Corsair Question

[Jack Cook]

Are the wings of all versions of the Corsair interchangeable?
The wings to the FAH F4U-4 project in our hanger are from a FG-1D. I know they'll fit but will the -1 fit a -7 or a AU-1 ect?

[Rob Mears]

I believe they are all pretty much interchangable. You'll find quite a few -1D's flying around with -4 wings and vice versa since both utilized the six-gun wing with fabric outer wing sections. The wings on the Cavenaugh FG-1D are later model F4U-5 wings, as are the wings on Bob Odegaard's F2G-1D. There may be some necessary modifications to swap/fit the various wings between different model types, but I've never heard of any such requirements myself.

I'll have to check on the specifics, but Earl Ware was the man who paired your fuselage with those outer wing panels - either on site in Long Beach immediately following the FAH recoveries, or after he relocated the plane (and others) back to Jacksonville. BuNo.96885 kept company with a number of disassembled Corsairs at Earl's place in Jacksonville, and he was very resorceful when it came to finding odd bits and pieces for his airframes. The USN apparently swapped wings around regularly during overhaul, for damage repair, etc, and I wouldn't be at all suprised if the -1D wings with your project were actually the original equipment fitted to those -4's when Bob Bean pulled them from desert storage back in the late 1950's.

[Glenn Wegman]

Hello Jack,

The early Corsairs had cable operated mechanical aileron trim actuators and servo tabs while the -5, -7, and AU-1's had electric aileron trim and spring tabs. Putting later wings on an earlier fuselage is somewhat easier as you only need to install a trim switch in the cockpit and run some wiring out to the wing. It may cause you a little heartburn when putting early wings on a later model fuselage because of the cables needed to run the trim. The other obvious difference was fabric covered outer wings on the early ones vs. all metal on the later ones and also .50 cal ammo cans vs 20mm cans on the later wings. Phenolic wing tips vs. metal wing tips etc. It all depends on how authentic you want it to be!!

Glenn