As the time draws closer to the Welcome Home event, several different planes have agreed to come to the airport this year for the display. The Corsair will be on the field and in doing research on the plane, I can honestly say this plane has a lot more history than room allows to cover. I can only get the most relevant information in this article.
The F4U Corsair saw service primarily in WWII and the Korean War and was in great demand. The Corsair was designed and operated as a carrier-based aircraft and entered service in large numbers with the U.S. Navy in late 1944 and early 1945. It quickly became one of the most capable carrier-based fighter-bombers of World War II. The Corsair was built around Pratt & Whitney’s R-2800 Double Wasp engine, so called because of the double bank of nine cylinders designed to increase the power of the company’s famous Wasp engine.
The design team chose an especially large propeller that extended the length of the fuselage by several feet so the ends of the propeller blades would not reach the ground and also led to the airplane’s unique wings. The Corsair could reach a ground speed of 405 mph.
The Navy rejected the Corsair because of visibility problems landing on a carrier without a redesign. The long nose and being difficult to handle earned the Corsair the name Ensign Eliminator as it took an experienced pilot to be able to handle it. The Marines took the plane to Southwest Pacific and were able to use it against Japanese bombers in air to air combat.
The Corsair had several famous squadrons that flew them. The television show "Black Sheep Squadron" was based on one such squadron of flyers. Author and Hollywood producer Stephen J. Cannell depicted the men of VMF-214 as a drunken bunch of misfits in his 1970s television series, a depiction that did not set well with the aging veterans who had actually made up the unit.
While the Marines were making the reputation of the Corsair, the airplane had been designed to operate off carriers and had originally been intended for operations with the fleet. But for more than a year the Navy restricted its Corsairs to operations from land bases with Marine squadrons.
It fell to the British to prove that the huge fighter could be operated from ships. The Royal Navy purchased Corsairs for fleet use and it was Royal Navy pilots who finally came up with a method that allowed the long-nosed airplanes to land on carriers. Instead of lining up with the carrier deck while several thousand feet out in a normal landing procedure, the British pilots began flying a curving approach that allowed them to keep the landing signals officer in sight until the airplane was in the landing groove and it was just a simple matter of cutting power and letting the airplane touch the deck and engage the wires. Since the fighters would be halted by arresting gear and towed or pushed off the flight deck, taxiing was unnecessary.
The Corsair continued in military service with several contries throught he 1950s and 60s althought he Navy retired the type after the Korean War. The last combat use of the Corsairs was in 1969 during a conflict between El Salvador and Honduras. There are only 13 that are still being flown today.
Specifications of the Corsair: crew: one; length: 33 ft 8 in Wingspan: 41 ft.; height: 14 ft 9 in.; wing area: 314 sq ft.; empty weight: 9,205 pounds; max takeoff weight: 14,533 pounds; maximum speed: 446 mph; cruise speed: 215 mph; range: 1,005 mile; combat range: 328mile; service ceiling: 41,500 ft.; rate of climb: 4,360 ft/min.
Armament: Guns consisted of six 0.50 in. M2 Browning machine guns, 400 rounds per gun or four 0.79 in. AN/M3 cannon, 231 rounds per gun; rockets: eight 5 in. high velocity aircraft rockets and/or bombs weighing 4,000 pounds.
Come out to Western Carolina Regional Airport during the Welcome Home event, which is sponsored by Ivie Funeral Home and hosted by American Legion Post 532, and see this spectacular airplane. It will be one of several on display. You will be able to see the inside and maybe watch it take off and do a flyover around the airport. There will be free food and lots of entertainment for you to enjoy. Make a day of it while helping celebrate our veterans.