Did you watch the TV show : Baa Baa Blacksheep? Here is the F4U story!

[ne ga pappy]

i have the complete series on DVD and bing watch them about once a year

 

[ne ga pappy]

One of my favorite shows. The F-4U is one of my favorite WWII fighters along the the P-38 Lightening and the P-51 Mustang.

My favorite heavy is the B-29 Superfortress.

that V12 Merlin in the P51 was a wicked, wicked sounding engine. Sometimes I look up high speed passes on Youtube just to hear that P51 buzz by.

 

[Redneck1919]

The real ones had huge brass balls.

 

[Bellman2]

In '53 I was in C school NAS millington tenn --
There were several FG's used as guiney pigs for Mech training -
Not too much more miserable than on a cold, damp january morning changing plugs on a R2800. Banging your hands agaist the cylinder fins really smarts --
Incorrect priming on start-up produced some rather startling pyrotechnics engulfing the cockpit in smoke and flame ---
thanks for the memory -

Hahaha, you brought up a memory as well. Some of the mechs would bump the primer a few times before switching on the mags and get fire down the fuselage. Only ashore, asea, the captain would see you at mast.

 

[Bellman2]

At first, the F4U was not use on carriers because the Navy said it had a blind spot on final, Marines were not aboard ship so they inherited the F4U and flew the crap out of them. Later in the war, the Marines went aboard.

 

[pavogrande]

I believe the carrier landing issue was solved by making the final in a left hand turn, straightening out at the last few seconds--
My limited carrier experience was in 56 on the yorktown which had just been refitted with a canted deck -- our cag (19) was all jet except for squadron 196 which had ADs -- Most corsairs by that time were in reserve squadrons

 

[chucklenut]

watched a few of the episodes

nothing like his book, baa baa blacksheep. dudes an american legend

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pappy_Boyington

 

[Bellman2]

I believe the carrier landing issue was solved by making the final in a left hand turn, straightening out at the last few seconds--
My limited carrier experience was in 56 on the yorktown which had just been refitted with a canted deck -- our cag (19) was all jet except for squadron 196 which had ADs -- Most corsairs by that time were in reserve squadrons

Correct, left wing was kept low until the last minute, then straightened up when they got the "ball". The cockpit was far back of the wing and created a blind spot. I believe the British solved the problem, not sure. Regardless, was one flying machine

 

[Stampede]

watched a few of the episodes nothing like his book, baa baa blacksheep. dudes an american legend

If my memory serves me right, he later said that the show was hollywood's version and it didn't match with reality. They listed him as "technical advisor" on the show (he needed the money) but they wrote scripts for ratings. I believe later on he didn't want to be associated with the show much, because of some (later) scripts were silly.

 

[JMarkB]

A former Georgia legislator was a member of the Black Sheep


https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/denmark-groover-1922-2001