SINGLE-ENGINED, SINGLE-SEATER, CARRIER-BORNE FIGHTER

HISTORY

In 1938 the US Navy issued an invitation to tender concerning a new high performance carrier based plane. The Vought design bureau, led by Rex Beisel came up with two different planes, the V-166A and the V-166B. The former was equipped with a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engine, while the latter was supposed to get a Pratt & Whitney WR-2800 Double Wasp engine, which was still a prototype. Two other projects from competing firms were also studied. Eventually the V-166B was selected, and on June 11th 1938 the Navy placed an order for the XF4U-1 prototype.

A full scale model was ready by February 1939 for aerodynamic tests. The famous inverted (or W) wing configuration allowed many problems to be solved, like a drag elimination, the simplification of the wing folding mecanism (necessary for carrier operations), the lowering of the landing gear position and finally allowed a perfect 90° angle for the wing-fuselage junction. All this eased the construction of production aircraft. The XF4U-1 prototype made its first flight on May 29th 1940 at Bridgeport (Connecticut) in the hands of Vought senior test pilot Lyman A. Bullar. The XF4U-1 was unfortunately lost on the 5th flight on February 11th 1940. Boone, the test pilot, was performing long distance trials, but the weather fouled up and he became low on gas, eventually he crash landed on a golf course.

The plane was quickly rebuilt, and beat the world speed record on October 1st 1940 with 405mph (651km/h). The XF4U-1 was initially armed with two 0.30 and two 0.50 machine guns in the wings. In October 1940 it was evaluated by Navy pilots at Anacostia, which found some errors and demanded several modifications (supressing the 0.30 guns and adding four 0.50 guns in the wings). In January 1941 dive tests were performed, and the planes speed limit was set at mach .73 (860km/h). After these satisfying tests, the Navy placed an order on April 2nd 1941 for 584 Vought VS-317 (F4U-1 Corsair) fitted with P & W R-2800-8B 2000hp engines, with the first deliveries planned for February 1942. The United States having entered WW 2 , this order was modified and Vought negociated with Brewster and Goodyear to subcontract the production of 755 F3A-1 (Brewster) between April 1943 and July 1944, and 4,006 FG-1 (Goodyear) from 1943 to 1945. Vought rolled out its first Corsair (BuAer 02153) on june 1942. Carrier landing tests were performed aboard USS Sangamon on September 25th 1942, and turned out to be disastrous. The US Marine Corps jumped on the occasion and adopted the fighter, which started to equip VMF-124 in December 1942.

Vought rolled out 2,803 F4U-1s and F4U-1As from 1942 to 1944. Brewster manufactured 735 F3A-1 (F4U-1)s and Goodyear 1,694 FG-1s and FG-1As. Most of Goodyear's planes were built without folding wings and a reinforced landing gear. At the end of 1942, 12 F4U-1s were modified as F4U-2s and received an AI radar.

The 1 551st F4U-1 was re-engined with a new R-2800-8W engine. In August 1943, two hundred F4U-1C were built; they had four 20mm canon instead of the six 0.50cal machine guns. The F4U-1D received underwing pylons and drop tanks and was delivered in April 1943. 1 875 of them were built by Vought, and 2 458 (FG-1D) by Goodyear. Many other versions were built but never made it to the production line (XF4U-3, XF4-U4, F4U-4B, F2G-1, F2G-2, F4U-4P, F4U-4E, F4U-4N…). The F4U-5 received a P&W R-2800-32WE and four 20mm canon; it made its first flight in December 1945 and 567 of it were built (F4U-5, F4U-5N, F4U-5NL and F4U-5P). Deliveries started in May 1947, and the planes operated alongside the AU-1 over Korea in 1950. The final version was the F4U-7 (P&W R-2800-18W/2 100hp), of which 94 were delivered to the French Aéronavale from July 1952 to January 1953.

The French Aéronavale did indeed need a powerful carrier-born plane for the Arromanches, Bois-Belleau and Lafayette aircraft carriers, faced with the Indochina conflict since 1945. A version , the F4U-7 (dubbed "For French Only"), was specially developped to fulfill this need. It was equiped with a powerfull P&W R-2800-18W 2100hp engine, and made its first flight on July 2nd 1952. The French Aéronautique Navale ordered a total of 94 planes, which were delivered between mid-1952 and January 1953. In October 1952, several French pilots were sent to NAS Oceana (Virginia) to be trained on the plane. 14.F squadron (CO-ed by LV Pierre Ménetttier) was the first squadron to receive the F4U-7 at Karouba air base in Tunisia. From January 1953 to April 1954, pilots trained with a combat cruise in Indochina in mind. These pilots arrived at Tourane (Annam) on April 17th 1954, but without their planes. On the next day, the USS Saïpan delivered 25 AU-1 Corsairs which until then flew for the USMC's VMA-211 over Korea. The planes were in a pitiful state, and 24 of them are immediately declared unserviceable. Two days later, after a tremendous effort from French and US technicians, 16 planes were on the flightline. On April 23rd, these planes took-off from Tourane and headed for Bach Mai (Tonkin).

Combat sorties started on the 25th . Despite sub-human efforts from Corsair pilots, the Dien Bien Phu strongpoint fell on May 7th . Yet 14.F squadron continued its attacks against railways, bridges…etc until the ceasefire on July 20th 1954. The AU-1's results after only 11 weeks is very impressive: 959 sorties (1 235 hours ), 700t of bombs dropped, 300 rokets launched, and 70 000 20mm rounds shot. Unfortunately, the squadron also lost two pilots and six AU-1s. Eventually 69 Corsairs were used by the Aéronautique Navale from 1954 to 1964.

