A Lamp and an F4U Corsair

[Weatherman2020]

Last weekend I got to meet a gal who coowns an electronics repair shop in Missouri. At the time she wanted to write a children's book about veterans. So in walks this old guy wearing a ballcap with a Corsair on it asking if she can fix his lamp.

You a vet she asks.
Yes m'am, US Marine aviator, I flew in WW2.

To make a long story short, he opened up to her after she explained about the children's book she was trying to start. They become friends, he shows her his keepsakes including his flight logs. She looks up the serial numbers of the planes he flew and bingo, Chino Air Museum in Calif has one of his planes. Since he is to fragile to fly now money is raised to fly his plane to him.

During all this, she reconnected him with his copilot, who in a rarity was his copilot the entire war. The photo of the planes are the two of them. The news segment is nominated for a Grammy.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Cool!

 

[Sunni Man]

The F4U Corsair's nickname was "Whistling Death". .....

 

[Weatherman2020]

The F4U Corsair's nickname was "Whistling Death". .....

Got to see his plane fly Saturday too.

 

[Syriusly]

I love the Corsair- but was the other guy his co-pilot? Or wingman?

The F4U was a single seat fighter- there might have been some two seater trainers- but i would guess you meant wingman.

 

[Weatherman2020]

I love the Corsair- but was the other guy his co-pilot? Or wingman?

The F4U was a single seat fighter- there might have been some two seater trainers- but i would guess you meant wingman.

Yeah, I meant wingman, thx

 

[ABikerSailor]

You know, the Corsair has always been one of my favorite planes. Loved them ever since the television show "Baa Baa Black Sheep" about Pappy Boyington's squadron.

 

[whitehall]

From what I understand the Corsair was intended as a carrier plane but the long nose prevented Navy pilots from seeing the deck and correctly judging their landings so the Navy turned them over to the land based Marines who used them effectively in several campaigns.

 

[Sunni Man]

From what I understand the Corsair was intended as a carrier plane but the long nose prevented Navy pilots from seeing the deck and correctly judging their landings so the Navy turned them over to the land based Marines who used them effectively in several campaigns.

Actually the very long propeller blades made the designers raise the front of the plane extra high. And to keep the landing gear from being too long because of the height. The famous look of the Corsair bend in the wings was incorporated into the plane's design.

Yes, initially the Corsair was very difficult to land on the deck of a carrier because of the blind spot straight ahead. It was the British, who also used the Corsair, that figured out the way to land the plane was not to attempt a straight approach towards the carrier. But to approach the ship at a 90 degree turning landing, which solved the landing blind problem.

After that, the Navy used Corsair's on several of their aircraft carriers throughout the war. .....