F4U (Family)
Contents
Development
Origin
In 1938 the Navy wanted to find a design for a carrier-based fighter with more performance than the Brewster F2A and Grumman F4F. The design contract was given to Vought, based on their proposal, which featured a plane dependent on the Pratt and Whitney R-2800 engine. The design included an inverted gull wing shape. This was necessary because the engine required a large propeller, which needed a large ground clearance. This would require very long landing gear, except the inverted gull wing shape allowed shorter landing gear, while maintaining the necessary ground clearance. The prototype, named XF4U-1 was armed with 4 machine guns, two .50 caliber machine guns in the wings and 2 .30 caliber machine guns on the engine cowling. The XF4U-1 first flew on May 29, 1940, and became the first single engine plane to fly over 400 mph. Before Vought was allowed to produce the plane though, they had to increase its armament, as it was deemed insufficient based on data from Europe. Its armament was changed to six .50 machine guns, and it was ordered into production. A self-sealing fuel tank in the fuselage above the wings caused the cockpit to be moved aft as well. The Navy ordered 584 F4U-1's on April 2, 1941.
In-Game Aircraft
Rank II - Aircraft
- Corsair F Mk II (Great Britain) (British variant of F4U-1A)
- F4U-1A
- F4U-1A (USMC)
- F4U-1A (Japan) (Japanese captured American aircraft)
