I have been an admirer of the Corsair all my life. My Dad flew it against the Japanese in the Pacific in WW2. He was with VMF-113 and until last year was one of the few surviving pilots of this incredible aircraft. I once told him that if I had the money I would find one and learn to fly it. His comment was "When you hit the lottery buy a jet--much simpler to fly". He flew the F-4 in Viet-Nam and the F9F in Korea! Over 400 combat missions over a 28 year career in the USMC.
Do you know Ed, one of the things I like about you and in particular about the series that you produce is that you present it in a manner that is that of the common man, easy to understand yet complex enough to inform and entertain.
Yes, and you don't overproduce or employ anachronistic or other irrelevant photos (how many of us are still purging images of Essex class carriers from memories of pre-1943 set war movies from our minds?), and you address many largely humble and forgotten aircraft that were nevertheless important at least locally, or even had lasting effects on future development and/or tactics far beyond their historical lives as it were. Thank you!
I did a double take at the photo of the Airship construction at 0:45 😮 Can you imagine working up those ladders?? I feel I've seen the photo before, but just never really took much notice. Another super interesting video Ed!
Workers were recruited from big city steel structure construction. Balls of steel required to climb, work, and descend from those crazy tall ladders. They would never pass OSHA regs these days. LOL !!
I got to see that Super Corsair fly at Oshkosh before it's tragic accident. Absolutely stunning performance. Came down the runway fast and went straight vertical. Never seen a WW2 plane climb like that before.
Thanks for sharing this. Back in the late 50's, my father served in the USMC as a mechanic for these planes (which were still in service with the Marines). I will share this video with him. He has a copy of one of the photos you have used here, sitting on his desk.
late 50's? As far as Im aware USMC tested them ultil 1949, making several modifications. In fact the most advanced F2G modified by the Navy was the one at 4:12 on which you can see late 47 markings because of the USAF insignia and this same plane is race 57 at 10:01, it is said that race 57 raced stock. Would like to hear what your father has to say about the modifications USMC did to the F2G, from longer carburetor scoop to maybe water injection and higher octane fuel?
As the M4 Sherman used aircraft engines you have to wonder what the Wasp Major would have done with it. June 6th 1944. Lands on the beach at Normandy. June 7th 1944 takes Berlin. They would have arrived sooner but the driver likes to get his seven hours sleep or he gets really cranky.
It was an absolute beast. It made a lot of power, but with 4 rows of air-cooled cylinders, It had some major cooling problems, and apparently had to have cylinders frequently replaced as they got fried. Still, it got a fair amount of use postwar until turboprops and jets took over.
I play war thunder alot with my friends and was seeing alot of F2Gs in our matches. This video has very serendipitous timing and was fantastically done
It should be noted that the British were using Corsairs on carriers before the Americans, and showed them how. It came down to poor vision, due to oil on the canopy and forward placement of the wings. . To deal with the oil, the British wired the flaps on the engine cowling in front of the canopy down on the F4U-1, this was rectified at the factory in the F4U-4. The awkard placement of the wings was dealt with by performing a shallow turn on approach instead of head on from the rear. Which turns out is a much better method, and is still done.
It must be said that the Brits were flying the much more difficult to land Spitfires with its narrow legs so flying the Corsair was "easier" to land in the way you described and with important improvements. A characteristic US Navy didn't like is that the Corsair's left wing could stall and drop rapidly often without warning during slow carrier landings. A dangerous issue if the throttle were suddenly advanced (for example, during an aborted landing) the left wing could stall and drop so quickly that the fighter could flip over with the rapid increase in power. These potentially lethal characteristics were later solved through the addition of a small, 6 in (150 mm)-long stall strip to the leading edge of the outer right wing, just outboard of the gun ports. This allowed the right wing to stall at the same time as the left. The other issue was the undercarriage oleo struts had bad rebound characteristics on landing, allowing the aircraft to bounce down the carrier deck and took ⏲ to solve, but eventually a "bleed valve" incorporated in the legs allowed the hydraulic pressure to be released gradually as the aircraft landed. The Corsair was not considered fit for carrier use until the wing stall problems and the deck bounce could be solved. Doesn't matter that the Brits and the Marines were happy and already flying for a long while....!
The constant turn carrier approach was around long before the Corsair. The Grumman F3F biplane also had poor vision forward and used that approach in the '30s. The big problem with the Corsair at first was the stiff suspension of the main gear struts caused them to bounce over the arresting gear. VF-17 figured it out fairly early on but at that point the Hellcat was in full production and having a single fighter type on all fleet carriers was logistically a good idea and the Hellcat was FAR cheaper than the Corsair so that's what the Navy picked. When the Kamikaze threat was introduced, more fighters, whatever the type, were needed and the Corsair went back aboard US carriers.
Some US Corsairs had white tape placed on top of the fuselage cowling to combat the oil problem too. You can see this on some period images, especially of Gregory Boyington's Corsair.
IIRC the RN FAA wanted to order Grumman Hellcats. The USN carrier force were getting them first. So the FAA chose Corsairs over their other option, the Wildcat/Martlet. At that point the FAA had to develop a method for landing Corsairs on their carriers. Which the USN later adopted from the FAA
In the late 1940s and early 1950s I lived about 5 miles north of Naval Air Station, Dallas. During that period Corsairs were the most commonly seen aircraft flying there.
Hey Ed, I can tell you Racer 57 still flying! The Waltons (owners of Wal-Mart) currently own her and she resides down to the airfield in Bentonville Arkansas, I used to work less than a mile from there. Caught it flying several times. I don't know if they raced her last year but im going to the Reno air races this year in September so hopefully I'll get to see her racing there!
Can confirm chunkblaster's statement. I live under the flight path for Bentonville's municipal airport and it does come out several times a year. I do get the pleasure of two Mustangs and a Griffon powered Spitfire as well. However, you know when the Super Corsair is up cause my house rattles when it cruises over. Amazing plane.
I saw Odegaard's blue Super Corsair in the Fargo air museum two weeks before the fatal crash. Beautiful plane he'd spent years restoring, it was only flight worthy for a short time until it crashed.
