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Chance-Vought F4U Corsair

The F4U was one of the most successful fighters of WWII. It achieved a claimed 11.3 to 1 'kill ratio' in the Pacific. It was fast, but had some handling problems, and early versions tended to 'bounce' upon landing because of their stiff undercarriage. Therefore it was at first restricted to land-based marine units, and equipped all USMC fighter units in the Pacific in the second half of 1943. After some modifications, it was used also for shipboard operations, but continued to require careful handling. The vast majority of WWII F4U sorties (54470 out of 64051) were flown from land bases. The F4U had an inverted gull wing, a streamlined fuselage of circular cross-section and a big propeller. The cockpit was set well back, and the restricted view was a serious problem. 12571 were built, of which 4017 by Goodyear and 735 by Brewster as the FG and F3A, respectively.

General characteristics F4U-1A
Primary function	Fighter
Contractor	Chance Vought (United Aircraft Corporation division)
Power plant	One 18cyllinder Pratt&Whitney R-2800-8 radial engine
Thrust	2,000 HP		1,490 kW
Wingspan	41 ft		12.50 m
Length	33.3 ft		10.16 m
Height	16 ft		4.90 m
Wingarea	314 sq ft		29.17 sq m
Weight	empty	8,982 lb	4,074 kg
	max.	14,000 lb	6,350 kg
Max. speed	417 mph		671 km/h
Initial climb rate	2,887 ft/min		880 m/min
Ceiling	36,890 ft		11,245 m
Max. range	1,020 miles		1,640 km
Armament	6x 12.7 mm machine gun (390 rounds each); F4U-1C 4x 20mm cannons
Crew	One
Date deployed	1943
General characteristics F4U-4
Primary function	Fighter
Power plant	One Pratt&Whitney R-2800-18W engine
Thrust	2,350 HP		1,752 kW
Wingspan	41 ft		12.49 m
Length	33.2 ft		10.13 m
Height	14.8 ft		4.50 m
Wingarea	314 sq ft		29.17 sq m
Weight	empty	9,343 lb	4,238 kg
	max.	14,533 lb	6,592 kg
Max. speed	425 mph		684 km/h
Initial climb rate	4,800 ft/min		1,463 m/min
Armament	6x 12.7mm machine gun; 750 lt external tank and 2x 907 kg bombs or 8 rockets
Crew	One
Date deployed	1944
Number built	12,571 (all types)

Jirka Wagner