Designed with an inverted-gull wing to keep span and main landing gear lengths as short as possible, the F4U Corsair was planned as a carrierborne fighter but matured as a superlative ground-attack and close support fighter that saw service mainly in the Pacific theatre against the Japanese, where it did sterling service in the grim battle of attrition against the Japanese.

Wouldn't you know it, there the F4U resides at eye level right when you walk in the UHC, and for some inexplicable reason, I neglected to take a direct photo of it. Best I can do is a long-range shot above the cockpit of the MiG-15bis. The P-40 is to the right of the Corsair.

The type first flew in May 1940 and entered operational service in February 1943 in the land-based role as the type's carrierborne capabilities were initially thought suspect. Armed with bombs and rockets to supplement its fixed guns, the type remained in production until after World War II, but the main war-time variants were the F4U-1 (4399 aircraft in five subvariants), F4U-4 (2651 aircraft in five subvariants), 4006 Goodyear-built FG-1 aircraft in three subvariants, and 735 Brewster-built F3A-1 aircraft in three subvariants.

Country of origin: USA
Type: (F4U-4) single-seat carrierborne and land-based fighter and fighterbomber
Powerplant: one 2250hp (1678kW) Pratt & Whitney R-2800-18W Double Wasp 18-cylinder two-row radial engine
Performance: maximum speed 718km/h (446mph); initial climb rate 1180m (3870ft) per minute; service ceiling 12,650m (41,500ft); range 2511 km (1560 miles)
Weights: empty 4175kg (9205lb); maximum take-off 6149kg (1 3,555lb) as a fighter or 8845kg (19,500lb) as a fighter-bomber
Dimensions: span 12.49m (40ft 11.75in); length 10.27m (33ft 8.25in); height 4.50m (14ft 9in)
Armament: six 0.5in fixed forward-firing machine guns in the leading edges of the wing, plus an external bomb and rocket load of 907kg (2000lb)

Text from: Aircraft of WWII by Chris Chant (Fiedman/Fairfax, 1999, ISBN: 1-58663-303-1), a handy book with specs for 300 aircraft.

UHC Displays