I'm a Navy brat and was raised on the Pacific War of WW2. I've always found the Corsair to be a fascinating aircraft. _"Whistling Death"_ at its finest.
As with the B-54, another variant I never knew about. I particularly like the examination of the conflicting evidence and records - very healthy in this age of 'I did my research, I watched TH-cam' ! Well done Ed.
I wasn't aware of this niche in history, so thank you! I love your discussion of the discrepancies in sources. It's so refreshing when someone actually looks at these things critically, the diametric opposite of certain 'less well lit' channels which go as far as reading a wiki page and clearly even then don't understand what they're saying.
True Story: a Corsair put a 1,000 pound bomb through the bow of Yamato during Operation Ten-Go in 1945. At that point in the war, Corsair pilots were very good with bombs and rockets.
Came here after hearing about the Biggest Production Propeller Engine made which the Badazz Super Corsair had as mentioned here. Thank you for posting and well done.
Great job , I just read William Greens Famous fighters of the second World War vol. one or two I forget but the point being that I believe the English language was spoken & written a little different back in 1959 when those books were published and that might explain the discrepancy over the total ordinance the F2G carried. Thanks , Mark Battista
The Bearcat is just so well put together, design-wise. So is the F2G Super Corsair. They look ready to fight and I would not want to be in their gunsights.
As a fan of the F4U Corsair, I'm familiar with the FG-2 and I've been lucky enough to see one or two at the Reno Air Races. I was born after the Corsair left naval service, but there's still a few around flying and many more in museums.
Many years ago I was lucky enough to see one fly at the Reno Air races. It was orange and white with three prop blades painted black with the last one white. You could track the blade as it did high speed passes. That was a hell-uv-a plane!!! Sounded like a pack of Harleys when it went past!! Photos on request.
For what its worth, the huge hanger in your pictures is where the USS Aron and USS Macon were built. It still exists in Akron Ohio and is one VERY impressive building. It was built to house 2 "Zeppelins" at once. Also of note, The Graf Zeppelin made a visit to it at one point. Since you cant drive up to it, about the only way to truly appreciate its size is if there is someone walking around outside. As for Corsair production, the "Airdock" was used only for blimp production and not Corsairs.
It should be worth mentioning that Goodyear worked alongside the zeppelin company in the 1920s and 1930s, it became the zeppelin Goodyear corporation and built uss Macon for example
Didn’t have a great career in the navy or marines, but did have a almost legendary career in racing, as a side note imagine changing all of those spark plugs,as each cylinder had 2 .
@@loddude5706 It actually moves pretty slow a few degrees until a valve opens. I’ve done it by myself. Worst part is going up and down ladders and stands. Hello from Bentonville.
The best videos on warbirds, bar none! Once upon a time I considered myself rather knowledgeable on the subject. Ed is taking me back to school! These videos are must watch no matter what I am doing!
10:51 wow, i've been to the museum of flight many times as a kid/teenager and was unaware that the corsair I was looking at was such a rare bird, will have to visit again after i get back from college
The last time I saw that plane ( three or four years ago) it was inside the restoration center in Everett. They moved it out of the Seattle museum to use the space for something else.
Ed, you're doing really good work here! Instead of me geeking back to you about specs, historical tidbits, etc. as my 'comment' I would like to indicate that I'm entertained & edumacated (as we say up here on the mountain) at a very enjoyable level (esp. because you employ a plethora of new - to me - unseen pics/vids as usual in your presentations!
Ed, VF-12 and VF-17 performed carrier qualifications in 1943 and were approved for carrier operations. VF-12 in April 1943, which is before any FAA squadrons had Corsairs, the first of which was June '43. VF-17 was to deploy in '43, but was pulled off its carrier in Dec '43 upon arrival in Pearl Harbor to keep the supply chain for carriers for Hellcats and for the Marines ashore (and also VF 17 after being pulled) for Corsairs.
I visited the Museum of Flight in Seattle in October of 2021 and the F2G is unfortunately no longer in that sunny location- according to the museum's website it is located in their restoration center / reserve collection, which is currently closed.
Whistling Death written by Vought test pilot Boone Guyton is a superb treatise on all marks of the Corsair. Admittedly I picked the book up while on holiday in America so quite how widely available it is I know not.
I didn't know about this Corsair's variant, pity that didn't entered in action, looking how widespread was the original model it could've been exported in the after war market as a CO-In fighter.
The main thing to remember about early US fighters of WWII is the F4F wildcat had an agonizing slow rate of climb. We had lost a aircraft carrier because by the time we had 2 F4F's to altitude the damage was done (Lexington or Hornet).. Don't think for a moment this did not effect aircraft design from then on.
My reading about the R-4360/Corsair install said that goodyear shipped two airframes to Pratt & Whitney's Hartford, Connecticut plant and P&W people made the cowlings, prop and throttle controls, etc themselves.
Those airship hangers are really incredible… I was stationed at NAS Lakehurst and they had converted one into a scale Carrier flight Deck, for training flight deck personal.. was the Corsair’s duralumin armor the same material pioneered by the German Zeppelin program ..?
The idea people have about the Super Corsair being proposed because of the Kamikaze threat can also be found in the Bearcat. Greg's channel had a nice video on that. Two of the US super props used or would have used the R-4360. The Corsair and the ultimate development of the P-47. The XP-73. I know P-47s were catapulted off of US carriers when being delivered at times in the Pacific. But I wonder if the P-47 was e er considered for naval service.
A good reference book for U.S. fighters I’ve found is “The American Fighter” by Enzo Angelucci with Peter Bowers, this book also lists the bomb load of the F2G-2 as 3,600lbs.
I live 20 minutes away from the Seattle based plane. Well worth the visit to see it, but more so to see the entire collection. A concorde? Yep. SR-71? Yep.
Wife and daughter "kidnapped" me and took me there for my 50th birthday. Being an airplane nerd and veteran, I loved it! Sat in the SR-71's cockpit. That alone was awesome!
All I have to say is wow what a beauty. This is the plane that should have rolled off the factory floor in late 1942. That bubble canopy gives it a whole new look and a much better streamlined appearance which I guess must translate into much less drag.
