Gull Wing Design

                                                           GULL WING DESIGN

 In 1938 the Bureau of Aeronautics invited tenders for a new high-performance single seat fighter for the US Navy's carrier fleet.Rex B. Beisel, chief designer of the Texan Chance Vought  Corporation, explored the idea  of achieving maximum speed via minimun drag.His basic approach was to combine
the most powerful engine available with an extremely slender fuselage and the largest possible propeller.In order to prevent the Hamilton Standard triple-blade propeller from striking the ground or carrier deck when taking off or landing,an invented gull wing design was selected.The landing gear was   positioned directly beneath the kink in the wings and retracted backwards 90 degrees into the wing.The  new Pratt & Whitney  R-2800-8 Double Wasp double row radial engine was chosen,not least because Chance Vought  and Pratt & Whitney were both owned by United Aircraft Corporation.

Distinctive noise led the Japanese to give it the nickname "Whistling Death".
     A sixth of the entire F4U production went to the Royal Navy,which also deployed its Corsair on carriers in the pacific.The type was seldom used in Europe.
     The Corsair was successful that it continued to be used in the Korean War,predominantly  - and successfully -in a ground attack role.It was able to carry bomb loads that would have been unthinkable for the first US jets.But it was also effective against jets.On 8 November 1950,navy pilots W.T.Amen shot down a MiG-15 in his F4U.