F4U-7s went into service with 12.F, 14.F, 15.F and 17.F squadrons, which operated from aircraft carriers Arromanches and Lafayette, but also from Naval Air Stations Hyères and Bizerte (Tunisia). 12.F squadron fielded the Corsair from June 10th 1953 to August 8th 1963; 14.F used it from January 15th 1953 to October 1st 1964 ; 15.F squadron used the F4U-7 from October 1953 to February 1962. 10.S flight, attached to the CEPA (Aeronautical Practical Studies Commission), used several Corsairs, two of which were lost when the Fréjus-Malpasset dam broke. Finally, 57.S flight, a training unit based at NAS Khouribga(Marocco), used a few planes. In the mid 50's, the Aéronavale received five more AU-1s because of combat losses and attritions.

Corsairs flying with 12.F, 14.F and 17.F squadrons flew combat missions during the Algerian war, from the Télergma, Oran and Bizerte air bases and from the sole available carrier, the Bois-Belleau (February and March 1958), until the end of combat operations in 1961. They mainly flew CAS, attack, recce and helicopter escort missions. 15,000 hours were flown over Algeria.

In 1956, all 36 Corsairs from 14.F and 15.F squadrons embarked on the Arromanches and Lafayette aircraft-carriers and participated to Operation Mousquetaire, the attack of the Suez canal. The operation started on November 1st 1956, and two days later 20 F4U-7s (6 from the Arromanches and 12 from the Lafayette) attacked the Cairo airfield. Unfortunately, LV Antoine Lancrenon and his plane (BuAer 133711) disappeared during the battle. Furthermore, LV Claude Nève crashed during a carrier landing. He escaped alive, but his plane (BuAer 133728) was lost. SM Karmann also damaged his plane (propeller and landing gear) on landing.

Corsairs from 12.F and 17.F squadrons finally participate to the Bizerte crisis in Tunisia in 1961. No planes were lost, but three were hit by AAA. At the time the Clemenceau and Foch carriers were entering service, and new carrier aircraft had jet engines. Corsairs only had a few years left to live. 12.F squadron kept its planes until October 1st 1964, which were replaced by Vought F-8E Crusaders on March 1st 1965. 14.F squadron withdrew its Corsairs in October 1964 and replaced them with Crusaders too at the same time as 12.F squadron. 15.F and 17.F squadrons retired their planes in February and April 1962. They were replaced by Etendard IVMs in June 1962 and June 1964. The last French Corsair flew on September 28th 1964 at Cuers with a flyby of 16 planes.

Corsair squadrons color code (on the propeller's boss)

Flottille 12.F Flottille 14.F Flottille 15.F Flottille 17.F

SPECIFICATIONS AU-1	(US)	(FR)
LENGTH	34 ft 6 in	10.15 m
WINGSPAN	40 ft 11 in	12.27 m
HEIGHT	14 ft 9 in	4.22 m
WEIGHTS	9 835 lb (empty)/ 19 398 lb (full)	4 461 kg (empty)/ 8 798 kg (full)
MAX SPEED	238 mph	383 km/ h
MAX RANGE	484 miles	778 km
POWER	2 800 hp	2 087 kW

SPECIFICATIONS F4U-7	(US)	(FR)
LENGTH	33 ft 4 in	10.10 m
WINGSPAN	41 ft	12.5 m
HEIGHT	15 ft 7 in	4.18 m
WEIGHTS	9 835 lb (empty)/ 19 398 lb (full)	4 461 kg (empty)/ 8 798 kg (full)
MAX SPEED	440 mph	708 km/ h
MAX RANGE	1 120 miles	1 802 km
POWER	2 300 hp	1 715 kW

WEAPONS AND MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT

AU-1 : -Four 20 mm cannons (two per wing). -Ten 5 inches rockets or ten 100 lbs bombs or ten 250 lbs bombes ou four 500 lbs bombs. -Napalm tanks. F4U-7 : -Four 20 mm M3 T31 cannons(two per wing) avec 231 shots per weapon (200 in normal use). -Mk6 Mod 0 gyroscopic sights. -Bombs : Number Type Unitary weight ( lbs) Sights Observations 1 GP (General Purpose) 2 000 Mk6 Mod O fuselage Bomb-Launcher 3 AP (Armour Piercing) 1 600 Mk6 Mod O all Bomb-Launchers 3 AP.GP.DEM 1 000 Mk6 Mod O all BL 9 AP.GP.DEM 500 Mk6 Mod O all BL & 6 Rocket-Launchers 13 FRAG (FRAGmentation) 260 Mk6 Mod O all BL & 10 RL 13 GP 250 Mk6 Mod O all BL & 10 RL -Napalm tanks. -Rockets : Number Type Unitary weight (lbs) Sights 10 Scar 2' 25' 11.5 Mk6 Mod O 10 Scar 3' 5' 44 Mk6 Mod O 10 5' HVAR (High Velocity Airborne Rocket) 140 Mk6 Mod O 10 T.10 CR 65 Mk6 Mod O 114 68 mm SNEB 260 Mk6 Mod O -4 SS-11 N5210 air-to-ground missiles. -ANN.6.A camera. -SEPHOT type 20 aiming recorder.

ENGINE

AU-1 : A Pratt & Whitney R-2800-83W of 2,800 hp. F4U-7 : A Pratt & Whitney R-2800-43W of 2,300 hp.

More info

PHOTO GALLERY OF THE F4U-7/ AU-1 CORSAIR GO TO "LE CORSAIR DE LA ROYALE", A PARTNER WEB SITE ABOUT FRENCH CORSAIRs.

sources - acknowledgements :
"Le Chance-Vought F4U Corsair" de Mister Kit et JP de Cock Éditions Atlas - 1980
"Note-circulaire, fiche de caractéristiques du F4U-7 N°322 EMG/3 du 19 février 1958" via Jean-Pierre Dubois.