Vought F4U Corsair

The F4U Corsair was a low wing monoplane fighter developed by the Chance Vought Corporation in WWII.  Similar to other aircraft built at the time, due to the need to produce a large number of aircraft to meet wartime demands the F4U design was licensed out to both Brewster Aeronautical and Goodyear, designated the F3A and FG, respectively.  Per Reference [8] first flight for the Corsair was on 29 May 1940 wih the type entering service on 28 December 1942.  A total of 12,571 of all variants were produced.

The Corsair had a distinctive inverted gull wing and razorback profile, though a later post variant designated the F2G was developed configured with a bubble canopy, though only a very limited number were produced. In addition the main landing gear would be rotated 90 degrees to allow them to fit within covered wells in the wings when retracted.  The Corsair along with the Grumman F6F Hellcat would serve as the primary fighters of the US Navy and US Marine Corps during the second half of the war in the Pacific.  It would also serve with the UK and New Zealand during the war, as well as France, Honduras, El Salvador, and Argentina post WWII.

The primary variants analyzed at this website include:

• the F4U-1
• the F4U-1D
• the F4U-4

Per Reference [8] the F4U-1 was the initial production variant of ths Corsair family and had a Birdcage type framed canopy and a lower seating position than later variants.  This variant was also called the Corsair Mk I in Royal Navy service.  The F4U-1D was fitted with an upgraded engine with water injection, and also had a revised "blown" single piece canopy.  In Royal Navy service it was designated the Corsair Mk II.  The F4U-4 was the last variant to see active service during WWII.   It was fitted with a four bladed propeller and an improved engine capable of producing more power.  

As shown in the images below distinguishing features of this aircraft including;

• a large radial engine 
  
• a razorback configuration aft the cockpit
• a framed "birdcage" type canopy on the F4U-1
• a "blown" single piece canopy on the F4U-1D and F4U-4
  
• low mounted inverted gull folding wings
  
• main landing gear that rotated 90 degrees to retract into covered wells in the wings

[Image Sources: Public Domain via Ref [8] - as annotated by this site]

                                            [Source: Ref [14b] - US Government/Public Domain]

                      [Source: Ref [4] - Public Domain]

In order to try and better develop weight estimating relationships an effort has been made to estimate the length of the fuselage aft of the firewall, and the length of the engine section forward of the firewall based off scaled drawings.  Together these two distances add to a term called the "structural length" and do not consider any portion of the engine or propeller shaft the extend foward of the fuselage/cowling, or any empennage that extends aft of the fuselage structure.  The drawing below shows the current best estimate of these dimensions obtained from available drawings of the airplane and will be updated with any real world data that becomes available.  For any aircraft with an inclined firewall, an attempt has been made to locate an approximate center of this location.


                                                                Source References [4] [8] & [16]


                                                                Source Reference [4] [8] & [16]


                                                                Source Reference [2[ [4] [8] & [16]

In the above images, dimensions in Black come from the source material while dimesions in Red have been approximated from the data available.

The table below summarizes the current data collected on this type aircraft, identifying sources for the data

