Like many other aircraft during WWII, the Corsair found itself being produced by companies other than its originator, Chance-Vought. Here, the alternate producers were the Brewster Aircraft Company, builder of the F2A Buffalo (a future Flightdeck Friday topic, BTW) and the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, producer of non-rigid airships or blimps. With production lines opening in late 1943, the models rolling off the lines each had their own designations to indicate source of manufacture F3A-1 from Brewster and FG-1 from Goodyear respectively. Distinctive of these models was the raised seating position and turtleback/Malcom canopy that would provide the over the nose visibility that would eventually usher the Corsair back to carrier operations. For now though it was still shore-based and was being delivered with fixed wings.
It was about this time that Goodyear approached the Navy with a proposal to improve the speed and climb capabilites of the Corsair, turning it into a fast climbing interceptor to meet the emerging kamikaze threat by installing the new Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp engine in place of the R-2800 currently powering the Corsair. The R-4360 was a massive, 4-row radial engine that represented the penultimate in piston engine design. Weighing in at over 3800 lbs, it was over 8 feet in length, counted 28 cylinders displacing a whopping 4,362.50 inches (or 71.5L – how’d you like to pull up to a stop light with that under your hood?). With two turbo-chargers AND a supercharger, the later models of the R-4360 developed 4300 hp. In a move that presaged Tim "the Toolman" Taylor by several decades, the R-4360 would effectively double the available horsepower for the Corsair. In doing so, several modifications would have to be made to the basic airframe to include a larger, four-bladed propeller and with that, a taller rudder to handle the greater torque.
A F4U-1 and two FG-1s were modified for reliability trials of the R-4360. As the trials and fit appeared to be successful, production was given to Goodyear and the designation F2G assigned. In addition to the engine modification, the turtleback was cutdown and a P-47 canopy installed for better visibility. Thus modified, the F2G had a climb-rate of over 7,000 fpm. Unfortunately, performance in other areas did not live up to expectations with a top speed of only 412 mph and some handling instabilities noted at speed.
Fifteen F2Gs were produced: five pre-production XF2Gs (BuNos 14691 – 14695), five F2G-1s (BuNos 88454 – 88458), and five F2G-2s (BuNos 88459 – 88463). Of these only three F2Gs still survive; one F2G-1 in stock military configuration (BuNo 88454) and two in racing configuration. (BuNos 88458 and 88463). There was one stock F4U converted in the 1980′s to use the R-4360 and raced under the "Super Corsair" label until it was lost in a crash in 1994.
While the F2G never saw combat it has seen plenty of time on the racing circuit giving a good account of itself.
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 33 ft 9 in (10.3 m)
- Wingspan: 41 ft (12.5 m)
- Height: 16 ft 1 in (4.9 m)
- Wing area: 314 ft² (29 m²
- Empty weight: 10,249 lb (4,649 kg)
- Loaded weight: 13,346 lb (6,054 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 15,422 lb (6,995 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney R-4360-4 "Wasp Major" 28-cylinder radial engine, 3,000 hp (2,200 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 431 mph (374 knots, 694 km/h) at 16,400 ft (5,000 m)
- Range: 1,955 mi (1,699 nm, 3,146 km) with external tanks
- Service ceiling: 38,800 ft (11,800 m)
- Rate of climb: 7,000 ft/min (35.6 m/s)
- Wing loading: 42.5 lb/ft² (208 kg/m²
- Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (370 W/kg)
Armament
- Guns: 4× .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns, 400 rounds/gun
- Rockets: 8× 5 in (127 mm) rockets or
- Bombs: 1,600 lb (725 kg)
Sources:
- Swanborough, Gordon & Bowers, Peter. United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911, Third Edition Naval Institute Press 1990
- Jones, Lloyd. U.S. Navy Fighters: Navy/Marine Corps 1922 to 1980s, Aero Publishers Inc, 1977
- Goleta Air & Space Museum: Corsairs with Four-bank Radials
Stumble It!
Stumble it!
Great airplane, even the basic F4U is just plain awesome. Was it only armed with 4 x 50cal? I thought it was 6?
I was actually going to say I thought it was armed with 4 20mm cannon, an increase in firepower to go with the change in roles to interceptor.
Yep – 6 x .50 cal/4 x 20 mm… that’s what happens when you post @ 2300 and have to be up @0300 for work the next day…
- SJS
Haha, well, I guess that’s confirmation that my current sleep habits won’t hold up forever.
I love the sound of a radial engine. I grew up in Akron, and my dad took me by the Goodyear aircraft plant (Aerospace) We would watch the planes thru the fence. He told me stories of seeing the planes flying overhead regularly as they were shuttled off to war when he was young.
Came across a book by Frank Tallman in the nether regions of my library this weekend (“Flying the Old Planes”
and there was a chapter on flying an FG Corsair he’d recovered from a bone/scrapyard (it was in better shape than the two F4U-4′s next to it). Besides having a ton of leg room (he loved how you could let your feet dangle in the rudder tracks) he also said the Pratt & Whitney was every bit as fluid and smooth as a RR Merlin and that the Corsair was one of his favorites. High praise from someone as accomplished as he with the kind of logbook he had…
- SJS
Oh, and Vmax — you’ll find we are unrepentant and unabashed fans of props and radials ’round these parts…
- SJS