Water/alcohol injection in later versions could add another 450 ponies to that total. The powerplant pumped out an impressive 2,000 horsepower. The new fighter would incorporate the largest engine under development at the time: the 18-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp twin row radial. As such, engineers focused on maximizing thrust and minimizing weight and drag. Regardless, Rex Beisel, head of the Vought engineering team designing the new fighter, made it clear that speed for the proposed aircraft was king. The nature of the military’s request strongly suggested - at least to the Vought design team - that the Navy wanted the fastest fighter ever built. Navy requirement for a single-seat shipboard fighter. The Corsair was designed to meet a 1938 U.S. Īfter making its combat debut over Guadalcanal in February 1943 – eight full months before the first F6F Hellcats entered service – the F4U Corsair would go on to become one of the most successful fighters of all times. Japanese pilots quickly learned to fear it.”īETWEEN Grumman and Vought Aircraft, the United States produced two of the best carrier-based fighters of World War II: the F6F Hellcat and the F4U Corsair. Navy) “ By 1944, the Corsair was being deployed in the Pacific in ever-increasing numbers.
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