		F4U-1	F4U-1D	F4U-4	F4U-4	Secondary Sources	Notes
Primary Source		4	4	2	4
No of Crew		1	1	1	1
Engine:
Qty		1	1	1	1
Model		R-2800-8	R-2800-8W	R-2800-18W	R-2800-18W	5
Displacement	(cu in)	2800	2800	2800	2800	5
Power
Military	(HP)	2000	2000	2100	2100	5
War Emergency	(HP)	2250	2250
Normal	(HP)	1675	1675	1700	1700	5
Take Off	(HP)	2000	2000	2100	2100	5
Eng Dims
Length	(ft)	7.81	7.81	7.81	7.81	5
Width/Dia	(ft)	4.4	4.4	4.4	4.4	5
Height	(ft)
Base Engine Wt	(lb)	2560	2560	2560	2560	5
Propeller
# Blades		3	3	4	4
Dia	(ft)	13.33	13.08	13.33	13.17
Manufacturer
Type
Wing
Span	(ft)	40.98	40.98	41	40.98
Root Thickness	(%)	18.0%	18.0%	18.0%	18.0%
	(in)	18.9	18.9	18.8	18.9
Total Area	(sq ft)	314	314	314	314
Wing (less Ailerons & Flaps)	(sq ft)	259.5	259.5		259.5
Ailerons	(sq ft)	18.1	18.1		18.1
Flaps	(sq ft)	36.4	36.4		36.4
Tail Area	(sq ft)	79.9	79.9	79.9	79.9	3
V Tail Area	(sq ft)	22	22	22	22	3
Fin	(sq ft)	9	9		9
Rudder	(sq ft)	13	13		13
H Tail Area	(sq ft)	57.9	57.9	57.9	57.9	3
Stabilizer	(sq ft)	36	36		36
Elevator	(sq ft)	21.9	21.9		21.9
Total Control Surf Area	(sq ft)	89.4	89.4		89.4
Length
Overall	(ft)	33.34	33.34	33.25	33.69
Fuselage	(ft)				44.69
Body	(ft)	29.83	29.83	29.83	29.83
Body Depth	(ft)
Body Width	(ft)
Fuel Tank Volume	(gal)	178	237	234	250
Wing Tanks	(gal)				250
FuselageTanks	(gal)
Oil Tank Volume	(gal)	20	24.25	23.5	23.5
Water Injection Fluid Tank Volume	(gal)		10		13.5
Wetted Area (sqf)	(sq ft)			404
Pwr Ldng	(lb/HP)	5.57	5.67	5.83	5.91
Wing Ldng	(lb/sq ft)	35.49	36.12	39.01	39.51
Struct. Des. GW	(lb)			12036
Ultimate Load Factor	(G's)			11.25
Design Speed	(mph)			555
Not to Exceed Speed	(mph)
Total Struct Weight		4067.1	4141.7	4238	4232.3
Total Wing		2121.7	2144.9	2180	2185.5
Wing		1966.8	1969.7		1996.9
Ailerons		57.6	72.1		74.1
Flaps		97.3	103.1		114.5
Fuselage Carry-Through
Tail		164.2	172.6	175	179.8
H Tail		122.7	127.7	131	134.8
Stabilizer		67.6	67.2		78
Elevator		55.1	60.5		56.8
V Tail		41.5	44.9	44	45
Fin		13.9	13.9		13.6
Rudder		27.6	31		31.4
Body + Eng Section + LG
Body + LG				1840	1825.3
Body		1064.9	1080.3	1139	1121.2
Fuselage		757.5	772.1		761.5
Engine Section		307.4	308.2		359.7
Landing Gear		676.1	704.1	701	704.1
Mn Landing Gr		581.1	598.9	595	594.3
Tail/Nose Aux LG		95	105.2	106	109.8
Tail Hook		40.2	39.8	43	41.7
Booms
Nacelles
Total Propulsion Weight		3767.7	3747.7	4018	4024.9
Engine w/ Accessories		2738.1	2735.5	2825	2822.5
Engine(s) as Installed		2459.2	2476.5	2545	2537
Accessories		278.9	259	280	285.5
Turbocharger(s)
Controls		45.1	49.2	60	60.7
Propeller(s)		493.7	490.9	647	644.6
2-Blade
3-Blade		493.7	490.9
4-Blade				647	644.6
Starting System		60.8	39.6	40	29.7
Water Injection System			37	36	36.3
Tanks					14.2
Piping Etc					22.1
Cooling System
Lube System		143.2	128.6	163	175.8
Tanks		21.5	21.5		31.4
Piping Etc		121.7	107.1		144.4
Fuel System		286.8	266.9	247	255.3
Tanks		176.7	179.3		169.9
Piping Etc		110.1	87.6		85.4
Total Sys. & Eqpmt.		917.6	933.6	1016	984.6
Instruments		48.6	48.3	48	46.8
Surface Controls		139.9	140.6	118	117.8
Hydraulics		121.6	120.2	114	125
Electrical Equip		187.6	199.8	176	195.5
Electronics (Purple means incl in Furn/Gray in Useful Ld)				152	131.7
Arm Prov/Equipment & Armor		336	329.4	347	310.3
Furnishings		83.9	95.3	61	57.5
Anti-Ice (If not in Furn)
Other /Misc
Hoisting Gear
Floatation Gear
Armor Plate
Empty Wt		8752.4	8823	9272	9241.8
Basic Mission Useful Load		2390.2	2520.2	2978	3163
Crew		200	200	200	200
Equipment
Oil		90	90	139	120
Fuel		1068	1068	1404	1404
Fuel & Oil Trapped in Systems		88	111		154
Water Solution for Engine Injection			75		101
Bombs/Torp Etc		0
Radio (if Not Included in Empty Wt)		122.5	146.7
Nav Equipment		4.3	4.3		4.3
Oxygen System
Armament		767.2	768.7	1170	1130.2
Guns & Ammo		762.7	761.1	1170	1125.7
Guns				450
Ammo				720
Pyrotechnics		0	3.7
Camera		4.5	3.9		4.5
Other
Other Useful Load		50.2	56.5	65	49.5
Basic Mission GW		11142.6	11343.2	12250	12404.8

Notes: This website has been developed with a number of low cost or free programs including Hot Metal Pro, KompoZer, MicroSoft Designer and Da Button Factory.com

Rev 4-12-26

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