@ThePilotDude I like to think of the Corsair as an advanced fighter. The biggest US aces flew Corsairs. I think if you could survive long enough to learn how to really fly her, she was the most lethal navy fighter of the 1940's for sure.
@HistoricBirds @ThePilotDude While I am just messing with you, I do feel that way. The Corsair was a true monster of the skies. Anazing speed, agility and climb. Even good at ground attack. But she was also a moster to her own crews. Vought always sacrificed safety to make the fastest plane possible, qnd the pilots paid for it in blood. Simply gunning the throttle was enough to send a Corsair into a spin, combined with non-existant forward visibility and terrible low speed handling the Navy had to refuse her.
Then look at the Hellcat. She couldn't crack 400mph and was even sluggish in a turn at first. Slow, stubby, nobody ever says "My favorite is the Hellcat." But she was the backbone of the whole US Navy! More pilots became aces flying a Hellcat than any other plane in the war! Not Messerschmitts, not even P-51's, but the Hellcat. Why? Because she was tough to kill and easy to fly. Leroy Grumman was a Navy pilot, and he cared deeply about them. He invited top aviators to help him design the Hellcat. He had 200 pounds of armor protecting the pilot, and raised the cockpit up rediculously high to see over the nose. In short, Grumman designed the Hellcat to bring her pilots back alive.
Do not get me wrong, I love the Corsair but I'd rather live in a F6F than die in a F4U.
@ThePilotDude I like to think of the Corsair as an advanced fighter. The biggest US aces flew Corsairs. I think if you could survive long enough to learn how to really fly her, she was the most lethal navy fighter of the 1940's for sure.
@HistoricBirds @ThePilotDude While I am just messing with you, I do feel that way. The Corsair was a true monster of the skies. Anazing speed, agility and climb. Even good at ground attack. But she was also a moster to her own crews. Vought always sacrificed safety to make the fastest plane possible, qnd the pilots paid for it in blood. Simply gunning the throttle was enough to send a Corsair into a spin, combined with non-existant forward visibility and terrible low speed handling the Navy had to refuse her.
Then look at the Hellcat. She couldn't crack 400mph and was even sluggish in a turn at first. Slow, stubby, nobody ever says "My favorite is the Hellcat." But she was the backbone of the whole US Navy! More pilots became aces flying a Hellcat than any other plane in the war! Not Messerschmitts, not even P-51's, but the Hellcat. Why? Because she was tough to kill and easy to fly. Leroy Grumman was a Navy pilot, and he cared deeply about them. He invited top aviators to help him design the Hellcat. He had 200 pounds of armor protecting the pilot, and raised the cockpit up rediculously high to see over the nose. In short, Grumman designed the Hellcat to bring her pilots back alive.
Do not get me wrong, I love the Corsair but I'd rather live in a F6F than die in a F4U.
@ThePilotDude precisely!
@F104Deathtrap curse you!!!! :P
@ThePilotDude F6F > F4U
K