F4U-4B
| This page is about the American naval fighter F4U-4B. For other variants, see F4U (Family). |
Contents
Description
The F4U-4B Corsair is a rank IV American naval fighter with a battle rating of 5.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.71 "New E.R.A.".
The F4U-4B is similar to the F4U-4 which precedes it, mainly in handling, but the main difference and the reason why it sits at a higher BR is the vastly more powerful armament of 4 x 20 mm AN/M3 cannons and an up-rated engine, giving it much more flexibility in its playstyle.
While it retains the standard Corsair traits of excellent performance in the horizontal, namely speed, energy retention, and instantaneous turn, its improved engine allows some fighting to be done in the vertical. This is to an extent of course and you don't want to try and out vertical a Griffon Spitfire or a Bf 109 K-4 unless you absolutely know what you're doing, but you can easily stall out planes like Fw 190 As which don't excel in the vertical. This is also aided by the flaps which are very good; the takeoff and landing flaps lower the stall speed immensely but rip easily above 250 km/h (155 mph) IAS, and the combat flaps boosting the turning significantly and can be used up to about 450 km/h (279 mph) IAS. Even without flaps, F4U-4B is an impressive turner despite its weight and can turn with many planes at high speeds (above ~500 km/h/~300 mph), at least enough to get a shot off. With flaps it can turn with a surprising number of planes at low speeds, although as before this is to an extent. Also, be wary of the rudder which rapidly loses effectiveness above 550 km/h (340 mph) and makes shots difficult against evading enemies, although this is alleviated a bit by the powerful armament and fairly good roll rate.
General info
Flight performance
| Characteristics | Max speed (km/h at 5,000 m) |
Max altitude (metres) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (metres/second) |
Take-off run (metres) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
| Stock | 662 | 634 | 11500 | 21.1 | 21.9 | 13.8 | 13.8 | 200 |
| Upgraded | 739 | 697 | 19.2 | 20.0 | 26.5 | 19.0 | ||
Details
| Features | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat flaps | Take-off flaps | Landing flaps | Air brakes | Arrestor gear |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | X | ✓ |
| Limits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wings (km/h) | Gear (km/h) | Flaps (km/h) | Max Static G | |||
| Combat | Take-off | Landing | + | - | ||
| 885 | 730 | 388 | 300 | 252 | ~11 | ~4 |
| Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
| < 450 | < 200 | < 500 | > 450 |
Survivability and armour
- 3 mm Steel - Upper cowling engine protection plates x 2
- 8 mm Steel - Pilot's seat back protection plate
- 12.7 mm Steel - Pilot's seat headrest
- 38 mm Bulletproof glass - Windshield
Modifications and economy
| Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armaments
Offensive armament
The F4U-4B is armed with:
- 4 x 20 mm M3 cannons, wing-mounted (246 rpg = 984 total)
The 4 x 20 mm cannons are excellent at inflicting damage and their high muzzle velocity allows for long range snipes. Even very short bursts can be lethal against aircraft. Belts with AP-T shells are quite good against ground targets, even the Air Targets belts can make short work of medium tanks in air battles.
Suspended armament
The F4U-4B can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 250 lb AN-M57 bombs | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| 500 lb AN-M64A1 bombs | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 bombs | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| HVAR rockets | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Maximum permissible loadout weight: 1,400 kg | |||||||||||
| Default weapon presets | |
|---|---|
| |
Usage in battles
The F4U-4B should be flown primarily at low altitude because its engine lacks power at higher altitudes. Here, it boasts an impressive climb rate (about 25 m/s when spaded), very good acceleration, and a high top speed. You should aim to be around 3-4km at the start of the battle and go after low enemies using boom and zoom tactics, then use your speed to outrun anyone who dives on you. You can then use your engine power and energy retention to gain an energy advantage over them and easily kill them. If you find yourself in a tough situation, don't be afraid to go a bit aggressive because this plane accelerates very well at low altitude and the extremely powerful guns makes it easy to secure kills quickly, but don't stall yourself out at the deck amidst a cloud of enemies since you'll be an easy kill.