Not too sure about the drag. In most cases the aircraft with bubbles were slower due to loss of the streamlining effect of the raised turtledeck. Also the loss of fuselage side area played havoc with directional stability. The big benefit of the bubble was visibility. So much so that the changes required to make them work and the minor speed loss were considered worthwhile. Sure looks good though
Too nice video about good year F4 G corsair aircraft which participated in 2WW...against Japanese aircraft carriers thanks for sharing...First time I heard about ( Good year) aviation company in USA 🇺🇸
You should have commented on the effects the reduction of fuselage keel area, due to the adoption of the bubble canopy, affected the stability of this fighter. Also, I've often wondered as to the differences in 'bounce' between the USN wooden decks and the British decks. At any rate, the USN had two great fighters to choose from for their carriers (F6 and F4U) and the Corsair was a better interceptor and ground attack plane. It best served the Marines, and served them well. BTW, William Green's 'Famous Fighters of the Second World War", is one of my favorites, as is "Famous Bombers...etc." Bed stand book.
Thanks for sharing and with so many details. The Corsair was always one of my favorite fighter of WWII but I never knew of this "super Corsair". What an awesome machine.
After seeing the “Super Corsair” 57 owned by Cook Cleland, it brought to mind memories of 57 parked at the Cook Cleland Airport in Willoughby, Ohio in the late forties. It was parked there when he was recalled for the Korean War. The “Sohio” marking on the side was from a sponsor Standard Oil of Ohio. Aviation history buffs might be interested to know that Cleland had several PBYs that he intended to use for charter flights for sportsmen wanting to fly North from Ohio to Canada. Sixty miles across Lake Erie.
How about an episode on the venerable Armstrong Whitworth Whitley? I love the nose-down flying attitude and looks of the type....perhaps the Hampden as well?
Cripes Ed. That makes 2 planes l know ! The original Corsair was the first carrier aircraft to exceed 400 mph in level flight . And the Gull wings were deliberate for prop clearance from the flight deck . The Corsair initially had many carrier landing accidents and was relegated to terra firma. It was our Royal Navy who perfected deck landings and taught the Marines how to deck land . I have followed the RENO air races for a number of years and the only aircraft that can better it is our own Sea Fury !! Thanks Ed.
The prop clearance was not an issue. It had to clear the ground, period. The reason for the gull wing was a shorter more robust landing gear more suitable for carrier use. An unintentional benefit of the gull wing was that it exited the round fuselage at a right ( 90 degree ) angle thus vastly improving airflow at this critical junction without the need for massive fairings. Considering what the Brits were producing for carrier use, it's not hard to understand their desire to make the Corsair work. If the Ses Fury had been introduced earlier the Corsair would not have been pressed into service and we would never have benefited from the lessons the Brits learned. I thank them for that. As it is, to say that the Sea Fury was better is either pure speculation or British arrogance. ALL of the records are held by other aircraft. The Fury holds no absolute records that I am aware of. Don't get me wrong, it's a big thrill to see and hear one of them and they were definitely pretty. Just not all that and a jelly donut. If it had been introduced earlier it might br a different story, but for now I'll stand on the records and not a soapbox
The Corsair was an amazing fighter and looks like no other fighter of it's era. I knew an old Navy pilot who flew it in WW2 and Korea say it was the best, but that was an arguable statement.
Won't get any arguments here. F4u was the best looking fighter of its era. The F2g was pretty too from the leading edge back with Mr. Magoo's nose. Many will disagree with me and think BRITTISH is best. I think the record speaks for itself. The Brits needed the Corsair to replace the cobbled together junk their industry was creating that they had to figure out how to make it work. They did and we learned. The rest is history. Don't get me wrong, the Spit and Huricane were GREAT aircraft but their marinized counterparts were abysmal. And then the Fairey Swordfish ? The biggest problems with the F2g were maintenance and reliability. What killed it however was timing. It just wasn't needed. As to the Sea Fury, good looking with good performance stats. It was just too late to prove itself one way or the other. A lot of them are being raced now but the records all belong to other birds. Anything beyond that is either speculation or arrogance. Most of these have been reengined with Pratt or Wright and I am not aware of any of them racing with the original engines although many are still flying with Bristols. If they were to win or set records with original engines then that would be a fact. But anything else isn't anything more than an airframe. There are those who think differently and I say that's your right. I just look at the records. None of which are held by anything British.
@@PassportToPimlico F8F wasn’t even better than the F4U-4 or F4U-5. There’s a reason why the Navy retired the Bearcat before they did the Corsair. The Bearcat sacrificed a lot to achieve its performance, and even then its performance in many ways wasn’t as good as later variants of the Corsair or P-51.
Thanks ed great video the kiwi pilots aka new zealanders flew these with distinction during ww2 & helped out alot of our raaf pilots in new guinea!!!the airship reminds me of the ex wife!!!
One thing that wasnt mentioned, after the battle of Leyte Gulf and Japans carrier fleet lost, Japan's General's knew the war was inevitability lost, whereas the US thought that the supply of Japanese planes had dwindled due to the fact of raids on island airbases, carriers and less opposition in the air..They assumed Japan was down to about 2500 planes and figured that was generous. Boy where they wrong, Japan was preparing for a home island attack which thankfully never came, and to the astonishment of the Americans who went thru japans bases after the war, Japan had in fact 12,500 planes left, all where hidden to deceive the US, and Japan had been saving them to do a full on Kamikaze attack to the men, ships and landing craft if a home invasion took place. The Super Corsair and Bearcat would have been overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Thankfully that never happened.
At point 1.35 of the video you can see Oahu. Specifically fromlefft to right, Hanauma Bay, Koko Head Crater, Sandy Beach and Kaloko Beach in background!
I remember an article in Aircraft illustrated in the 1980s of modified Corsair with a 4000 HP engine that was being considered for the piston engined speed record. . I beleive the canopy was modified. From memory it looked like a bubble canopy, so was perhaps a Super Corsair. I don't think anything came of it though. I do remember that from the article, they said that everytime they started her up, a small crowd would gather.
