Recent content by R Leonard

This F4U myth has been debunked in this forum more times I care to count.

And that's all why I prefer the M1911A1 . . . thumb safety, grip safety, muzzle safety, half-cock safety, me safety. Round in the chamber at all times, otherwise, what's the point?

Oh no, bare metal only

George Stephen Morrison (100111); LT, USN. Shows up on the VF-94, NAS Atlantic City, 1 Jan 1945 roster. Joined the squadron on 1 Nov 1944. Don't know if he made the squadron's end-of-war West Pac Lexington deployment. Was promoted to LCDR on 20 Jul 1945.

People are strange

My father was aboard Yorktown (CV-5) in VF-42 when the ship went west in December 1941. Up through Midway his issue sidearm was a 1911A1. When his next squadron, VF-11, went to Guadalcanal in April 1943 he was, again, issued a 1911-A1. I have his hand-made shoulder holster around here...

Around my house, growing up, if one mentioned USS Yorktown it was presumed to refer to Yorktown CV-5. If you wanted to mention Yorktown CV-10, one would simply say "CV-10" and any discussion or mention of cruisers simply elicited a grunt or heavy sigh. Dad was a fighter pilot off Yorktown from...

Here's an article from Naval Aviation News, the 1 Oct 1945 issue, which while explicitly referring to the FM series, is applicable to the F4F as well, pages 24-25 Wildcat Factograph An appalling proportion of the FM's rolling off the production line were wrecked or damaged before a year was...

A6M2 folding wing tip looked like this; actually from the famous Akutan recovered. Also a closer shot of the hinge, note the locking tab (top of the wing is in the bottom of the shot) with remnants of the red paint. You can also see the tab in the first shot.

Alex Vraciu reported that landing his F6F after his rather adventurous day in the Marianas he looked over and saw the red lock pin sticking up . . . could have ruined his day.

US Navy Alaska class designation was CB; that translates to Cruiser Large. Not unlike the Midway class aircraft carriers, designation CVB - Aircraft Carrier Large. The USN designation for a battle cruiser, as found for example in early documents for what became the Lexington class aircraft...

And a small point . . . the flotation bags on F4Fs were removed in the summer of 1941 after some rather disconcerting crashes resulting from their inflation during flight. VF-42, for example, lost one off Chick's Beach at the mouth of the Chesapeake and the pilot killed. Bags inflated and...

You mean the stall spoiler? The one that then LTJG Merle "Butch" Davenport, the engineering officer of VF-17, designed had convinced the Vought folks install and, lo, and behold, it worked. You mean that stall spoiler? Davenport, though a degreed aeronautical engineer before becoming a naval...

Quoting Boone Guyton, Vought's chief test pilot, in his Whistling Death – The Test Pilot's Story of the F4U Corsair, page 231, regarding the F6U: "The Pirate, a small underpowered, straight-winged airplane, was Vought's first jet. They would rather forget it. Outdated, and with low performance...

Not to mention the possibility that these are not combat troops, perhaps IJAAF maintenance personnel. Not everybody goes around loaded for bear.