Warbird Information Exchange

hello,

I have start the build of an F4U-4 Corsair with the following camo but i don't have find very good pictures of the plane:


Concerning the parts which are in fabric covered, do you know the material of the wing panel structure, metal or wood?

All of this information is to build the Trumpeter kit in 1/32 to have a realistic Corsair.

Thanks a lot for your help.
SPang

Hi there... the outer parts of the folding wing panels of the F4U-4 were fabric covered aft of the main spar. The wings became completely metal covered starting with the F4U-5, although I cannot say for sure that late -4 variants did not have the metal wings. The only wood bits I can think of (other than small pieces) would have been the ailerons. Later variants of the Corsair (late-4 on up) had metalite horizontal stabilizers, but the wood was internal, so wouldn't have been visible on the surface. The elevators, rudder, and outer wing flap sections of the F4U-4 corsair were fabric covered (as were all previous versions).

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Richard

Hi SPang,

This particular Corsair is owned by Kermit Weeks, and is on display at Fantasy of Flight in Florida. www.fantasyofflight.com. There is a photograph of this aircraft in one of the better known published Corsair books, I think it might be the one by Nick Veronico, showing a mixture of this paint scheme and a blue paint scheme. Its Bureau Number is 97286, and is one of the former Bob Bean aircraft.

Hi Richard, how are you? This -4 and the others I have worked on all have all metal flaps, even the outboard ones. I have not seen a fabric covered flap on a Corsair, but who knows....? Maybe Mr. Mears?

The only other wood I konw of would be the tire stops in the wheel wells.

Hello,

Thanks a lot for your help.

SPang

Hi Craig,
Good to hear from you again. I was wondering about when they stopped fabric covering the corsair outer wing panel flaps. I guess it must have started some time in the -4 program, or late in the -1D's. I have one from a -1A corsair with the fabric covering, so at least they made it that far into the production run. The 1944 parts manual for the -1D shows fabric covered outer-wing flaps too, but I can't remember if they listed an alternate style or not. Oh well. How are things going with your -4 by the way? I'd love to catch up some time.

Cheers,
Richard

Hi Richard,

Things are moving along on the -4. We have built the base and vertical supports for the cockpit fixture, and are fabricating the attach points for the firewall and aft bulkhead. The spar and center section fixture is 90% designed in SolidWorks, and should be completed by mid summer. What's new in your world? I saw that you took some nice photos here in Connecticut last year, I was there, but didn't get a chance to see you. I was pretty much stuck in the maintenance hangar the whole weekend.

Cheers,

Craig