F4U Takeoff Crash-Wings folded
 

Found this picture on the Web and found it very interesting.

Can anyone identify? It probably dates from 1945,based on insignia and camouflage.

Re: F4U Takeoff Crash-Wings folded
 

F4U-4, 81473, of VMF211 on 16 February 1950. The pilot took off from USS Saipan with the left wing not locked. Fatal.

Re: F4U Takeoff Crash-Wings folded
 

Thanks George, the F4U was not known as the "Ensign Eliminator" for nothing

Re: F4U Takeoff Crash-Wings folded
 

I think that "Ensign Eliminator" meant that a lot of trainees on the aircraft had difficulty in mastering it. However, because the aircraft was very strong the number of fatalities was relatively low.

The loss in the photo was simple pilot error.

Re: F4U Takeoff Crash-Wings folded
 

Well, although that is somewhat true, I believe the picture is a little mixed. The F4U Corsair killed many pilots, both ensigns and higher ranks in flight accidents.
As late as January 1945, the F4U was considered inferior to the F6F Hellcat as a overall carrier fighter. One problem was its stall characteristics:
"The F4U stalls easily at low speeds without any advance warning, such as the shuddering felt in a F6F, and tends to fall off on either wing ...For this reason two planes were lost just after takeoff and another while making its final turn to come aboard."

Here is a more detailed explanation for this accident. Notice the caption says "folds when a lock gives way". This means the ground crew verified that the wing lock was properly configured at takeoff. I'd hate to blame the pilot for a mechanical failure.

:Here on the 16th of February 1950, a Corsair is launched from the American carrier USS Saipan during operations off the coast of Korea. Immediately after catapulting from the deck, the Corsair's wing folds when a lock gives way. The result were catastrophic as the sequence of four photos reveals (I'll spare you those). The pilot, Lt Loren Grover, could do absolutely nothing to prevent his death. As Corsair operators, it is a sobering lesson to all of us that the unimaginable can happen... at any time. Photo via USS Saipan website.

Re: F4U Takeoff Crash-Wings folded
 

Kaki,

The regrettable accident with Lt Grover must have happened not off Korea, but off the American East Coast. USS Saipan was operating there from Nov 1949 till March 1951.

Regards,

Leendert

Re: F4U Takeoff Crash-Wings folded
 

Far from Korea---37.15N:75.08W.

Re: F4U Takeoff Crash-Wings folded
 

And yet, the US Navy & Marine Corps chose to keep the Corsair in service until the mid-fifties while retiring Hellcats from front line service very shortly after the war.

Re: F4U Takeoff Crash-Wings folded
 

The Corsair was superior to the Hellcat, both as a fighter and as a bomber.

After WWII many of the surviving Hellcats were converted into pilotless drones and used as targets, which is why so few survive today as so-called warbirds.