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Why does the F4U Corsair have so many designations?
Unto the Breach ^ | July 10, 2023 | Chris Carter

Posted on 07/10/2023 11:20:00 AM PDT by fugazi

The beautiful Chance-Vought Corsair is one of the most iconic planes of the second world war. But it has a lot of designations, and that can get confusing. There’s the F4U, the FG, the F2G, the F3A to name a few. The British flew the Corsair Mk I, II, III, and IV. There’s also an AU-1 Corsair, used by the Marines during the Korean War.

Let’s break it down.

Beginning in 1922 the Navy classified fighter aircraft as “F.” Each manufacturer was assigned a code letter, and Vought’s was “U.” So in 1927 Vought developed the FU biplane. 1929 was their second submission — the F2U. Then in 1933 there was the F3U. So when Vought’s Corsair first flew in 1940, it became the F4U.

Simple enough. So where does the “G” come from?

Demand for Corsairs was more than what Vought could produce so Goodyear Aircraft Company began producing them. Goodyear’s code was “G,” meaning their Corsairs would go by “FG” since there wasn’t a previous Goodyear-produced aircraft. Brewster also built Corsairs, and their letter was “A” (Boeing had the “B”). Since there already was an F2A Buffalo, Brewster’s Corsair became the F3A.

As World War II drew to a close, Goodyear installed a 3,000-horsepower Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp in one of their FG-1 Corsairs, creating the XF2G Super Corsair — “X” for experimental.

So before the convention changed in 1962, F4 could also refer to biplanes made by Curtiss and Boeing, the Grumman F4F Wildcat, Canadian Coach and Foundry’s F4W-1 Bearcat, the Douglas F4D Skyray, or McDonnell’s mighty F4H Phantom II of the Vietnam era. The Phantom became the F-4 once the U.S. Armed Forces services settled on a single designation system for aircraft in 1962.

The dash and number after

(Excerpt) Read more at untothebreach.net ...


TOPICS: History; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: aerospace; aviation; corsair; f4u; militaryhistory; ww2
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To: GingisK

21 posted on 07/10/2023 11:43:02 AM PDT by PLMerite ("They say that we were Cold Warriors. Yes, and a bloody good show, too." - Robert Conquest )
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To: GingisK
I was told by a few Korean war vets the Corsair saved a lot of lives..and killed a few also:

corsairf4-U4-Bkorea

22 posted on 07/10/2023 11:44:22 AM PDT by Karliner (Heb 4:12 Rom 8:28 Rev 3, "...This is the end of the beginning." Churchill)
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To: fugazi
The nose was so long because the engine drove a huge propeller. Elevating the prop is also why they gave the Corsair inverted gull wings.

Agreed, but another reason why the nose looks so long is because the cockpit was moved rearward so the main fuselage fuel tank could be installed directly over the center of gravity, lessening trim changes as fuel was consumed.


23 posted on 07/10/2023 11:49:44 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag really necessary? Pray for President Biden: Psalm 109:8)
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To: fugazi

Isn’t that the plane Pappy Boyington flew?????


24 posted on 07/10/2023 12:06:18 PM PDT by JBW1949 (I'm really PC.....Patriotically Correct)
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To: fugazi

Best looking prop plane ever.

Y’all do watch Black Sheep Squadron on H&I on Saturday nights, right?


25 posted on 07/10/2023 12:10:27 PM PDT by gidewey52 (Jerry (I shoot birds with a Nikon))
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To: fugazi; GingisK
 
 
Folk I know called them SpeedyD's - the only nickname I've ever heard for them. Pretty speedy when they were diving.
 
 

26 posted on 07/10/2023 12:25:21 PM PDT by lapsus calami (What's that stink? Code Pink ! ! And their buddy Murtha, too!)
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To: Yo-Yo

What’s that page from, Jane’s? I’ve got the 1945-46 reprint, but it doesn’t have the nice cutaway drawing.


27 posted on 07/10/2023 12:31:33 PM PDT by fugazi
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To: central_va

That’s because it was difficult to learn how to land the plane since on final, the pilot had to take the nose up enough to only see the landing strip from the side of the cockpit.

