The Vought F4U is perhaps
one of the most recognizable WWII Pacific fighters because of the gull
wing design. The gull wing design came from the necessity of having a
13 foot diameter propeller on the front of the airplane to take
advantage of the large engine's horsepower. Having gull wings led to
shorter landing gear struts. It was figured that longer landing gear
legs would make the landings on carriers more bouncy. Longer legs would
mean more weight as they would have to be strong to be able to handle
carrier landings. Despite this, early Corsairs were land based because
of the length of the nose coupled with the cockpit placement led to
very poor forward and downward visibility. The British were the ones to
come up with the approach to the carriers that led to their usage from
carriers by both Britain and the United States. This Corsair is an
F4U-1, and is the oldest Corsair still flying. It is based in Chino as
part of the Planes of Fame Museum.
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