ot-F4U/F2G2 Vought Corsair

[249SVX]

I was wondering, why the Navy banish them from carriers at first?
And how does the rotary engine in a plane like that work?
Maybe one of the older gentleman can inform me.

[LarryIII]

The Navy banished them from carriers at first because they flunked their carrier landing tests.
Because of the wing design they had a high stall speed and had to be landed with the nose up at a high angle. This put the wing at a high angle of attack and blocked alot of the pilot's forward vision. When they were new, the pilots weren't used to them and many wiped out on landing.

As soon as the pilots became familiar with the Corsair's twitchyness, they were reinstated to carrier duty.

Check out rotary aircraft engines on the net. If I remember correctly they were manufactured by Lycoming (sp. pronounced Lye-Comb-Ing).

Larry (Now where did I park my Fuji Heavy Industries Zero)iii

[Mr. Pockets]

Originally posted by LarryIII
Larry (Now where did I park my Fuji Heavy Industries Zero)iii

HA! Funny how things turn out, isn't it?

In this week's Air & Space is an article about the few people in the country qualified and equipped to work on Allison, Merlin and Rolls Royce V12 aircraft engines. Air racers still use the WWII-era engines for racing. The rebuilders crank the boost and the suckers make up to 3,800hp.

And they last for 2-3 years of racing.

Cool...

[Mr. Pockets]

Originally posted by 249SVX
I was wondering, why the Navy banish them from carriers at first?
And how does the rotary engine in a plane like that work?
Maybe one of the older gentleman can inform me.

Any info I can find on the F4U suggests that the plane used a radial engine, which is not the same as what we call a rotary today. A radial uses pistons just like a V or inline or W or whatever, but they are arranged in a circle and point inwards.

[249SVX]

Thanks guys