Great info with one MISTAKE at 2:50, as “engine torque” is NOT corrected with rudder. P-factor and slipstream effect, yes. Torque no. Torque is a rolling issue and the rudder is a yaw device.
My great grandfather was a foreman for the Goodyear aircraft company during WW2 and oversaw production of Corsairs, I know that he'd continue climbing the ranks in Goodyear Tire after the war, but no clue whether or not he knew anything about the F2G, wish he was around so I could ask him though.
One note: The US NAVY initially rejected the Corsair for carrier use and the early models were "handed down" to the MARINES for land based operations. This was due to the lack of visibility afforded the carrier pilot due to the F4U's long nose. It took the British to devise an "elliptical" approach to the carrier which allowed the pilot to maintain visual contact until the round out and trap. An improved tailwheel assembly was also fitted.
I can recall in the early 1970s in Auckland New Zealand there were a few, (3 or 4 I think) F4 U Hulks in open storage in an industrial lot , left over from WW2. As I remember they were sold to an American for almost nothing , with the intention to restore to flight.
I worked for Goodyear tire and Rubber in Topeka Kansas from 2001 until i retired in 2021. I was amazed how few other employees had any idea that Goodyear was involved in aircraft manufacturing. The only thing that most of the employees knew about was the blimps. It seemed very odd to me that a brand new employee would know about this history and many of the old employees would not know about it.
Good informative video Ed. I have to wonder how this model would have screamed in an attack dive after listening to the video of a Corsair at a air show in New Zealand? Mark from Melbourne Australia
In my opinion this is by far the coolest fighter of WW2 I'm 28 and scared of flying but since I've discovered this plain and learned more about it I am desperate to fly for my 1st time however I want that flight in a Corsair before I die I will fly in that plane
Thank you for this video! I've been a fan of the Corsairs since I first saw them on TV in the show "Baa, Baa, Blacksheep. I've often wondered how the Super Corsairs would have performed in Korea.
I have visited the Museum Of Flight in Seattle several times, as I live in Portland, Oregon and am an aviation enthusiast. I wish all historic aircraft were on static display, as, you mentioned, there are those occasional crashes, fatal or not, that destroy these classic, and sometimes, irreplaceable aircraft. Just a few years ago, after years of restoration to flight worthiness, the last Northrop flying wing testbed was lost in a fatal crash. Such waste of both man and machine. Now, no one can see this airplane except as a pile of scraps. A hint from a guy that really likes his airplanes: Fix them up and leave them inside a museum for others to see and appreciate.
Were there any substantive differences between Vought and Goodyear Corsairs(or other Navy aircraft built by multiple manufacturers)? The US Navy system of aircraft designation never really made much sense to me(the F4F and the FM were both Wildcats, but the F4U was the Corsair), so I was wondering if the different designations for aircraft built by different companies alerted maintenance and supply units to differences, or was the Navy just being difficult?
I am aware that the Grumman Avenger dive/torpedo bomber had two different identification codes TBF for those made by Grumman and TBM for those produced at General Motors...I am sure there are other instances as well
I have been an admirer of the Corsair all my life. My Dad flew it against the Japanese in the Pacific in WW2. He was with VMF-113 and until last year was one of the few surviving pilots of this incredible aircraft. I once told him that if I had the money I would find one and learn to fly it. His comment was "When you hit the lottery buy a jet--much simpler to fly". He flew the F-4 in Viet-Nam and the F9F in Korea! Over 400 combat missions over a 28 year career in the USMC.
Do you know Ed, one of the things I like about you and in particular about the series that you produce is that you present it in a manner that is that of the common man, easy to understand yet complex enough to inform and entertain.
Thank you!
@@EdNashsMilitaryMatters Ed do you think they will be a war with russia .
Seconded.
Ere, mush,who you callin common?😉😆
Yes, and you don't overproduce or employ anachronistic or other irrelevant photos (how many of us are still purging images of Essex class carriers from memories of pre-1943 set war movies from our minds?), and you address many largely humble and forgotten aircraft that were nevertheless important at least locally, or even had lasting effects on future development and/or tactics far beyond their historical lives as it were. Thank you!
No frills, no gimmicks, no fancy intros, Ed gives us just what we want....... Bite sized nuggets of rare military aviation history.
I did a double take at the photo of the Airship construction at 0:45 😮 Can you imagine working up those ladders?? I feel I've seen the photo before, but just never really took much notice.
Another super interesting video Ed!
Imagine dropping a spanner off the top and having to climb allll the way down, then allll the way back up
Haha yeah I had a slight vertigo hit just looking at that part :)
Workers were recruited from big city steel structure construction. Balls of steel required to climb, work, and descend from those crazy tall ladders. They would never pass OSHA regs these days. LOL !!
@@imadrifter
Plus having to fix the crater in the floor. Or if it hits somebody. 💀💀
@@imadrifter Helmet use by floor crews skyrocketed.
I got to see that Super Corsair fly at Oshkosh before it's tragic accident. Absolutely stunning performance. Came down the runway fast and went straight vertical. Never seen a WW2 plane climb like that before.
The F8F Bearcat was able to do a square loop straight off the runway. (According to Eric Brown)
@@SlaktraxWith it's record setting and legendary climb rate, I'm not surprised.
My grandfather helped build Goodyear's rigid airships and my dad helped to build Corsairs during the war.
Go Akron?
Thanks for sharing this. Back in the late 50's, my father served in the USMC as a mechanic for these planes (which were still in service with the Marines). I will share this video with him. He has a copy of one of the photos you have used here, sitting on his desk.
late 50's? As far as Im aware USMC tested them ultil 1949, making several modifications. In fact the most advanced F2G modified by the Navy was the one at 4:12 on which you can see late 47 markings because of the USAF insignia and this same plane is race 57 at 10:01, it is said that race 57 raced stock.
Would like to hear what your father has to say about the modifications USMC did to the F2G, from longer carburetor scoop to maybe water injection and higher octane fuel?
@@Metrallaroja Maybe he was referring to the F4U-5s or AU-1's?
@@Nghilifa most likely yes, that would make sense
Maybe he was talking to himself one more time again.
