Vought F4U Corsair (oz747)

About this Plan

Vought F4U Corsair. Rubber scale model fighter. This plan is from the book 'Flying Scale Models of WWII' from Model Builder magazine.

Quote: "The slip-stream howling through the wing root intakes caused the Japanese to call it 'Whistling Death.' Its unusual shape gave others to call it the 'Bent Wing Bird,' and its lineage of fine shipboard ancestors lent it the name Corsair.

First flown in 1940, the F4U Corsair was to become one of the most versatile and effective fighter aircraft of the Second World War, and production was therefore continued for eleven years. The airplane's trademark, its wing, was shaped thus to provide an aerodynamic-ally clean fuselage/wing juncture and a more sturdy landing gear. The large propeller was turned by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800, which was the largest engine then available. This engine was eventually developed to deliver some 2,700 horsepower.

Besides its obvious, and highly successful career as a fighter, the Corsair became an excellent dive bomber, in which role up to 4,000 pounds of bombs were carried. Having no dive brakes, dive bombing F4U (and later AU-1) pilots checked their plunge by simply partially extending the landing gear.

The structure too, was unusual, as the fuselage employed an unusually smooth spot-welded skin (in lieu of rivets), and many Corsair stabilizers were of 'Metallic,' which was an aluminum-faced sandwich with a core of balsa wood - yet portions of the outer wing were fabric covered!

As a model subject, the Corsair is bound to raise a few eyebrows, and yet in truth, it is a better free flight choice than it might at first seem. The proportions, with the exception of the rather small horizontal stabilizer, are very good. Our model of the Corsair, while a little more difficult than the usual fighter-type rubber scale ship, does involve several procedures that may differ somewhat from tradition. For this reason then, we suggest that the following construction schedule be followed:

The wing is begun by fabricating the main spar. This part consists of a 1/16 inch sheet balsa center section with built up outer panel spars. A spar drawing is provided for your convenience on the plan. When this part may be handled, the center section ribs, R-1 through R-4, are set in place, followed by the center leading and trailing edges. Note that in order to simulate the Corsair's distinctive air scoops, the leading edge is cut away. Strength is maintained in this area by the sheet doublers behind the leading edge.

The wing is next propped up so that one outer panel may be pinned flat to the plan, and thus completed in the usual manner. The opposite wing will follow suit. Note that the leading edge spar is drawn extra deep. This allows the leading edge to be pinned directly to the plan without any shims. The extra material is easily trimmed away later, to conform to the Clark Y airfoil. When fitting the wing tips, note that the inboard end of the tip butts up with the lower portion of the end rib, while the very tip is raised to conform to the upper surface of the wing. The wing structure will be completed with the addition of the landing gear mounts, wing intake fairings, wing root sheeting and the various gussets. After sanding and installing the wire landing gear struts, the wing is ready for covering.

The fuselage is of familiar half-shell construction, using keels laminated from 1/16 inch square balsa... except that the fuselage is divided along the horizontal, rather than vertical plane. Thus, the top of the fuselage is assembled over the top view of the plan, and when the top is complete, the lower formers are added..."

Update 06/10/2012: This plan is now correctly listed as by Frank Scott, thanks to Algy for confirmation.

Update 23/6/2024: Added article, thanks to theshadow.

Supplementary file notes

Article.

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