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Something fun; You are tasked at forming an experimental Wing / Group.
you would be willing to bet your life on
Unfortunately for the Corsair it is late in timing. By Dec 1943 the P-47 are being equipped with wing racks, water injection and paddle blade props. It was not until March of 1944 that the Corsair was used as a dive bomber. Perhaps it could have been used a bit earlier but I think there was little to choose between the two planes in the spring/summer of 1944. And bubble top P-47D-25s with larger fuselage tanks began coming off the lines in April of 1944.
BTW a fair number of the Goodyear produced Corsairs had "fixed"/nonfolding wings and were issued to the Marine Corp.
I'd pick up the small series of the F4Us that were still with the wing tanks, but also with the drop tank capability, and send them, together with Liberators, to Ploiesti, once there is possibillity to base them in Southern Italy.
Or, simply use Mosquitoes for that job
Trouble with the Corsairs is that only the 237 gal fuselage tank was "protected". The two 57 gallon wing tanks were only protected by a CO2 vapor dilution system. Relatively minor damage could cause the loss of fuel in a wing tank even if no fire. Early F4Us had one 170-175 gallon drop tank. Later F4Us (like F4U1-D) got rid of the wing tanks and went with two drop tanks. Even figuring ONE wing tank remains undamaged you now have about 10 gallons less gas than the P-47. Combat radius too close to call.
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It is 532 miles from Bari Italy to Ploiesti. While the charts say the Corsair can fly around 1000 miles on the 237 gals of fuel that is at 5500ft and 178-180mph. Plane might be using as little as 42gal an hour. with the engine making 570 hp. Cruising at 20,500ft with the engine making 970hp and the fuel consumption goes to 93 gallons an hour. 5 minutes at military power burns 23 gallons of fuel and 15 minutes at max continuous burns 55-60 gals. You actually have 153 gal (give or take) to make it home from Ploiesti. Cruise at minimum fuel consumption at 20,000ft (595hp) is 53 gallons an hour.
This is like the argument we had about the F6F being able to fly to Berlin. Granted there aren't as many Axis fighters in Balkans but using Navy cruise conditions for flight planning European combat missions is not realistic.
I like the Corsair but lets not pretend it could do things it couldn't.
Trouble with the Corsairs is that only the 237 gal fuselage tank was "protected". The two 57 gallon wing tanks were only protected by a CO2 vapor dilution system. Relatively minor damage could cause the loss of fuel in a wing tank even if no fire. Early F4Us had one 170-175 gallon drop tank. Later F4Us (like F4U1-D) got rid of the wing tanks and went with two drop tanks. Even figuring ONE wing tank remains undamaged you now have about 10 gallons less gas than the P-47. Combat radius too close to call.