land-based version, without the folding wing capability, was built by Goodyear as the FG-1A. In British service, the aircraft type was modified with ‘clipped’ wings (8 in (200 mm) was cut off each wingtip) for use on British aircraft carriers under the designation Corsair Mk II.
The SMER kit is a very good example of the early F4U. The mould has survived extremely well and the detail remains crisp with only a minimum of flash. My kit had two broken u/c legs but these were easily fixed. All 53 parts are moulded in light grey plastic and the kit (Should?) include a small PE selection but the canopy (two parts) is crystal clear. The decal sheet is very nice but appears to include markings for other variants and only one for the actual subject of the kit?
So before we tackle the build....
