- Yes
- No
Hello! and welcome to my suggestion for the F4U Corsair in RAF service, this is the second suggestion in a 4 part series and this time I will talk about the Corsair Mk.II. Now if you have glanced at the british tree before you may think that this is already in game, however the RAF gave the Mk.II designation to two variants of the Corsair, the F4U-1A and F4U-1D, the Mk.II in game is currently based of the 1A variant so I would like to suggest the slightly improved F4U-1D variant that is not currently in game.
History
Spoiler
As I mentioned in the Mk.I Suggestion, the FAA was in desperate need of a decent carrier borne fighter, the FAAs only purpose made designs were obsolete or not available in large enough numbers and to make matters worse, the Royal Navy was introducing new Escort carriers at a rate of knots (not a pun) meaning the only option was to use Foreign designed aircraft.
The FAA had first received the F4U-1 variant in mid 1943 being supplied 95 units of the type, however it was not cleared for carrier operations as it lacked the Visibility for carrier operations, and in the Royal Navy’s case, its wings were too wide to fit in the smaller carrier hangers. The Americans solved the first issue with the F4U-1A by replacing the Birdcage canopy with a bulged one similar to the Malcolm hoods the British fitted to their mustangs and thunderbolts, this in use with a curved approach pattern allowed the corsairs to finally be what they were designed for, a Carrier based fighter.
For the Royal Navy, the wing issue still persisted, and with them being delivered 510 of these improved Corsairs a solution was found, these corsairs had their wings clipped by 8 inches in order to allow them the clear the deckhead with the wings folded, this modification also improved the sink rate, reducing the Corsairs tendency to float when on approach to landing.
out of the 510 Corsair Mk.IIs delivered to the FAA, the last 150 units were delivered as F4U-1D equivalent, however these were not named differently, hence I have taken the liberty to call them the Corsair Mk.II (Late). All corsair variant equipped 18 carrier based squadrons, with 8 serving in combat and claiming 47.5 kills, however at the end of the war, due to the lend lease agreement the Corsairs had to be returned to the US, this lead to them being pushed overboard into the sea in Moreton Bay off the coast of Australia.
Images
Spoiler
Several different variants of British Corsair, including at least 1 Mk.II in formation
A Corsair Mk.II in flight over the pacific in either 1944 or 1945
Corsair Mk.II 545 with the engines running Preparing for takeoff
Several Corsair Mk.IIs onboard HMS Formidable, fitted with Drop tanks
Specifications/ Armament
Spoiler
General Characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Engine: Water Cooled 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 (2350 Rounds in total)
Bombs
- Up to 1000 lbs bomb underneath the fuselage
Rockets
- 8 x HVAR under the wings
Place in game
Spoiler
I feel this could come to game as a Tech tree alternative to the Premium Corsair Mk.II already in game, it would offer the UK a good multirole naval aircraft at 3.0 and would allow for a more diverse playstyle from the Turnfighting of the Hurricanes and Spitfires at that BR. I would suggest this variant could be Folded after the Corsair Mk.I variant, as the start of a new group of Carrier based fighters in the UK tree, something the tree lacks between 3.0 and 5.0
Sources