Aircraft Pictorial #7: F4U-1 Corsair Vol 1

Sporadically books from this series arrive at the editorial offices and it was with some interest that the latest in Classic Warships Publishing's Aircraft Pictorial series arrived in the mails. Typical of this series, no warbirds were used in the publishing of this edition, something I find refreshing. All of the images are period photos and include several in full color and of very high quality.

The Corsair is an aircraft about which one would think that there was nothing new to be learned. However, as is often the case, that is rather far from the truth. There is much speculation, innuendo and down right incorrect information about the early Corsairs that has been passed down from year to year.

In this book, author Dana Bell provides the results of a lot of primary research to either verify or debunk some of that information. The first bit of info the go to the wayside is that the Corsair was not used aboard carriers because it bounced too much upon landing. The truth is that planners of the time did not want to have an additional supply chain of parts to carry aboard aircraft carriers so chose, until later in the war, to concentrate on the Hellcat, which was already in fleet service and proving to be quite adequate for the job.

We also learn about the 'salmon' primer, which at the time was called Indian Red. This was a result of options available to mix in with zinc chromate primer (a yellowish shade). One was aluminum paste which produced a candy apple green color and was rarely used. Another was aluminum paste and black which produced the standard yellow-green color. The third was to use iron oxide, which produced the Indian Red color. Very early planes had cockpits in a dull dark green, but most of the rest used the Indian Red primer. Most other places that needed additional protection (gear wells and inner gear doors, for instance, got a coat of the underside color. Since many component sections were not built by Vought, you can easily find different primer shades on the same airframe.

There is other interesting information for modelers regarding the various camouflage colors used through the production of the early Corsair, with some schemes being quite new to me and not at all what I'd have expected.

The rest of the book covers such areas as the changes in antenna masts, the use of reinforced 'turtle decks' behind the cockpit that removed the plexiglas panels, the development of bomb racks and wing tank racks by VF-17, reinforced and extended tail gear, issues with fuel leaking into the fuselage, the lower bomb aiming window  and much more.

All this is accompanied with large and crisply printed images as well as informative photo captions. It is a book that I would have to say is very much a 'must have' issue for those who are Corsair fans and those just wanting to know more about the plane. It is a book I most highly recommend and am looking forward to the second volume.

December 2014

Review copy courtesy of Classic Warships Publishing. They have a full selection of Nautical titles you will like. When you shop there, say Modeling Madness sent you.

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