I am working on a WWII game project and the aircraft team is having some trouble coming up with common use data for the different versions of the Corsair.
As I understood it, all F4U-1 came from the factory with no hardpoints at all, but some were field modified to carry one bomb on a centerline rack.
Also as I understood it, the F4U-1A also came off the production line with no hard points, but the Brewster centerline rack was quickly adopted when it became available and some units built their own home made racks. Were the Brewster racks wet (have the ability to carry drop tanks)?
The F4U-1D had three hard points from the factory and all could be wet as well as stubs for 8 rockets.
Of course the FG-1A and FG-1D mirrored the Vought versions for the most part.
Someone on the team pointed out that the Squadron F4U in Action book has pictures on pages 18 and 19 of an F4U-1A at Kwajalein with a drop tank and two napalm tanks, a Brewster F3A-1 with a drop tank, and an F4U-1C with a drop tank.
So my questions are:
Was the Brewster rack wet, ie a drop tank could be carried instead of a bomb?
Did some F4U-1As have three racks installed, or is the picture on page 18 mislabeled?
The answer is Yes to both questions. The centre line was ‘wet’ for fuel and not just naplam or bombs.
The book does show a centre line tank and two 250lb (what look like 250lb [:-^]) bombs on the gull wing racks. The caption doesn’t mention if it’s a naplm tank or fuel.
Alot of F4U-1A’s were upgraded to -1D standards that included bolt on packs for rockets and the wing hard points later in the war. So to say that the plane in the pic is a -1A is not wrong entirely.
Thanks for the info. The team lead has a couple of follow on questions:
F4U-1 ever fitted with drop tank?
If so when (Month & Year)
Did the field mod on the 1A come about as a result of initial tinkerings on the -1?
If anybody is interested, the game is a major update to Matrix’s War in the Pacific. It’s a turn based computer game in which each turn is one day. The map is 40 miles per hex and covers an area of the globe from Karachi to San Diego and the Arctic Circle to Tasmania. It has most ships over about 500 tons and keeps track of individual pilots. The lead of the air team is a USN F/A-18 pilot. I don’t think any computer game has ever made the attempt to put together an order of battle this large and this accurate.
That sounds great!! How do I get to play it? I’m one of the biggest Corsair freaks in the world (being a former Devil Dog helps!). Sounds like a mighty big undertaking. Good Luck to you all.