I always have to "oof" whenever the Wasp Major comes up. That must be an absolute monster of an engine!
just look at the cowling its very long so yeah I agree
As the M4 Sherman used aircraft engines you have to wonder what the Wasp Major would have done with it. June 6th 1944. Lands on the beach at Normandy. June 7th 1944 takes Berlin. They would have arrived sooner but the driver likes to get his seven hours sleep or he gets really cranky.
It was an absolute beast. It made a lot of power, but with 4 rows of air-cooled cylinders, It had some major cooling problems, and apparently had to have cylinders frequently replaced as they got fried. Still, it got a fair amount of use postwar until turboprops and jets took over.
Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose had/has 8 of them.
I play war thunder alot with my friends and was seeing alot of F2Gs in our matches. This video has very serendipitous timing and was fantastically done
this thing is a beast to fight at 5.7, especially when your team spams JU288s
@@NOOBSLAYER-cw3gd 288s are all I ever see at that rank with a 109 here or there
It should be noted that the British were using Corsairs on carriers before the Americans, and showed them how. It came down to poor vision, due to oil on the canopy and forward placement of the wings. . To deal with the oil, the British wired the flaps on the engine cowling in front of the canopy down on the F4U-1, this was rectified at the factory in the F4U-4. The awkard placement of the wings was dealt with by performing a shallow turn on approach instead of head on from the rear. Which turns out is a much better method, and is still done.
It must be said that the Brits were flying the much more difficult to land Spitfires with its narrow legs so flying the Corsair was "easier" to land in the way you described and with important improvements. A characteristic US Navy didn't like is that the Corsair's left wing could stall and drop rapidly often without warning during slow carrier landings. A dangerous issue if the throttle were suddenly advanced (for example, during an aborted landing) the left wing could stall and drop so quickly that the fighter could flip over with the rapid increase in power. These potentially lethal characteristics were later solved through the addition of a small, 6 in (150 mm)-long stall strip to the leading edge of the outer right wing, just outboard of the gun ports. This allowed the right wing to stall at the same time as the left. The other issue was the undercarriage oleo struts had bad rebound characteristics on landing, allowing the aircraft to bounce down the carrier deck and took ⏲ to solve, but eventually a "bleed valve" incorporated in the legs allowed the hydraulic pressure to be released gradually as the aircraft landed. The Corsair was not considered fit for carrier use until the wing stall problems and the deck bounce could be solved. Doesn't matter that the Brits and the Marines were happy and already flying for a long while....!
The constant turn carrier approach was around long before the Corsair. The Grumman F3F biplane also had poor vision forward and used that approach in the '30s. The big problem with the Corsair at first was the stiff suspension of the main gear struts caused them to bounce over the arresting gear. VF-17 figured it out fairly early on but at that point the Hellcat was in full production and having a single fighter type on all fleet carriers was logistically a good idea and the Hellcat was FAR cheaper than the Corsair so that's what the Navy picked.
When the Kamikaze threat was introduced, more fighters, whatever the type, were needed and the Corsair went back aboard US carriers.
Some US Corsairs had white tape placed on top of the fuselage cowling to combat the oil problem too. You can see this on some period images, especially of Gregory Boyington's Corsair.
@@mattjacomos2795 yes, there are various photos showing the white tape on top to combat the leaky oil..
IIRC the RN FAA wanted to order Grumman Hellcats. The USN carrier force were getting them first. So the FAA chose Corsairs over their other option, the Wildcat/Martlet. At that point the FAA had to develop a method for landing Corsairs on their carriers. Which the USN later adopted from the FAA
Time for an early coffee break.
Excellent!
Lol, glad to oblige :D
Almost certainly a civil"servant "
@@andrewpease3688
I wish!
In the late 1940s and early 1950s I lived about 5 miles north of Naval Air Station, Dallas. During that period Corsairs were the most commonly seen aircraft flying there.
Hey Ed, I can tell you Racer 57 still flying! The Waltons (owners of Wal-Mart) currently own her and she resides down to the airfield in Bentonville Arkansas, I used to work less than a mile from there. Caught it flying several times. I don't know if they raced her last year but im going to the Reno air races this year in September so hopefully I'll get to see her racing there!
It would be supremely cool to see a Super Corsair race! (Which is not to say that the tricked-out Mustangs, Sea Furies and Rare Bear aren’t cool…)
Can confirm chunkblaster's statement. I live under the flight path for Bentonville's municipal airport and it does come out several times a year. I do get the pleasure of two Mustangs and a Griffon powered Spitfire as well. However, you know when the Super Corsair is up cause my house rattles when it cruises over. Amazing plane.
Last I heard, Larry Perkins was the pilot of the last flying super Corsair in Chandler Az. but that was a few years back. What a piece of history.
It now flies regularly at Bentonville AR. I’m the mechanic. She’s beautiful as ever.
I saw Odegaard's blue Super Corsair in the Fargo air museum two weeks before the fatal crash. Beautiful plane he'd spent years restoring, it was only flight worthy for a short time until it crashed.
I'm a Navy brat and was raised on the Pacific War of WW2. I've always found the Corsair to be a fascinating aircraft. _"Whistling Death"_ at its finest.
William Green and Gordon Swanborough were two of my favorite authors as a kid.
Ah someone who doesn't just go with the crowd but actually does their homework. Very nicely done sir. Thumbs up! Best Wishes & Blessings. Keith Noneya
As with the B-54, another variant I never knew about. I particularly like the examination of the conflicting evidence and records - very healthy in this age of 'I did my research, I watched TH-cam' ! Well done Ed.
Ed you said it best, the ”F-2G Super Corsair was a monster.
Great video.
I don't play props in WT but WT was the first thing that came to mind seeing the F2G in the title
This was my dad's first job, building Corsairs for Goodyear.. He later became director of the lighter than air program in the 80s.
I wasn't aware of this niche in history, so thank you! I love your discussion of the discrepancies in sources. It's so refreshing when someone actually looks at these things critically, the diametric opposite of certain 'less well lit' channels which go as far as reading a wiki page and clearly even then don't understand what they're saying.
Mr. Nash, I particularly appreciate the way to dig into sources and evaluate their accuracy using logic and crossreferencing.
