Wow the Corsair is Aging!

[Wildcard]

It's not old, it's just the water pressure.
So, ummm, does anybody notice anything different in the first pic?

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Really nice picture, Catherine.

DA, you left out the answer to the most asked question "Why were the wings shaped like that?" Answer: The inverted gull-wing was to get enough ground clearance because the prop was so huge.

Good point. When Vought designed the F4U, they used the most powerful aircraft engine then available - the Pratt and Whitney R-2800. The large engine required a large prop and it was felt that the longer landing gear required would be more fragile during carrier operations. Plus, the aerodynamic drag at the wing/fuselage juncture was lower than if the wings would have come out horizontally from the fuselage. So it got gull wings to accommodate the large prop and ended up being an exceptionally fast plane for it's time.

Grumman had the same problem with F6F Hellcat which used the same engine and prop, but dealt with it by moving to a low wing (compared to the F4F Wildcat's earlier mid-wing configuration) and using longer landing gear. It worked and the straight double tapered wing was much less elegant and refined than the Corsair's gull wing but was much easier and cheaper to produce.

The R-2800 itself represented a major technological advantage the US had over Japan. Japan entered the war with very lightweight and maneuverable designs that could attain excellent maneuverability, excellent climb, excellent range and acceptable speed with relatively modestly powered engines in the 900-1200 horse power class. However as the war progressed they were at an ever increasing disadvantage as the modestly powered designs could not accommodate the weight of the additional armour and armament that was needed to keep them competitive.

Since Japan lagged several years behind in the aircraft engine technology needed to provide the neccesary performance for newer and heavier designs, these newer designs did not enter service until mid to late 1944 and they were never produced in significant numbers due to material shortages due to the effect of US submarines on Japanses merchant shipping and bomb damage to Japanese factories.

So the engine on the front of the Corsair is by itself historically significant as it represented a substantial technological advantage at the time. In addition to the F4U and F6F, the R-2800 saw service in the P-47, A-26 and B-26. Postwar the R-2800 was used on a variety of airliners such as the DC-4, DC-4, Martin 404, and Convair 240, 340 and 440. This is also significant as while a fighter or bomber needs to provide high power over a relatively short life span (maybe a total of 50-100 combat hours), an airliner requires an engine that is both reliable and economical to maintain in service and the the R-2800 could provide both very well.

 

[DennisW]

The belief in aerodynamics before and during WWII was that a perpendicular juncture of the wing with the airframe was more efficient, therefor the Corsair had a gull shaped wing. The engineers were wrong, but it sure made for a pretty plane.

The father of my private pilot flight instructor was one of the designers of the R-2800 engine.

 

[airsix]

Catherine,
I'm sorry we took your art and digressed into a discussion of aviation engineering and history. We can't help it. We try, but... If it's any consolation, we think the art is amazing despite our fixation with odd things like 'wing loading', horsepower ratings, cylinder count, and all that. And...don't sweat the fighter/bomber thing. Any girl who's sat in a Corsair is cool. Any girl who's sat in a corsair on the bottom of the ocean is uber-cool (I'm pretty sure I saw a picture of you IN that plane).

-Ben M.

 

[justleesa]

It's not old, it's just the water pressure.

lol...I wonder where you read that :blush:

So, ummm, does anybody notice anything different in the first pic?

Different than what?...to me it looks like the propeller is bent forward more than it used to be

 

[Wildcard]

If you look close you notice the idiot on the right is diving with no mask.

 

[Walter]

Why would you call someone an idiot just because they are working on skills?

 

[Wildcard]

Skills at 117 feet? Naa, I thinbk he was just being stupid.
Wait! Thats me, LOL.....
I was posing at the time for another pic. I found it amusing.

 

[justleesa]

Thought you were going to say that...lol

 

[Wildcard]

Whats funny is that pic came out better than the one I was posing for. Im working on Ks camera skills but it's a lot like the blind leading the blind.