General info for F4U-1A

• Country Japan
• Vehicle role Naval Fighter
• Rank 2

• Battle rating in
  • arcade battles 2.7
  • realistic battles 2.7
  • simulator battles 3.3

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Wiki info about F4U-1A

Official War Thunder wiki

Vought F4U-1A Corsair single-engine carrier-based fighter (IJNAF) A single-seat, single-engine carrier-based fighter; an all-metal cantilever monoplane with a peculiar inverted gull wing. It was designed in the design bureau of Chance Vought for a single-seat carrier-based fighter competition announced by the USNAF. The V-166B prototype fighter made its first flight on May 26, 1940. In June 1942, the F4U fighter entered mass production. In the middle of 1943, the F4U-1A variant began full-scale production. While creating this variant, Chance Vought's experts introduced some changes into the aircraft's design which contributed to its success as a carrier-based fighter. The main landing gear shock absorbers' stroke was increased, and their stiffness was reduced. The pilot's cockpit was drastically redesigned; to improve forward and rear visibility, which was especially important when landing on an aircraft carrier, the pilot's cockpit canopy was made convex, and the pilot's seat was raised 17.8 cm. The designers solved the problem of the fighter's stalling at near-minimum speeds in quite a simple way: a stall strip, 152 mm long, was fitted on the right wing in the area of the machine gun ports. When the left wing began to stall, which was typical of the F4U-1, this strip initiated flow separation over the right wing, leveling the aircraft out. The F4U-1A's armament consisted of six large-calibre 12.7 mm Colt-Browning ANM2.5 machine guns, three on each wing. The Corsair fighters were quite dangerous opponents for the Japanese fighters, so the Imperial Japanese Navy's experts wanted to take a closer look at the new American machine. The Japanese managed to capture two Corsair fighters which had made forced landings. One of them was an F4U-1A, and the planes had apparently belonged to the US Marine Corps and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The Japanese successfully repaired one machine, using the second F4U as a source of spare parts and partially covering the damaged parts of the wing surfaces with canvas. This restored Corsair was flight-tested. After Japan surrendered, this machine was discovered by the Americans at the flying school airfield in Kasumigaura.