Congrats on passing 50k!
Thanks! Have to get on with the 50k special :)
True Story: a Corsair put a 1,000 pound bomb through the bow of Yamato during Operation Ten-Go in 1945. At that point in the war, Corsair pilots were very good with bombs and rockets.
Came here after hearing about the Biggest Production Propeller Engine made which the Badazz Super Corsair had as mentioned here.
Thank you for posting and well done.
Great job , I just read William Greens Famous fighters of the second World War vol. one or two I forget but the point being that I believe the English language was spoken & written a little different back in 1959 when those books were published and that might explain the discrepancy over the total ordinance the F2G carried. Thanks , Mark Battista
The Bearcat is just so well put together, design-wise. So is the F2G Super Corsair. They look ready to fight and I would not want to be in their gunsights.
notices the nice shout out to William Green. Have most of his pocketbooks full of info and rare planes. Another good video!
Great little books.
I have old hardbound copies of his bomber books, very good book series.
The Corsair is my favorite piston driven fighter so thanks for this I didn't know much of this variat
As a fan of the F4U Corsair, I'm familiar with the FG-2 and I've been lucky enough to see one or two at the Reno Air Races. I was born after the Corsair left naval service, but there's still a few around flying and many more in museums.
As a kid I swooned over this plane I’m the dos flight sim “Fighter Duel” on my moms pentium 486. Awesome video!
Many years ago I was lucky enough to see one fly at the Reno Air races. It was orange and white with three prop blades painted black with the last one white. You could track the blade as it did high speed passes. That was a hell-uv-a plane!!! Sounded like a pack of Harleys when it went past!! Photos on request.
For what its worth, the huge hanger in your pictures is where the USS Aron and USS Macon were built. It still exists in Akron Ohio and is one VERY impressive building. It was built to house 2 "Zeppelins" at once. Also of note, The Graf Zeppelin made a visit to it at one point. Since you cant drive up to it, about the only way to truly appreciate its size is if there is someone walking around outside. As for Corsair production, the "Airdock" was used only for blimp production and not Corsairs.
I've flown into that airport a couple times. Indeed, it's a huge structure!
At Last, An Aircraft I know at least about! Keep it Going!
What has always impressed me about the Super Corsair was it's rate of climb. It was almost double the original Corsair.
Love the Corsair never heard of this variant. Excellent video, thanks.
watched most of your videos about aircraft in the first half of the 20th century..all excellent 👏 cheers 🍻
Cheers to you! :)
It should be worth mentioning that Goodyear worked alongside the zeppelin company in the 1920s and 1930s, it became the zeppelin Goodyear corporation and built uss Macon for example
Didn’t have a great career in the navy or marines, but did have a almost legendary career in racing, as a side note imagine changing all of those spark plugs,as each cylinder had 2 .
Leak-down tests must be fun . . . 'how many apprentices can you fling through the hangar roof on a good day'? : )
@@loddude5706 It actually moves pretty slow a few degrees until a valve opens. I’ve done it by myself. Worst part is going up and down ladders and stands. Hello from Bentonville.
56 plugs, spent quite a while changing them on a KC97.
The best videos on warbirds, bar none! Once upon a time I considered myself rather knowledgeable on the subject. Ed is taking me back to school! These videos are must watch no matter what I am doing!
Love all your subjects. They are things I am interested in, but would not research myself. Keep the good content coming !!!!!!!!!!
Excellent overview of this Corsair variant.
10:51
wow, i've been to the museum of flight many times as a kid/teenager and was unaware that the corsair I was looking at was such a rare bird, will have to visit again after i get back from college
The last time I saw that plane ( three or four years ago) it was inside the restoration center in Everett. They moved it out of the Seattle museum to use the space for something else.
Ed, you're doing really good work here! Instead of me geeking back to you about specs, historical tidbits, etc. as my 'comment' I would like to indicate that I'm entertained & edumacated (as we say up here on the mountain) at a very enjoyable level (esp. because you employ a plethora of new - to me - unseen pics/vids as usual in your presentations!
Ed, VF-12 and VF-17 performed carrier qualifications in 1943 and were approved for carrier operations. VF-12 in April 1943, which is before any FAA squadrons had Corsairs, the first of which was June '43. VF-17 was to deploy in '43, but was pulled off its carrier in Dec '43 upon arrival in Pearl Harbor to keep the supply chain for carriers for Hellcats and for the Marines ashore (and also VF 17 after being pulled) for Corsairs.
I visited the Museum of Flight in Seattle in October of 2021 and the F2G is unfortunately no longer in that sunny location- according to the museum's website it is located in their restoration center / reserve collection, which is currently closed.
:(
I've seen it there many times when we were working on the building.
Whistling Death written by Vought test pilot Boone Guyton is a superb treatise on all marks of the Corsair. Admittedly I picked the book up while on holiday in America so quite how widely available it is I know not.
I didn't know about this Corsair's variant, pity that didn't entered in action, looking how widespread was the original model it could've been exported in the after war market as a CO-In fighter.
The main thing to remember about early US fighters of WWII is the F4F wildcat had an agonizing slow rate of climb. We had lost a aircraft carrier because by the time we had 2 F4F's to altitude the damage was done (Lexington or Hornet).. Don't think for a moment this did not effect aircraft design from then on.
My reading about the R-4360/Corsair install said that goodyear shipped two airframes to Pratt & Whitney's Hartford, Connecticut plant and P&W people made the cowlings, prop and throttle controls, etc themselves.
Finally a video on this one.
Those airship hangers are really incredible… I was stationed at NAS Lakehurst and they had converted one into a scale Carrier flight Deck, for training flight deck personal.. was the Corsair’s duralumin armor the same material pioneered by the German Zeppelin program ..?
The idea people have about the Super Corsair being proposed because of the Kamikaze threat can also be found in the Bearcat. Greg's channel had a nice video on that.
Two of the US super props used or would have used the R-4360. The Corsair and the ultimate development of the P-47. The XP-73. I know P-47s were catapulted off of US carriers when being delivered at times in the Pacific. But I wonder if the P-47 was e er considered for naval service.
