Quote:
Originally Posted by kaki3152
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."
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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.