I went to the unveiling of a restored F4U fighter today..they also had some other planes there...just thought I would share some of the gloriousness of good ol' USA engineering. Enjoy! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

pics of the planes and some of their parts, followed by an info sign for each...for those of you that don't know what they are already....I'm sure a lot of you know what these planes are.





This is just a replica...but cool all the same.








And the main attraction of the event.








This one is a half scale model that is actually flyable.
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p207/brandillio/F4Uhalfscale.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p207/brandillio/F4Usign.jpg[/img]

This guy is named Paul (can't remember his last name). He was a test pilot for a long time for Vought/Northrup Grumman. He flew the F4U in the Pacific in '44. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p207/brandillio/F4UPaul.jpg[/img]

And this is the plane my dad has been helping to restore. He is on the Vought Retiree restoration team. He was a lawyer for the company so about the most he does on the project is painting, and helping strecth the canvas exterior...nothing that has to do with the engineering aspect of the resto.
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p207/brandillio/V-173side.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p207/brandillio/V-173frontside.jpg[/img]

This is just one of the original restored props for the "flying pancake".
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p207/brandillio/V-173prop.jpg[/img]

And here is an original engine for it.
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p207/brandillio/V-173engine.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p207/brandillio/V-173sign.jpg[/img]

Some pretty amazing aircraft. I love the F4Us. They are absolutely beautiful planes!

awww. the Corsair. My Fav Plane of all time.

I have two Models on my desk and more away in boxes.

and you can bet that i have seen every episode of "Baa Baa Black Sheep" just to watch the Corsairs.

My Fav Corsair= FG-1D luv those british markings!


<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

I'm partial to Marine Corps Aviation <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Nice planes. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

Those Crusaders were nice planes. Last of the gunfighters. There's a reason for the 'nam kill ratio.

I always wondered why the Corsair was preferred over the bearcat.

And why was the Wildcat the F4F4, and the Corsair the F4U? Navy too dumb to add 4+1 (rhetorical question)?

I think forward lifting bodies are totally freakin' cool!

The resto F4U had Marines on one side and Navy on the other...the Marine had 25 kills, the Navy pilot only 16...it was used by both the Marines and the Navy.

I wish I had a video camera there...that old test pilot Paul had quite a few interesting stories. He had 11 confirmed kills IIRC, and had 8 crashes that don't include emergency landings...apparently he had quite a few landings in corn/hay/etc. fields doing test flights here in the DFW area.

It's really amazing how large jets (the F8U) actually are when you get up close to them...you would think them being so fast and agile that they would not be as big as they are.

I am not an aviation expert...are you talking about the flying pancake? I will be sure and post up pics and such when they have finished...but that could be a while.


Mine too. They are awesome looking!

First model airplane I build as a kid was a F8U. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />
My parents ranch in Florida was near the PineCastle Bombing range. It was great as a kid getting low level sub sonic bombing runs over your house <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" /> We had a big two story A-frame house with white shingles. The only visual aid for miles in a sea of green forest. They used our house as visual line up. I know this because my first flying unit was VMFA-134

I forgot to add thats my only claim to fame. I designed the Flying Gator patch, well me and my graphic designer girlfriend <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

My brother flew the carrier based F8 Crusader (the first plane in the above pics) on 168 combat missions over Vietnam..

The F8 drivers were one of the safest, most talented bunch of aviators in existence.. Their success in combat was the origin of the close in aerial combat training, that was portrayed in the movie Top Gun.

The F-8 was a gun ship with 4 20mm cannons, where as it's replacement, the heavier, less manuverable, F-4 had none, which proved to be a mistake..

A number of the pilots killed were during normal aircraft ops portion e.g. Herb Hunter on the plaque below, as opposed to the in-country combat environment. The F-8 was the first level flight supersonic, carrier launched aircraft. The early technology along with the short deck carriers of the era, could be unforgiving ...

On the 27 Charlie class carriers, you had to touchdown within a 20' wide by 60' long window on the deck for a successful carrier landing.. Ramp strikes on approach was the killer.



This link http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/f-8.htm has more interesting reading about the attributes of the F8 and F4.