F4U Corsair

The F4U Corsair is an American carrier-based fighter and fighter-bomber, designed by Chance Vought, first flown in May 1940 and formally entering service in December 1942, with wartime production later also carried out under license by Goodyear and Brewster. Distinguished by its inverted gull-wing design, adopted to keep the propeller clear of the ground while allowing shorter landing gear, the Corsair was powered by the same powerful Double Wasp engine used in the Grumman F6F Hellcat and carried six .50 caliber machine guns along with up to 4,000 pounds of bombs or rockets. Early difficulties landing the Corsair safely on aircraft carriers meant most early Corsairs served with United States Marine Corps squadrons flying from land bases rather than from carriers, and in this role and later in true carrier operations once landing problems were resolved, American pilots claimed a kill ratio against Japanese aircraft of roughly eleven to one, making the Corsair one of the most successful and feared American fighters of the Pacific war, employed heavily in both air combat and ground attack.