Warbird Information Exchange

I was just watching an episode of "Dogfights" topic was aircraft speed. One segment was with the Corsair but some short historical video showed a flight of Corsairs with a razor back fuselage configuration. I was not aware of that airframe. I would assume it to be an early variant.

What say you WIX brain trust? Thanks.

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Birdcage?

Nice photo with strong color, too bad the negative has been reversed. Look @ the location of the antenna mast.

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

Correctamundo!

What is the history of this version? What time frame? How many?

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

One of these birdcage Corsairs was pulled out of Lake Michigan in November 2010. Although I'm not 100% on this, I think the only other Corsair with a birdcage canopy around today is the Brewster Corsair. www.brewstercorsair.com

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

check this site www.f4ucorsair.com/tdata/history.htm

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

One more ex-flyer with a birdcage is in the TAM museum in Brazil.

Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

There is only one more or less complete birdcage F4U-1, which is the example recovered for the Navy Museum from lake Michigan. The one down at TAM is actually an F4U-1A, which was retrofitted to look like a birdcage example. The Brewster Corsair is also a -1A variant. That being said, there is an F4U-1 being restored to static in Australia (Bu.02270 at Classic Jets Fighter Museum). Also, there is a Corsair project in the USA (I forget where) which incorporates the rear fuselage of a birdcage variant (from station 186 on back)... This is the example which was under offer by Ross Jowitt in New Zealand a decade or so ago. That's about it for early Corsair variant survivors. It's always possible that a Corsair Mk.I will resurface somewhere in New England though, as the Royal Navy used about a hundred of them as trainers during the war. I surely hope that happens...

Cheers,
Richard

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Richard Mallory Allnutt - Photography - http://www.rmallnutt.com

Isn't there a relatively intact ex-Royal Navy birdcage Corsair off the New England coast somewhere that still contains the pilot's remains?

There are two in Sebago Lake in Maine with the pilot's remains inside. They are "unrecoverable" due to them being marked as official war graves.
Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

Wasn't the Planes of Fame F4U originally a birdcage variant?

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Defending Stearmans on WIX since Jeff started badmouthing them back in 2005.

Aren't all (but the few surviving Goodyear Corsairs with the bubble canopy) Corsairs Razorbacks?
I believe the term is usually applied to non-bubble hood Thunderbolts and Mustangs...unless I'm missing something.

As mentioned above, I believe the correct term is birdcage (ie, non-Malcolm-like, blown hood).

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

Info online says the 689th F4U-1 was the first one with a raised cockpit and clear view bubbled canopy making it the first F4U-1D, a number of the earlier ones were retro fitted with a 'bump' in the overhead glazing in service but kept the original style framing and shoulder windows.

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-