Vought F4U Corsair - top ten ace list

[knusel]

Good evening Gentlemen,

these are the most successful Corsair pilots:

1. RM Hanson 25
2. G Boyington 22
3. KA Walsh 21
4. DN Aldrich 20
5. WJ Thomas 18,5
6. IC Kepford 16
7. HL Spears 15
8. EO Shaw 14,5
9. JN Cupp 12,5
10. AG Donahue 12
11. RR Hedrick 12
12. HE Segal 12

According to Barrett Tillman the F4U-1/-4 was credited with 2140 victories (all PTO) while suffering only 189 losses.
Is it known how many kills the British Commonwealth scored with the Corsair ?

Michael

[Frank Olynyk]

Michael,
That's James Norman Cupp, not Kupp.

According to my database, Fleet Air Arm pilots claimed 43 victories with the Corsair. Broken down as 40 with the Corsair II; and 3 with the Corsair IV.

You need to do a review of Barrett's bibliography.

Enjoy!

Frank.

[knusel]

Good evening Frank,

yes, that's a typo. I've changed that in the first post.
Thanks for the Fleet Air Arm figures.
Do you know if any of these 43 victories were scored in the ETO ?

Kind regards,

Michael

[Frank Olynyk]

All Fleet Air Arm Corsair claims were made in the Pacific.

Enjoy!

Frank.

[knusel]

Good evening Frank,

thanks for that info.
I think, we can safely say that the Corsair scored 2202 kills:
#2140 kills vs 189 losses (USA, WW2)
#__43 kills (British Commonwealth, WW2)
#__12 kills vs 312 losses (USA, Korean War)
#___4 kills vs 3 losses (Honduras, Soccer War)
#___3 kills vs 3 losses (El Salvador, Soccer War)

Is it known how many Fleet Air Arm Corsairs were lost in combat ?

Have a good start into the new week,

Michael

[Frank Olynyk]

Michael,

No idea. You will have to get a copy of Ray Sturtivant's Fleet Air Arm Aircraft 1939-1945 and count them. Unfortunately it is out of print.

Enjoy!

Frank.

[knusel]

Good afternoon Frank,

Wikipedia indicates that 18 FAA squadrons scored 47,5 Corsair kills, referring to the book of Mr Styling.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vought_F4U_Corsair

What Do you think about that ?

Have a nice Monday,

Michael

[knusel]

Good morning Gentlemen,

are the 312 Corsair losses in the Korean War losses in aerial combat or losses to all causes ?

Michael

[James S.]

Originally Posted by knusel

Good morning Gentlemen,

are the 312 Corsair losses in the Korean War losses in aerial combat or losses to all causes ?

Michael

My guess losses to all causes as it was primarily a ground attck aircraft in Korea.

[R Leonard]

My bet would be that the 312 are the combat losses.

Totals by type USN/USMC fixed wing aircraft without differentiating sources of loss:

F4U/AU series - 572
AD series - 218
F9F series -165
F7F series - 27
F2H series -16
OE series - 10
F3D series -7
AF series - 2

Interestingly, a USN report from fairly early in the war with a rather small statistical sample drew the conclusion that the F4U was twice as likely to be lost to AAA fire than the AD's which were twice as likely to be lost to AAA fire as the F9F. A post WW2 USN statistical study also drew the conclusion that the F4U was particularly vulnerable to ground fire. The Korean War era report concluded that the problem lay on the oil cooling system's vulnerability.

Rich