In the right hands, the F4U-4B can also be a fearsome strike aircraft. In addition to a pair of 500 or 1,000 lb bombs that drop separately, the quadruple cannon armament is surprisingly potent against a variety of ground vehicles. Open-top vehicles and light tanks can be dispatched with ease, and at a steep enough angle (60-70 degrees) your M3 cannons can pierce through the roof armour of most late-war medium tanks. Heavier vehicles are tough to crack but can typically be immobilized and repeatedly set on fire by strafing the engine deck. The Corsair airframe's energy retention shines in this role, allowing you to dive and zoom climb several times before running low on altitude. Essentially, a determined and capable F4U-4B pilot can destroy nearly anything they see with cannons alone. The aircraft's large ammo reserve means you can hover over the map while picking out targets and disrupting the enemy for an extended period. Ground target belts will achieve maximum effect against ground vehicles, while still being more than adequate to menace hostile aircraft.
Specific enemies worth noting
This plane can easily dogfight with Fw 190 Ds/152s, Tempest Mk Vs, Sea Furies, and similar planes, can dogfight with difficulty with Bf 109s and similar, and should avoid dogfighting unless as an absolute last resort against Spitfires, Ki-84s, A7Ms, N1Ks, and similar. Fortunately, the F4U-4B is usually faster than most planes it can't dogfight. It's far faster than most Japanese and Italian props and all Spitfires up to the Mk 22 at low altitude. In an up-tier against superprops like Tempest IIs, Spitfire Mk 24s, and P-51Hs and F8Fs if you get a mixed battle, you have to rely on coming in with an advantage as with any other plane in an uptier, though this is made easier with the F4U-4B's excellent top speed.
The F4U-4B is devastating in the right hands, and is one of the best planes the US tech tree has to offer.
Counter-tactics
You're best off engaging the F4U-4B at higher altitudes where its performance suffers. You can also try bleeding their energy in hard vertical manoeuvres where it struggles, but be careful while doing this especially at low altitude since a potential opponent can still use the Corsair's stall characteristics combined with its engine power to get a shot off, which can be devastating no matter how short a burst.
Manual Engine Control
| MEC elements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixer | Pitch | Radiator | Supercharger | Turbocharger | ||
| Oil | Water | Type | ||||
| Not controllable | Controllable Auto control available |
Controllable Auto control available |
Controllable Not auto controlled |
Separate | Controllable 3 gears |
Not controllable |
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Excellent guns with high damage and high muzzle velocity allowing long range snipes
- Large ammo capacity
- Very good performance at low altitude, acceleration and climb rate are much better than previous corsairs
- Increased engine power below 2,000 m improves sustained turn performance; this plane can outmanoeuvre many German planes it faces, especially if manoeuvres begin at medium to high speed
- Extremely fast at low altitude, no Axis prop can outrun it at sea level (only Do 335 B-2 is as fast)
- Good roll rate at all speeds
- Fantastic stall characteristics, especially with flaps
- Very good instantaneous turn at high speeds
- Lenient stock grind
- Fully-featherable propeller and low stall speed make this plane a competent glider in emergencies
Cons:
- Does not turn well at lower speeds
- Rudder loses effectiveness at high speed, making it difficult to hit shots
- Rapidly loses performance at high altitude, should avoid engagements above 6,000 m if possible
- Still fast at higher altitudes, but German planes (e.g. Bf 109s, Fw 190 Ds, Ta 152s, and other similar aircraft) that are slower at low altitudes can outrun it at high altitude
- Flaps deploy very quickly, which can lead to them breaking if not careful
- Stock guns are inaccurate and easily jam
- Fuselage can burst into flames quite easily
History
The F4U-4B was a modification of the F4U-4. The F4U-4 was based on the F4U-1A Corsair. In order to improve and modernize the Corsair, so it would be able to fight the new Japanese planes in the Pacific, a number of changes were made. One of the major changes was the engine. The Pratt and Whitney R-2800-8W engine was replaced by the more powerful R-2800-18W engine. This -18W engine boosted the speed of the Corsair by up to 46.3 km/h (25 kn, 28.76 mph). When injected with an alcohol/water mixture, the performance could be boosted even further. In order for the propeller to be able to handle the more powerful engine, the propeller had to be changed from 3 blades to 4 blades. Modifications to the fuselage were required, including the addition of a scoop to the lower engine cowling. In addition, the cockpit was completely redesigned. The F4U-4 was armed with six .50 in machine guns, up to 4,000 lbs of bombs and/or eight 5 in rockets.
