F4U Corsair in Action, Squadron / Signal Publications

The F4U Corsair is among the most formidable U.S. fighters of World War II. The F4U maintained a kill ratio of 11:1 according to the United States Navy and went on to serve American forces in Korea, holding its own in the early years of the jet age.

The Corsair was first conceived as a high-speed, high-altitude fighter for the Navy in 1938 when Chance Vought's design team drew up plans for a fighter with a 1,800 h.p. engine and a huge 13-foot propeller. The Corsair's famous inverted gull wing design was introduced to allow prop clearance. Handling problems delayed the aircraft's deployment aboard carriers, but Marine Corps pilots quickly took to the powerful, rugged fighter and VMF-124, the first Marine squadron to fly the Corsair in combat, also produced the first Corsair air ace, Kenneth A. Walsh, by the summer of 1943. A total of 12,571 Corsairs were built between 1940 and 1952, most of them by Vought, but hundreds by Goodyear and Brewster as those companies' assembly lines had to be pressed into service to meet soaring demand for the remarkable aircraft.

Jim Sullivan's exhaustive volume surveys the history of the Corsair from its first prototype to the restored warbirds that have continued to delight air show audiences down to the present day.

Author: Jim Sullivan

Publisher: Squadron / Signal (2010)

ISBN: 9780897476232

Description: 64 pages, Paperback, 209 X 280 mm, 116 b/w & 53 colour age photos, 8 detail drawings,  12 colour side views accompanied by 12 enlarged details of each aircraft, full page 3-view drawing, 1 page of line drawings detailing the F4U evolution, aircraft specifications.

Condition: NEW COPY.

Shipping weight: 350 gr.