A good reference book for U.S. fighters I’ve found is “The American Fighter” by Enzo Angelucci with Peter Bowers, this book also lists the bomb load of the F2G-2 as 3,600lbs.
I live 20 minutes away from the Seattle based plane. Well worth the visit to see it, but more so to see the entire collection. A concorde? Yep. SR-71? Yep.
Wife and daughter "kidnapped" me and took me there for my 50th birthday. Being an airplane nerd and veteran, I loved it! Sat in the SR-71's cockpit. That alone was awesome!
Narrative and visuals well-synched. Good show! 👍
All I have to say is wow what a beauty. This is the plane that should have rolled off the factory floor in late 1942. That bubble canopy gives it a whole new look and a much better streamlined appearance which I guess must translate into much less drag.
Not too sure about the drag. In most cases the aircraft with bubbles were slower due to loss of the streamlining effect of the raised turtledeck. Also the loss of fuselage side area played havoc with directional stability. The big benefit of the bubble was visibility. So much so that the changes required to make them work and the minor speed loss were considered worthwhile. Sure looks good though
Great vid. Clearly spoken and good research
Great vid, thanks Ed! Goodyear also tried to combine it's inflatable products with aircraft. The Inflatoplane! Might be worth a vid?? Thanks again!
Yes, I'm thinking about doing the inflatoplane :)
amazing thanks for clearing up the myths
Brilliant video Ed. I thought I knew a bit but your videos always educate. I had no idea on this one.
Another winner Ed! Many thanx 👍👍😉
Too nice video about good year F4 G corsair aircraft which participated in 2WW...against Japanese aircraft carriers thanks for sharing...First time I heard about ( Good year) aviation company in USA 🇺🇸
Goodyear built Corsairs were FGs, not F4Gs
My best friend in high school had a grandfather who worked on this plane. He had models of them all over the place.
God what an absolutely sick aircraft. Great vid Ed.
You should have commented on the effects the reduction of fuselage keel area, due to the adoption of the bubble canopy, affected the stability of this fighter. Also, I've often wondered as to the differences in 'bounce' between the USN wooden decks and the British decks. At any rate, the USN had two great fighters to choose from for their carriers (F6 and F4U) and the Corsair was a better interceptor and ground attack plane. It best served the Marines, and served them well. BTW, William Green's 'Famous Fighters of the Second World War", is one of my favorites, as is "Famous Bombers...etc." Bed stand book.
If you have ever hit a railroad tie with a sledgehammer, you would not need to ask the question.
Thanks for sharing and with so many details.
The Corsair was always one of my favorite fighter of WWII but I never knew of this "super Corsair". What an awesome machine.
I'd love a video about the 1980s proposed propjet version of the Mustang.
I think he's already done a video about that
After seeing the “Super Corsair” 57 owned by Cook Cleland, it brought to mind memories of 57 parked at the Cook Cleland Airport in Willoughby, Ohio in the late forties. It was parked there when he was recalled for the Korean War. The “Sohio” marking on the side was from a sponsor Standard Oil of Ohio.
Aviation history buffs might be interested to know that Cleland had several PBYs that he intended to use for charter flights for sportsmen wanting to fly North from Ohio to Canada. Sixty miles across Lake Erie.
How about an episode on the venerable Armstrong Whitworth Whitley? I love the nose-down flying attitude and looks of the type....perhaps the Hampden as well?
Yet another amazing prop that never really got a chance due to the advent of the Jet Engine.
Cripes Ed. That makes 2 planes l know ! The original Corsair was the first carrier aircraft to exceed 400 mph in level flight . And the Gull wings were deliberate for prop clearance from the flight deck . The Corsair initially had many carrier landing accidents and was relegated to terra firma. It was our Royal Navy who perfected deck landings and taught the Marines how to deck land . I have followed the RENO air races for a number of years and the only aircraft that can better it is our own Sea Fury !! Thanks Ed.
The prop clearance was not an issue. It had to clear the ground, period. The reason for the gull wing was a shorter more robust landing gear more suitable for carrier use. An unintentional benefit of the gull wing was that it exited the round fuselage at a right ( 90 degree ) angle thus vastly improving airflow at this critical junction without the need for massive fairings. Considering what the Brits were producing for carrier use, it's not hard to understand their desire to make the Corsair work. If the Ses Fury had been introduced earlier the Corsair would not have been pressed into service and we would never have benefited from the lessons the Brits learned. I thank them for that. As it is, to say that the Sea Fury was better is either pure speculation or British arrogance. ALL of the records are held by other aircraft. The Fury holds no absolute records that I am aware of. Don't get me wrong, it's a big thrill to see and hear one of them and they were definitely pretty. Just not all that and a jelly donut. If it had been introduced earlier it might br a different story, but for now I'll stand on the records and not a soapbox
@@michaelmagill189 Thank you!
The Corsair was an amazing fighter and looks like no other fighter of it's era. I knew an old Navy pilot who flew it in WW2 and Korea say it was the best, but that was an arguable statement.
Best was PROBABLY the Sea Fury and/or the Bearcat. Had the war continued, the Sea Hornet would have been phenomenal too.
Won't get any arguments here. F4u was the best looking fighter of its era. The F2g was pretty too from the leading edge back with Mr. Magoo's nose. Many will disagree with me and think BRITTISH is best. I think the record speaks for itself. The Brits needed the Corsair to replace the cobbled together junk their industry was creating that they had to figure out how to make it work. They did and we learned. The rest is history. Don't get me wrong, the Spit and Huricane were GREAT aircraft but their marinized counterparts were abysmal. And then the Fairey Swordfish ? The biggest problems with the F2g were maintenance and reliability. What killed it however was timing. It just wasn't needed. As to the Sea Fury, good looking with good performance stats. It was just too late to prove itself one way or the other. A lot of them are being raced now but the records all belong to other birds. Anything beyond that is either speculation or arrogance. Most of these have been reengined with Pratt or Wright and I am not aware of any of them racing with the original engines although many are still flying with Bristols. If they were to win or set records with original engines then that would be a fact. But anything else isn't anything more than an airframe. There are those who think differently and I say that's your right. I just look at the records. None of which are held by anything British.
