There is a persistent story floating around that has been used here to demonstrate that the US may not have had the "best" AF in WW2. That story is that the RN "taught" the USN how to operate Corsairs off of carriers. Being perhaps the most ardent Corsair supporter on this forum I thought I would try to research this to ferret out the truth. The following is my effort. Most of the research has come from Dean's "America's One Hundred Thousand" but some is from a book By Tom Blackburn and some from the Web. The first two Corsairs were accepted by the USN on July 31, 1942. The first Corsair Sqd is VMF 124 and it gets it's first AC late in Sept. 1942. On Sept. 25 the USN performs initial carrier tests on CVE26.(note this is a jeep carrier) they note that visibility on landing is poor, cowl flap actuators leak, oil leaks from engine, bounces on landing and tail swings on landing because flaps blank tail surface because of short tail wheel. Oct. 3, 1942, VF12 rec. 1st AC. November, 1942, the 5th production AC has been modified with raised pilot seat and new canopy to improve visibility. This is included on all production after #689 in 1943. December, 1942, cowl flap actuators are changed and upper cowl is sealed over on all production. January 14, 1943, first ten AC of VF12 are operational. Feb. 15, 1943, VF17 gets first F4U. March 1943 VMF 213 becomes operational in SW Pacific. March 4, 1943 VF 12 is aboard CVE 13(jeep carrier) Tires tend to blow out on the new long strut tail wheels. During training 14 pilots are killed and the AC is considered tricky to fly with bad stalling characteristics. June 1, 1943, RN SQD #1830, first RN SQD to receive Corsairs is formed and begins training on Corsairs at Quonset Point, R.I.(not carrier training) July 15, 1943, VF17(Jolly Rogers) goes aboard Bunker Hill for a Carribean shakedown cruise. They encounter tail hooks that break off and have to be replaced. Vought promises to relace their F4U1s with F4U1As with the raised cockpits and canopies when they return from the cruise. September 28, 1943, VF17 fully operational with F4Us leaves aboard Bunker Hill for the South Pacific. Upon arriving on the West Coast their Corsairs are off loaded and they are sent to the pacific as a land based SQDN. The Navy has decided that because the pipeline of spares is already filled with Hellcat parts the Corsairs will not be used on carriers for the time being. Blackburn is disgusted. November 11, 1943, During air strikes on Rabaul VF17 who have had it's tail hooks put back on lands on carriers to refuel and then take off to return to land bases. All Corsairs land and take off safely. January 9, 1944(around six months after the first RN squadron receives it's first Corsairs and begins training (not on carriers) four F4U2s(night fighters) begin operating off the USS Enterprise. May 16, 1944, the Navy Evaluation Board decides the F4U1D is the best all around fighter available and reccomends that all carrier fighter and fighter bomber units be converted to F4U types. It seems clear to me that although the RN operated the Corsair successfully off of carriers during the war and may have contributed to the overall effort in getting the Corsair ready to go to sea, they did not even come close to "teaching " the USN how to operate the Corsair off of carriers. I don't believe that information gotten from the History Channel or Wikipedia is always accurate. Whew, I am exhausted, I need to tke a nap!