American fighter plane F4U-4 Corsair COBI 2417 - Korean War

You know that:

• The development of the aircraft began as early as 1938, and in fact it can be said that the designers did not develop the aircraft, but built it around the giant and powerful Pratt & Whitney engine.
• One of the two chief designers was Igor Sikorsky, an engineer of Ukrainian origin who emigrated to the USA in 1919, disillusioned by the Bolshevik Revolution.
• The very first flight on 29 May 1940 proved that the designers had succeeded in creating something exceptional, although a few flaws were still found.
• In order to use the power of the powerful engine, the aircraft had to be fitted with the legendary 4 m Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propeller, and the large propeller forced the typical "W" wing bend.
• Production ran from 1942 to 1953, making the Corsair the longest-running American piston-powered fighter.
• Demand for the extraordinary machine was high and so production was gradually expanded to two other companies, Goodyear and Brewster.
• The purchase price of the aircraft in 1953 was 1 500 000 USD, which today corresponds to about 3 410 000 €.
• Designed for the US Navy with the ability to fight enemies toe-to-toe, the Corsair was highly respected by Japanese aviators.
• The F4U pilots achieved a kill ratio of 11:1.
• Japanese soldiers nicknamed the Corsiar "whistling death".
• American soldiers called the plane a widow maker because of its poor landing vision.
• With the advent of the Soviet MIG-15 aircraft during the Korean War, the deployment of Corsairs was limited exclusively to direct air support of ground troops.
• During the Korean War, there was also one recorded dogfight between a Corsair piloted by Captain Jesse G. Folmar and an outnumbered force of 5 MIG-15s.
• During the engagement, only the MIG was shot down and the Corsair was heavily damaged, but Captain Folmar escaped with only minor injuries.
• The last Corsair deployment occurred in 1969 in the so-called "Soccer" war between El Salvador and Honduras.

Technical parameters:

• dimensions: span 12.5 m, length 10 m, height 4.5 m
• empty weight 4 174 kg
• maximum take-off weight 8 799 kg
• power plant Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radial engine with 2 100 kW
• cruising speed 296 km/h
• maximum speed 731 km/h
• tank capacity 886 l + possibly 2x 586 l in additional tanks
• climb rate 19,7 m/s
• operational range 12 649 m
• maximum range 1 617 km
• armament 6x 12.7 mm M2 MG machine gun + 8x 127 mm HVAR unguided rocket
• crew 1