A variant was to be created for the British Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was called the F4U-4C, but none were delivered to the Fleet Air Arm, for whatever reason. The F4U-4C was then redesignated the F4U-4B. The only major difference between the F4U-4 and the F4U-4B was a change of primary armament. The -4B replaced the six .50 in machine guns with four 20 mm cannons. The F4U-4B was used by the US Navy and Marine Corps. Notably, they were used by VMF-214 (Marine Fighter Squadron 214) of the Marine Corps, nicknamed "Blacksheep". VMF-214 flew F4U-4B strikes off USS Sicily (CVE-118) between August and November 1950 during the Korean War.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
External links
References
- Bibliography
- "F4U-4B Vought Corsair", F4U Corsair - The Bent Wing Bird plane site, Retrieved on 28 March 2020.
- "Types of Plane F4U - Variants", F4U Corsair- The Bent Wing Bird plane site, Retrieved on 28 March 2020.
| Chance Vought Aircraft | |
|---|---|
| Fighters | |
| Corsair | F4U-1A · F4U-1A (USMC) · F4U-1C · F4U-1D · F4U-4 · F4U-4B · F4U-4B VMF-214 |
| Float planes | O3U-1 · OS2U-1 · OS2U-3 |
| Attackers | AU-1 |
| Bombers | SB2U-2 · SB2U-3 |
| Jet aircraft | |
| Corsair II | A-7D · A-7E · A-7K |
| Crusader | F8U-2 · F-8E |
| Export | V-156-B1 · V-156-F · ▄Corsair F Mk II · F4U-7 · ▄F-8E(FN) |
| Captured | ▅F4U-1A |
| USA fighters | |
|---|---|
| P-26 Peashooter | P-26A-33 · P-26A-34 · P-26A-34 M2 · P-26B-35 |
| P-36 Hawk | P-36A · Rasmussen's P-36A · P-36C · ○P-36C · P-36G |
| P-39 Airacobra | P-400 · P-39N-0 · P-39Q-5 |
| P-40 | P-40C · P-40E-1 · P-40E-1 TD · P-40F-10 |
| P-43 Lancer | P-43A-1 |
| P-47 Thunderbolt | P-47D-22-RE · P-47D-25 · P-47D-28 · P-47M-1-RE · ⋠P-47M-1-RE · P-47N-15 |
| P-51 Mustang | P-51 · P-51A (Thunder League) · P-51C-10 · P-51D-5 · P-51D-10 · P-51D-20-NA · P-51D-30 · P-51H-5-NA |
| P-63 Kingcobra | P-63A-5 · P-63A-10 · P-63C-5 · ␠Kingcobra |
| Prototypes | XP-55 |
| F2A Buffalo | F2A-1 · Thach's F2A-1 · F2A-3 |
| BF2C | BF2C-1 |
| F3F | F3F-2 · Galer's F3F-2 |
| F4F Wildcat | F4F-3 · F4F-4 |
| F4U Corsair | F4U-1A · F4U-1A (USMC) · F4U-1D · F4U-1C · F4U-4 · F4U-4B · F4U-4B VMF-214 · F2G-1 |
| F6F Hellcat | F6F-5 · F6F-5N |
| F8F Bearcat | F8F-1 · F8F-1B |
| Other countries | ▃Ki-43-II · ▃Ki-61-Ib · ▃A6M2 · ▃Bf 109 F-4 · ▃Fw 190 A-8 · ▃Spitfire LF Mk IXc |