But once in combat, it was most definitely an enemy killer.


28 posted on 07/10/2023 12:35:35 PM PDT by Grimmy (equivocation is but the first step along the road to capitulation)
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To: Tucker39

I was in VMF(122) out of MCAS Beaufort. The squadron transitioned from F8U-2 to F8U-2NE. NE standing for Night Electronic. Beautiful plane; but radar was a big maintenance nightmare.


29 posted on 07/10/2023 12:47:32 PM PDT by NTHockey (My rules of engagement #1: Take no prisoners. And to the NSA trolls, FU)
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To: fugazi
What’s that page from, Jane’s? I’ve got the 1945-46 reprint, but it doesn’t have the nice cutaway drawing.

I have no idea. I just Googled "F4U Cutaway Drawing" and found one with decent detail.

30 posted on 07/10/2023 12:47:50 PM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag really necessary? Pray for President Biden: Psalm 109:8)
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To: fugazi
What’s that page from, Jane’s?

The website where I "borrowed" the cutaway drawing was this:

https://history.scale-model-aircraft.com/wwii-aviation/chance-vought-f4u-corsair

And that page lists as one of it's sources the book "Fighters 1939-45: Attack and Training Aircraft." The book's Amazon page:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0304363472/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0304363472&linkCode=as2&tag=scalmodeair01-20

Hope this helps.

31 posted on 07/10/2023 1:03:45 PM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag really necessary? Pray for President Biden: Psalm 109:8)
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To: PLMerite

Pappy and the Black Sheep?


32 posted on 07/10/2023 1:09:36 PM PDT by broken_clock (Go Trump! Still praying.)
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To: broken_clock

Yes. He is in front, third from the right.


33 posted on 07/10/2023 1:17:25 PM PDT by PLMerite ("They say that we were Cold Warriors. Yes, and a bloody good show, too." - Robert Conquest )
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To: PLMerite

34 posted on 07/10/2023 1:18:55 PM PDT by PLMerite ("They say that we were Cold Warriors. Yes, and a bloody good show, too." - Robert Conquest )
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To: PLMerite

That’s got to be Pappy with the white shoes in the front and the flattened nose.


35 posted on 07/10/2023 1:22:26 PM PDT by Sirius Lee (They intend to murder us. Prep if you want to live and live like you are prepping for eternal life)
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To: doorgunner69
I never appreciated why the long nose on the plane until I saw a good visualization of all the supercharger plumbing in there.

Yeah, that "butterfly" supercharger up front instead of the like the P-47s or P-38s that had the supercharger behind the pilot with the plumbing running back and forth from the engine up front.

36 posted on 07/10/2023 1:36:27 PM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: Sirius Lee
"That’s got to be Pappy with the white shoes in the front and the flattened nose."

Yeah, he was a scrapper:


37 posted on 07/10/2023 1:36:31 PM PDT by PLMerite ("They say that we were Cold Warriors. Yes, and a bloody good show, too." - Robert Conquest )
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To: fugazi
What’s that page from, Jane’s?

Duh @ me. The caption under the cutaway drawing at the source website says "image source: An Illustrated Anatomy Of the World's Fighters" and gives a link to the Amazon page for the booik:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0861011058/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0861011058&linkCode=as2&tag=fit02e-20&linkId=EVJITGW4EV3OKXVT

38 posted on 07/10/2023 1:52:18 PM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag really necessary? Pray for President Biden: Psalm 109:8)
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To: fugazi

The prop and gull wing fix are a separate issue. There is a huge amount of super charger systems behind the engine and the main fuel tank is in front of the pilot.


39 posted on 07/10/2023 3:57:30 PM PDT by doorgunner69 (Let's go Brandon)
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To: central_va

The F-8 “Crusader” was the Ensign killer!


40 posted on 07/10/2023 7:45:50 PM PDT by Taxman (SAVE AMERICA! VOTE REPUBLICAN IN 2023 AND 2024!)
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