1/32 Vought F4U-4 Corsair, VMF-323 "Death Rattlers" - Carrier Aircraft GB (1 Viewer)

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Humm... a F4U-4 in a can of the Guinness sounds interesting but I thought about a bottle. Just something like that...

 
Just been informed by email, that the #13 of VMF-323 didn't have the snake on the cowling ( ), so I'll be doing this as the #18....
Feel a Phantom is out there somewhere!
 
Go here Jan, a photo album of VMF323........ may shed some light on the canundrum.
It's confusing regarding the WS tail marking and snake, and VMF323 on the tail section.
It may have been during the Korean "conflict" the snake was used on the cowl. Thus the carrier WS sqn marking. Eh?

But this is entered in Wikipedia......

Korean War and post-war
When the Korean War began in 1950, VMF-323 began combat operations from the USS Badoeng Strait as part of Marine Aircraft Group 33 (MAG-33), supporting ground forces in the Battle of Pusan Perimeter, Battle of Inchon, Battle of Chosin Reservoir and almost every other major campaign of the conflict. During action near Kosong, on August 11, 1950, a VMF-323 Corsair pilot, Captain Vivian M. Moses, became the first Marine aviator killed in Korea.[1] The unit also took part in the attack on the Sui-ho Dam in June 1952.
 
Read this:

"A common misconception about another feature on the F4U-4, has to do with the windscreen. Most other references on the Corsair have stated that the F4U-4 had a flat windscreen insted for the rounded one used on the F4U-1A, -C and -D. While this flat bulletproof windscreen did appear during the production of the F4U-4, almost half of the F4U-4 's had the earlier rounded windscreen. The 5 protoypes BuNos. 80759 through 80763 and the first 995 production F4U-4's, BuNos. 80764 through 81758, had the rounded windscreen. The following 20 aircraft of the production line, BuNos. 81759 through 81778, had the first flat bulletproof windscreen. These were followed by 50 more F4U-4's 81779 through 81828 which had the rounded windscreen. BuNos. 81829 and the subsequent had the flat windscreen design. Therefore, out of the 2,356 F4U-4's, F4U-4B's and -4P's produced, 1,045, or just over 40 percent, had the original round windscreen."
 








































On page 20, the first wee bit is missing, which sjould read: Radar was not always reliable, a 2000 to 5000 feet error in reading not being unusual.
 
In another email from my VMF-323 source...

Al Price was a pilot aboard the USS Sicily and wrote about the squadron Corsairs with the snake on the cowling. He wrote, "It is interesting to note that we had four Corsairs in the squadron with the cowling painted with the snake in brown and white color. All four were lost or damaged beyond repair during our tour aboard the USS Sicily. It got to the point you hoped you weren't scheduled to fly one."

Cheers mate!
 


Crewmen clear snow from the flight deck of the USS Badoeng Strait (CVE-116), during operations off the Korean coast on 14 November 1950. The aircraft on deck are Vought F4U-4B Corsair fighters of Marine fighter squadron VMF-323 Death Rattlers.

And some more of VMF-323 and their Brothers in Arms VMF-312, Korea, January 1952....

































Felt that I had to add the last one, USS Essex, Korea, January 1952...
 
Cheers lads!

As was written in my earlier post....Al Price was a pilot aboard the USS Sicily and wrote about the squadron Corsairs with the snake on the cowling. He wrote, "It is interesting to note that we had four Corsairs in the squadron with the cowling painted with the snake in brown and white color. All four were lost or damaged beyond repair during our tour aboard the USS Sicily. It got to the point you hoped you weren't scheduled to fly one."

I'll be all over my F4U-4 When back in Glasgow!
 

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