← F4U Corsair Chance Vought · Variant 1 of 7

Vought F4U-1 / F4U-1A Corsair (incl. Goodyear FG-1 and Brewster F3A-1)

The original bent-wing fighter — from the framed 'birdcage' canopy to the raised, bubble-style F4U-1A · First flight 1940 (XF4U-1) · In combat 1943

Vought's XF4U-1 first flew on 29 May 1940, and on 1 October 1940 it averaged 652 km/h between Stratford and Hartford, Connecticut. The Navy ordered 584 F4U-1s on 30 June 1941; the first production aircraft flew on 24 June 1942. To keep the huge propeller clear of the ground with a short undercarriage, the wing was given its distinctive inverted gull shape, and production aircraft carried six 12.7 mm guns behind a 2,000 hp R-2800-8 Double Wasp.

Early carrier trials exposed poor forward view and a tendency to bounce on landing, so the first Corsairs went to the Marines ashore. VMF-124 arrived at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal on 12 February 1943 and flew its first combat mission two days later. The 758 early F4U-1s had a heavily framed 'birdcage' canopy; the F4U-1A that followed (2,066 built) raised the seat and canopy and improved the undercarriage, making it the first truly carrier-capable Corsair.

Demand outstripped Vought's Stratford plant, so Goodyear built the type as the FG-1 (and the fixed-wing FG-1A for land bases) and Brewster as the F3A-1, with many licence-built aircraft going to Britain. Restored F4U-1A BuNo 17799 (NX83782) of the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California is one of the few early Corsairs still flying.