FSX/P3D v3,v4 – Vought Corsair F4U-5

FSX/P3D v3,v4 – Vought Corsair F4U-5. The Corsair entered service in 1942. Although designed as a carrier fighter, initial operation from carrier decks proved to be troublesome. In 1945, the attention of the military aviation community turned to the turbo-jet-powered aircraft. The U.S. Navy, however, had decided they would keep the Corsair as their first-line fighter until the jet had been satisfactorily developed for carrier operations. The F4U-5 housed a R-2800-32W engine, developing approximately 2,300 horsepower which was 200 horsepower more than the “C” engine used in the F4U-4. The engine also maintained greater power to a higher critical altitude than did its predecessor. Maximum speed was listed at 469 miles per hour at 26,800 feet, rate-of-climb was 3,780 feet/min at sea level.
Production began in 1946 with an order for 223. At that time, interest in night and all-weather fighters had grown to such an extent that the Navy ordered a large number of airplanes in the first group converted to night fighters (F4U-5N’s). This version is easily distinguished by its two-foot diameter radar dome in the leading edge of the right wing.
The Corsair served almost exclusively as a fighter-bomber throughout the Korean War and during the French colonial wars in Indochina and Algeria. In addition to its use by the U.S. and British, the Corsair was also used by the Royal New Zealand Air Force, French Naval Aviation, and other air forces until the 1960s.
From the first prototype delivery to the U.S. Navy in 1940, to final delivery in 1953 to the French, 12,571 F4U Corsairs were manufactured in 16 separate models. Its 1942–53 production run was the longest of any U.S. piston-engined fighter.

By A.F.Scrub

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