Different Manufacturers of The Same Aircraft

[Cherrybomber13]

I can tell you that Goodyear and Brewster fittings do NOT always match up...

[AviaS199]

If you look at some of the internal structure on B-17s built by Boeing, Douglas, and Vega, the differences are readily apparent. I'll leave it to the experts to discuss which parts/sections are and are not interchangeable.

I'd like to read that discussion. Anyone?

For that matter, can the same be said about the Liberators built by Consolidated, Douglas, and Ford? Or the Thunderbolts built by Republic and Curtiss? Or .... ?

[DLSheley]

Curtiss only built 354 Thunderbolts so most units never saw one or had to worry about fitting parts from one to the other.

[JDK]

Since Brewster was labled by some people as " not up to standards" and was making the british corsair and Chance-Vought was and is the hub of the Corsair world, they had all they could handle.

*Choke* There's no argument that Brewster failed to achieve standards or targets. The only obscurity is a preference today to avoid accepting not every company's war effort was as good as it should have been. A read around various authoritative sources about Brewster shows the dark side of the US' otherwise magnificent drive to production. What's interesting is how public at the time the US government made Brewster's failings in print (available to Axis intelligence) and also how the fixes worked.

Back to topic, the Spitfire's cowls are often a hand-fit to one aircraft now, and I presume were during wartime.

The question's too general to give a definitive answer, but certainly major structural-cross-factory-fits were often not to modern expectations of standardisation, but in W.W.II varied from no compatibility to those factories with tight, mass-production manufacturing standards which were fine.

Regards,

[Steve Nelson]

Ford-build B-24s (including the "knock down kits" that Willow Run supplied to other plants) certainly had some differences from Consolidated-built Liberators, most noticeably the "Ford Nose," which was a few inches longer and had a much different lower contour. I've also heard that Ford made some changes to the design to make it more compatible with their production techniques. I don't know if it's true or not, but I've heard that Ford-build B-24s had much greater parts interchangeability between airframes than Consolidated machines. It makes a certain amount of sense. Prior to WWII, most US aircraft manufacturers had little experience with true mass production..a few dozen airframes was considered a big order, and there was still a lot of hand craftsmanship by experienced professionals involved. Once the war broke out, production had to be exponentially increased, and accomplished by largely unskilled labor..this was something that manufacturers of automobiles and other high-volume consumer goods were well versed in.

SN

[RMAllnutt]

there was many field modifications as well even after they left the factory. So you could of had a f4u-1 and they changed the canopy over later on and it looked like a f4u-1a.

Yes, there were many field mods on the Corsair, but you could not simply change the canopy on an F4U-1 and get and F4U-1A. There are a lot of significant structural differences between a -1 and -1A cockpit besides just the canopy. You just have to look at the turtle deck to realize that.

Cheers,
Richard

[RMAllnutt]

Well, let's see....Vought came up with the Corsair, Brewster and Goodyear built them also but Brewster came up with a bomb rack that made it into one of the most effective fighter/bombers of WWII, and OH YEAH, Goodyear stuck a WHOLE NEW ENGINE on the front of it and created one of the most powerful propellor driven fighters of all time, the F2G....I would call that a 'slight modification'.

Mark

Everything came from Vought first, then sub contracted to whoever they chose. Just like Jerry said, Vought came up with it then handed it over to Goodyear. Since Brewster was labled by some people as " not up to standards" and was making the british corsair and Chance-Vought was and is the hub of the Corsair world, they had all they could handle. So i'm guessing the only other choice was Goodyear. But to answer the real topic, all 3 corsair makers made the plane so close by design to one another that they were basically interchangeable in parts. Ground crews would be able to work on all 3 and not be confused in anyway. I think there was slight differences in the design of the cockpits. Only other thing i can think of is the british corsair had clipped wings. That's the only thing i can think of off hand. hope this helps

This is not true. The design came from Vought, but Brewster and Goodyear assembled their own aircraft on their own jigs. The major sub-assemblies were often made by other companies of course... even with the Vought aircraft. The parts are not always interchangeable, even though they were usually made from the same drawings. You have to remember they were all hand made, even the jigs, so there were inevitably differences (sometimes significant ones) between parts made on one production line to those of another.

All the best,
Richard

[whistlingdeath77]

thank you richard

[Rossco]

Back to topic, the Spitfire's cowls are often a hand-fit to one aircraft now, and I presume were during wartime.

Yes and for some reason the fastener holes are not symmetrical side to side either.

[RMAllnutt]

thank you richard

You're welcome Frank... I've learned a few things from this thread too!

Cheers,
Richard

[whistlingdeath77]

thank you richard

You're welcome Frank... I've learned a few things from this thread too!

Cheers,
Richard

I read inside Nicholas Veronico and john/donna campell's book, combat, development and racing history of the corsair that the USN wanted Chance-Vought and Brewster to " maintain a high degree of interchangeabilty." I just assumed that the 3 companies would be able to swap parts in and out. But it's good that we have this website, to learn what we don't know! Another thing i really don't know about is without knowing the planes number, how would you be able to tell what company built that certain corsair? I mean, just looking at it from the ground. Is there a difference that i'm missing thats visible? Say, a F4U-1D and a FG-1D.

[michaelharadon]

I've really enjoyed reading all the posts, as I gather many of my fellow WIXers have, too. Many thanks for all who have contributed, and may the posts continue!

A follow up question might be, why were there differences between manufacturers, provided that they all used the same blue prints, or did they?

[Tiger Tim]

A follow up question might be, why were there differences between manufacturers, provided that they all used the same blue prints, or did they?

Pobody's nerfect. I'm not sure what the tolerances were but if one factory had a bolt hole all the way to one side of a tolerance and another factory was all the way to the other side, those parts likely won't be compatible.

-Tim

[whistlingdeath77]

very interesting. As far as i've read, the corsair models had the same specifications. As to how each plane was put together or what methods they used i'm not sure. I'd like to know though

[michaelharadon]

Pobody's nerfect.