Known to many World War Two history buffs as "Whistling Death" or "The Bent-Wing Widow Maker," this aircraft was second only to the F6F Hellcat(13:1 kill ratio) with its 11:1 kill ratio. It served from the campaign against Rabaul to ground attack missions in Korea.This aircraft was powered by the same powerful Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine as the F6F Hellcat and the P-47 Thunderbolt. The F4U Corsair was mainly used by the Marine Corps because its nose was too big and blocked the view of pilots landing on carriers. That did not stop the Marine Corps from using them to protect bomber formations and to fighter sweep Rabaul. Eventually the Corsairs were used on "Sea Jeep" carriers(small carriers that were merchant ships with flat decks slapped onto them).
The Corsairs flew many ground attack missions, but the ordnance that was the most effective against Japanese cave positions was napalm. Napalm contains gasoline mixed with a thickening agent to make it more vicious and sticky. It was similar to the flamethrower, but on a much larger and air-portable scale. Corsairs also launched rockets, dropped bombs, and strafed targets. The corsair could carry six to eight rockets. The rockets plastered hillsides and were also effective against the cave warfare the Japanese loved on Okinawa. The six fifty caliber machine guns caried by the Corsair were very good at shooting down kamikazes( Japanese suicide planes they purposefully crashed into ships, based on the idea of trading the loss of one plane for one aircraft carrier).
The Corsair was one of the best fighter aircraft of World War Two. It was commonly over looked by the public, but served with as much distinction as the P-51 Mustang and the F6F Hellcat. It earned its place in history because of its pilots' willingness to take off in the face of danger and fly low to the ground in the face of unrelenting antiaircraft fire.