@@PassportToPimlico The Sea Fury was a post War aircraft. It is would have been a great fighter in 1945 but by the time it the FAA it was obsolete.
@@PassportToPimlico F8F wasn’t even better than the F4U-4 or F4U-5. There’s a reason why the Navy retired the Bearcat before they did the Corsair. The Bearcat sacrificed a lot to achieve its performance, and even then its performance in many ways wasn’t as good as later variants of the Corsair or P-51.
The Museum of Flight machine is in the restoration center at Paine Field, Everett, WA.
Thanks ed great video the kiwi pilots aka new zealanders flew these with distinction during ww2 & helped out alot of our raaf pilots in new guinea!!!the airship reminds me of the ex wife!!!
0:40 is an *actual* photo of the Hindenburg being constructed, due to budget cuts they had to use ladders mounted on carriages.
Damn smokes Bearcats! Wow! Massive fuel load and a great engine!
One thing that wasnt mentioned, after the battle of Leyte Gulf and Japans carrier fleet lost, Japan's General's knew the war was inevitability lost, whereas the US thought that the supply of Japanese planes had dwindled due to the fact of raids on island airbases, carriers and less opposition in the air..They assumed Japan was down to about 2500 planes and figured that was generous. Boy where they wrong, Japan was preparing for a home island attack which thankfully never came, and to the astonishment of the Americans who went thru japans bases after the war, Japan had in fact 12,500 planes left, all where hidden to deceive the US, and Japan had been saving them to do a full on Kamikaze attack to the men, ships and landing craft if a home invasion took place. The Super Corsair and Bearcat would have been overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Thankfully that never happened.
Most of those 12,500 planes had no fuel to fly.
Thanks to President Truman.
At point 1.35 of the video you can see Oahu. Specifically fromlefft to right, Hanauma Bay, Koko Head Crater, Sandy Beach and Kaloko Beach in background!
I remember an article in Aircraft illustrated in the 1980s of modified Corsair with a 4000 HP engine that was being considered for the piston engined speed record. . I beleive the canopy was modified. From memory it looked like a bubble canopy, so was perhaps a Super Corsair. I don't think anything came of it though. I do remember that from the article, they said that everytime they started her up, a small crowd would gather.
I never knew of the Super Corsair. A bit late for WW2, and of course less needed because of jets. Thanks!
An interesting footnote to the career of an amazing plane. Cheers!
Great info with one MISTAKE at 2:50, as “engine torque” is NOT corrected with rudder. P-factor and slipstream effect, yes. Torque no. Torque is a rolling issue and the rudder is a yaw device.
My great grandfather was a foreman for the Goodyear aircraft company during WW2 and oversaw production of Corsairs, I know that he'd continue climbing the ranks in Goodyear Tire after the war, but no clue whether or not he knew anything about the F2G, wish he was around so I could ask him though.
One note: The US NAVY initially rejected the Corsair for carrier use and the early models were "handed down" to the MARINES for land based operations. This was due to the lack of visibility afforded the carrier pilot due to the F4U's long nose. It took the British to devise an "elliptical" approach to the carrier which allowed the pilot to maintain visual contact until the round out and trap. An improved tailwheel assembly was also fitted.
I can recall in the early 1970s in Auckland New Zealand there were a few, (3 or 4 I think) F4 U Hulks in open storage in an industrial lot , left over from WW2. As I remember they were sold to an American for almost nothing , with the intention to restore to flight.
I worked for Goodyear tire and Rubber in Topeka Kansas from 2001 until i retired in 2021. I was amazed how few other employees had any idea that Goodyear was involved in aircraft manufacturing. The only thing that most of the employees knew about was the blimps. It seemed very odd to me that a brand new employee would know about this history and many of the old employees would not know about it.
Good informative video Ed. I have to wonder how this model would have screamed in an attack dive after listening to the video of a Corsair at a air show in New Zealand?
Mark from Melbourne Australia
This is the Corsair variant I like most! Wish I could fly in one of the survivors one day...
Super interesting, as always!
In my opinion this is by far the coolest fighter of WW2 I'm 28 and scared of flying but since I've discovered this plain and learned more about it I am desperate to fly for my 1st time however I want that flight in a Corsair before I die I will fly in that plane
I can never decide if the Corsair or P-38 are my favorite fighter of WWII. Both were beautiful, deadly, and just plain cool
Corsair less dangerous to their pilots...
Nice piece,and what a beast of an aircraft.Would have been good to sèe it in production,but alas,too late.Great job😎👍!
Thank you for this video! I've been a fan of the Corsairs since I first saw them on TV in the show "Baa, Baa, Blacksheep. I've often wondered how the Super Corsairs would have performed in Korea.
I love the Corsair, particularly the F4U-4B and the F4U-5!
Love playing them in war thunder
I have visited the Museum Of Flight in Seattle several times, as I live in Portland, Oregon and am an aviation enthusiast. I wish all historic aircraft were on static display, as, you mentioned, there are those occasional crashes, fatal or not, that destroy these classic, and sometimes, irreplaceable aircraft. Just a few years ago, after years of restoration to flight worthiness, the last Northrop flying wing testbed was lost in a fatal crash. Such waste of both man and machine. Now, no one can see this airplane except as a pile of scraps. A hint from a guy that really likes his airplanes: Fix them up and leave them inside a museum for others to see and appreciate.
Were there any substantive differences between Vought and Goodyear Corsairs(or other Navy aircraft built by multiple manufacturers)? The US Navy system of aircraft designation never really made much sense to me(the F4F and the FM were both Wildcats, but the F4U was the Corsair), so I was wondering if the different designations for aircraft built by different companies alerted maintenance and supply units to differences, or was the Navy just being difficult?
I am aware that the Grumman Avenger dive/torpedo bomber had two different identification codes TBF for those made by Grumman and TBM for those produced at General Motors...I am sure there are other instances as well
It was a good enuff system 4 the Japanese 2 copy it; I suspect deferent birds, by different builders, had some differences.
Hi, my suggestion for obscure aircraft is the Ki-51 for the Japanese Air force
Enjoyed the video and I gave it a Thumbs Up