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Theoretically, yesWould a dedicated land based fighter version of the Corsair have a performance advantage over a dedicated naval plane? I would assume a dedicated land based plane would not need the folding wing mechanism, nor the added weight.
Would the design have been taken that far to offer a different land and sea based fighter.
As evidencedI don't think there is such a thing as a dedicated Naval fighter
As evidenced
by the early use of F4Us from land-based strips. They may not be dedicated Dave, but they're certainly specialised - how long do you think un-navalised P-51s or P-47s would last bouncing in on a carrier?
Which would reinforce my point surely?Navalising an aeroplane is not just about strengthening for takeoff and landing and increasing range. Salt water is very corrosive for many alloy materials so navalising makes a plane more expensive to make without any increase in performance
...but out of interest... they're certainly specialised...
Long time reader first time poster to this forum.
I mean our real strength I think was that we didn't just have one or two great fighters like the Germans
But we had many numerous types of great fighters that where well suited to a particular role
For example
Mustang- Great long range escort fighter
Spitfire- Great short range interceptor
Thunderbolt- Tough allrounder well suited for ground attack
Lightning- Perfectly suited for the pacific theatre duties
Corsair- Great island based fighter
Hellcat- Perfect Carrier based fighter
Mosquito- Great allrounder
Which would reinforce my point surely?
...but out of interest
what was the WWII difference between US land-based fighter and carrier-based anti-corrosion measures? As far as I'm aware, both were treated with zinc-chromate primer. Did the USN use any additional inhibitors?
I was careful to stipulate the 'WWII difference', by the time we got to the Harrier I'm sure we'd learned a trick or two.1 Navalising the harrier involved a lot of measures to reduce the effects of salt water ingress
Concentrating on just the Corsair would be fine if you knew for definite it wouldnt turn out to be a dog. Even today with computer modelling aircraft dont always turn out just like the designer expected. For example I bet Boeing wished they hadnt been so confident and taken all those pre-orders for the Dreamliner.
I have always wondered how the Hellcat would have worked as a land based fighter/bomber. Its my favourite fighter of WWII and to me always looks like anything short of an 88mm round would just bounce off without scratching the bodywork