- Yes
- No
Hello! and welcome to the Third installment of my series of 4 suggestions on the Vought F4U Corsair in British service, this time I will be focusing on the infamous Brewster Built F3A-1 Corsairs, Known as the Corsair Mk.III In British Service.
History
Spoiler
The Corsair is one of the Most famous aircraft of WW2, around the same popularity and the P-51 Mustang, The Spitfire or the BF-109, and it has the performance to back up this fame, being armed with a fairly potent armament of 6 x 12.7mm machine guns, having participated in many famous battles throughout the war, and most importantly having its wings rip off at high speed… wait… that doesn’t seem right, does it?
For this variant yes, the Brewster built corsairs were infamous for their construction quality, delayed production and just overall bad performance, despite being the same aircraft on paper, the Brewster Corsairs were built with poor quality wing fittings, meaning in any sort of High G manoeuvre, something quite common in Dogfights, the wings had a tendency to, well to put it bluntly, Snap off, this lead to very few Brewster Corsairs reaching frontline service. Despite these issues 430 units, over half of the entire production, were given to the FAA under lend lease.
There were two main variants supplied to the FAA, the F3A-1 and the F3A-1D, with them being equivalent to the F4U-1A and F4U-1D respectively, the FAA versions were modified with the Shorter wings first introduced on the Mk.II variant, this allowed the corsairs to fit inside the Smaller Hangers of Royal Navy Aircraft Carriers, and allow for them to operate permanently from a Carrier instead of being stuck on the deck.
In FAA service most of these aircraft did not reach any front line squadrons, however a small quantity did make it through, serving mainly aboard escort carriers operating in the Atlantic where Fighters were far less common and thus the Corsairs design flaws were readily less apparent, However, these aircraft were not cleared for any suspended armament unlike other Corsairs due to the extra stress they put on the wings. As the war ended, all of the Corsairs were to be returned under the Stipulations of the Lend Lease agreement, but as the US had no need for more Aircraft following the End of the war, most British Corsairs were dumped overboard off the coast of Australia where they lie to this day.
Images
Spoiler
A Corsair Mk.III on the deck of the CVE HMS Shah
A Corsair Mk.III of 1846 sqn. after crashing in 1945, the damage to the wing is likely exaggerated by the poor wing fittings
A Corsair Mk.III From the rear, the Bubble canopy is and Inverted gull wings are clearly noticable
A Corsair Mk.III Photographed in 1944
A Corsair of No.718 Sqn in 1945
Specs/Armament
Spoiler
General Characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Engine: Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp R-2800-8 (2000 hp)
- Length: 33 ft 4 in (10.46m)
- Height: 16 ft 1 in (4.90m)
- Span: 41 ft (12.50m)
- Empty Weight: 8,892 lb (4,074 kg)
- Gross Weight: 12, 256 lb (5,815 kg)
- Internal Fuel: 237 US gal
Performance
- Max Speed: 390 mph (628 kph) at 17800 ft (5425m)
- Rate of Climb: 2,890 feet per minute
- Service Ceiling: 38,000 feet (11582m)
- Range: 1,015 miles (1,633 km)
Armament
Fuel tanks
- 2 x 62 US Gal. wing tanks
- 1 x 175 US Gal. drop tank
Guns
- 6 x 12.7mm Machine guns (400 rounds per gun)
Place in game
Spoiler
I feel this would be a strong contender for a Potential Event or Battle pass Corsair, as it is worse than even the Mk.I variant due to its tendency to rip its wings and its lack of suspended armament, it would provide a Uniquely worse Corsair, at a slightly lower BR giving it the Power of the F4U-1A but on an airframe that would break under high amounts of stress.
In terms of BR it would most likely sit at either 2.3 or 2.7 given that it is essentially worse than the Corsair Mk.I however whether or not that is enough to move it down is Gaijins choice.
Sources