Explore the Iconic Vought F4U Corsair: The Beloved Bent-Winged Bird

With The Iconic Vought F4U Corsair, Affectionately Referred To As The Bent-Wing Bird

In this article, we explore the Vought F4U Corsair, a carrier-based WWII-era fighter aircraft renowned for its distinctive appearance. Throughout its lifetime, this iconic aircraft underwent numerous upgrades and even participated in the Korean War. Let’s delve into the fascinating world of the Bent-Wing Bird.

The F4U’s Background

The inception of the F4U was very much like many other aircraft; the US Navy sought out a specification and invited various aircraft manufacturers to come up with designs. They wanted a single-engine fighter aircraft that would have a range of 1,000 miles and carried at least 4 guns.

Furthermore, as part of the specification, it had to have anti-aircraft bombs.

In the late ’30s, the thinking was that fighter aircraft would fly high above enemy bombers formations and drop these charges into them. This idea never really took off.

The XF4U-1 prototype was the very first aircraft to be designed around the Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine. This beast of an engine was the heart of the F4U.

With 2,800 cubic inches (46 liters) of displacement and 18 cylinders, this mammoth put out over 1,800 horsepower. The engine’s supercharger was a large 13 feet 4 inches (4.06 meters) propeller.

On October 1, 1940, the XF4U was the first single-engine US fighter to exceed 400 mph. Not only was she fast in a straight line but maintained speeds of up to 550 mph in a dive.

However, these impressive tests didn’t resolve issues with the aircraft’s control surfaces.

Despite the initial signs, the US Navy was so impressed with the performance that in 1941, they ordered Vought to start production of 584 F4U-1s, which were given the name ‘Corsair.’

Perhaps the most famous aspect of the F4U’s design is the bent or inverted gull-wing.

The wings of carrier-based aircraft were subjected to more stress compared to traditional land-based planes. To mitigate this, the Corsair’s designers integrated a bend into the wings to raise the engine and cockpit above the landing gear. Initially, the XF4U had extra struts to prop up the gull wings to prevent ground crew from striking them. This arrangement was quickly phased out.

To address the initial problems, the designers incorporated a bend into the wings to shorten the ground clearance. If they were too long, they couldn’t fit inside the wings.

Further refinements involved the bend or inverted gull wing being used to redirect the airflow, improving the performance of the propeller, thus increasing the aircraft’s speed.

A secondary benefit was the gun’s placement outside of the propeller’s arc, reducing the risk of a gun propeller strike.

Moreover, the Corsair had to retract its landing gear backward to make room for the fully laden rockets.

Despite the initial challenges, the US Navy was so impressed with the performance of the aircraft that they awarded it to combat units. Over 64,000 sorties were flown throughout the war.

2,140 air combat victories for only 189 losses gave the Bent-Wing Bird a ratio of 11:1! Not only that, but 70% of all the bombs dropped by US fighter aircraft were carried by the Corsair.

During the Korean War, the F4U was used mostly as a close support aircraft. For this, the F4U-5 was used; a high-altitude version with a more powerful engine, using a single-stage supercharger. Despite this, Marine Captain Jesse Folmar was credited with shooting down a MiG-15 using the four 20 mm AN/M3 cannons on his Corsair.

This goes to show that the Vought F4U, in its many variants, was an extremely capable fighter aircraft that was highly favored by its pilots and loved by the US military for its incredible performance and versatility.