Quote:
Originally Posted by MW Giles
Theory
Theory may fall down as I do not know what would constitute the B
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Martin,
The BuAer issued exhaustive lists of suffixes with their meanings.
You can find them on the net very easily.
Among other modifications:
"B" stood for "aircraft built for the British under Lend-Lease".
"C" was for cannon-armed aircraft.
"D" was for drop tanks.
Right on spot as far as the Corsair is concerned.
The only one-off designation regarding the Corsair was the night-fighter version, which was designed F4U-2, while it should have been F4U-1N.
But at that time, night-fighters were probably new to the BuAer and they had not yet made their mind up as how call them.