![]() Corsair squadrons operating from US flight decks would prove to be critical in combating the Japanese kamikaze threat. It was the Royal Navy who finally figured out the Corsairs landing issues with carriers, and in late 1944, the plane finally started operating from American aircraft carriers. While the Corsair was finding its way as a land-based fighter in the Pacific with the Marines, the plane was also flying with the Royal Navy and Royal New Zealand Air Force. Under the command of Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, VMF-214 shot down or destroyed 203 Japanese planes from August 1943 to January 1944. Probably the most famous US Marine Squadron to fly the Corsair was Marine Fighting Squadron 214, better known as the “Black Sheep”. Beginning in February 1943 in the skies over Guadalcanal and the Solomons, the Corsair quickly established itself as not just a deadly fighter in air to air combat, but also as a powerful fighter-bomber armed with 2000-pound bombs, rockets, and later, napalm. ![]() Instead of carrier duty being a lost opportunity, land-based duty was a match made in heaven. While initially designed as a carrier aircraft, problems with landings forced the Corsair to land-based duty with the US Marine Corps. Over 12,000 Corsairs were produced for the United States and her allies. The Corsair compiled an 11:1 kill ratio during World War II. It was not just fast, but also incredibly deadly, armed with six. Powered by a Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp 18-cylinder engine producing over 2000 horsepower, the Corsair could not only fly faster than 400 miles per hour, she was the first US single engine fighter to do so. However, some aircraft stand out from the pack and the F4U Corsair is one of those planes. There is something amazing about hearing a radial engine screaming down out of the sky and pulling up at the last possible second. ![]() Aircraft from the World War II era, more often than not, grab the imagination and attention of people more so than today’s aircraft. ![]()
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