At the 2012 Atlantic Canada Airshow held at Summerside, Prince Edward Island, one of the greatest WWII fighter / bomber aircraft of all time was sitting on the tarmac and was actually going to liftoff and fly. I couldn't get there fast enough. I found it wearing Royal Navy markings, wings folded as they would have been on the immense aircraft carriers somewhere in the middle of the Pacific ocean.
This warbird was designed as a fighter and bomber. As a fighter, it proved to be more than a match for the Japanese Zero's and all other enemy aircraft. After WWII, it flew over Korea to face the MiG-15 jet fighter. The MiG was capable of reaching speeds over 650 mph, eclipsing the Corsair's top speed of 400mph, but in a turning fight, which was normally the case, the Corsair emerged victorious. At the time, the prop driven aircraft had pretty much reached it's zenith in terms of development while the jet aircraft was in in infancy. Still though, boggles the mind to think Corsairs were splashing MiGs!
The raw power needed to propel this monster into the wild blue yonder with a ton and a half of explosive armament along for a one way ride was provided by the 18 cylinder Pratt and Whitney R-2800-8 Double Wasp radial engine. This engine produced 2,250 horsepower and sent the Corsair along at 417 mph at sea level. You can image the wonderful sound it makes at full throttle.
The wing root was angled downward then the wing itself was elevated upwards. Why was this complex design adopted? The great torque need to lift such heavy loads and to generate speeds of over 400 mph required a large prop. This one measured in at thirteen feet in diameter, meaning the Corsair needed exceedingly tall landing gear for the prop to clear the ground. The wings were bent down so that a set of short and stout landing gear struts could be used for the often violent carrier landings and for the prop disk to remain clear of the deck.
This Corsair is from the Vintage Wings of Canada collection in Gatineau, Quebec. It was originally a U.S. Navy Corsair number 92106, traded several times but not before it flew as WMF-214/WE for the popular mid-seventies television series "Blacksheep Squadron". Vintage Wings purchased it in June of 2008 and restored it to Royal Navy dress. I found a YouTube video taken at Summerside, see below.
This Corsair is from the Vintage Wings of Canada collection in Gatineau, Quebec. It was originally a U.S. Navy Corsair number 92106, traded several times but not before it flew as WMF-214/WE for the popular mid-seventies television series "Blacksheep Squadron". Vintage Wings purchased it in June of 2008 and restored it to Royal Navy dress. I found a YouTube video taken at Summerside, see below.
No comments:
Post a Comment