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Vought lengthened the tailwheel strut when they made some changes to the F4U-1. Other changes were raising the seat seven inches and replacing the birdcage canopy with an improved version - this became the F4U-1A.Well, the Brits did fix the Corsair to suit their requirements. Clipped wings, raised tail wheel, centre-section drop tank, etc.
So, Vought in fact fixed for Corsair to meet FAA needs. That makes more sense than chaps with hacksaws at RNAS Yeovilton.The FAA received their F4U-1As from Vought with clipped wings (eight inches removed), so they'd fit on RN carriers.
Well, the Brits did fix the Corsair to suit their requirements. Clipped wings, raised tail wheel, centre-section drop tank, etc.
Vought lengthened the tailwheel strut when they made some changes to the F4U-1. Other changes were raising the seat seven inches and replacing the birdcage canopy with an improved version - this became the F4U-1A.
The FAA received their F4U-1As from Vought with clipped wings (eight inches removed), so they'd fit on RN carriers.
So, Vought in fact fixed for Corsair to meet FAA needs. That makes more sense than chaps with hacksaws at RNAS Yeovilton.
The earliest reference I can find is in the thread Visibility over the nose: inline v. radial engine. August 25, 2010. Post #13.
Don't forget types like the Douglas TBD.Not sure the Spitfire had a worse view for landing than this.
View attachment 794936
or this
.
View attachment 794937
Yep - the SBA/SBN.Devastator may not have been too bad, or, the Navy had worse?
Not sure the Spitfire had a worse view for landing than this.
View attachment 794936
or this
.
View attachment 794937
I first read about it in the book about the FAA "Wings of the Morning" by Ian Cameron, published in 1962. I probably read it about 5 years later when I found it in our high school library. I was barely a teenager, so it has been doing the rounds for a long time, probably close to 40 years before that.The earliest I can recall reading the belief/story that the Fleet Air Arm developed the curved approach for the F4U on carriers was either the Aces High BB or the Il-2 forums when the 'Pacific Fighters' expansion was being worked on released in 2003/2004.
Thanks for the dislike, champ - I was being cynical in my reply that aparently triggered you.By J Jabberwocky
I first read about it in the book about the FAA "Wings of the Morning" by Ian Cameron, published in 1962. I probably read it about 5 years later when I found it in our high school library. I was barely a teenager, so it has been doing the rounds for a long time, probably close to 40 years before that.
Agreed. And how much the seat could be raised / lowered. Note in how many USN aircraft of the 1930s the pilot has his shoulders well above the lower edge of the canopy.Some of it has to do with the distance back from the cowl/nose edge, the size of the engine and the the height the pilot's head is above the cowl top, the angle he can see downwards.
Devastator may not have been too bad, or, the Navy had worse?
The SBA was designed and built by Brewster, but the contract went to the Naval Factory, who then made changes and manufactured it as the SBN.But they built it anyway.
Agreed. And how much the seat could be raised / lowered. Note in how many USN aircraft of the 1930s the pilot has his shoulders well above the lower edge of the canopy.
All about the pilot's line of sight to the deck. But not the deck straight ahead. It is that bit of the port quarter where the Landing Signal Officer / Deck Landing Control Officer was standing that was important. So it was a few degrees off the nose depending on just how far out from the carrier the aircraft made its final approach fro, with the angle opening out as the deck got closer. Some of the photos here show exactly what I mean, in particular one taken from a Swordfish cockpit with the aircraft about 50 yards from touchdown.
BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO — Vintage Wings of Canada
You are standing at the very edge of a steel cliff, high above the Indian Ocean. You look backwards across a hot steel deck shimmering in the 100ºF heat to the vast expanse of pale white-blue ocean….www.vintagewings.ca
They started with open cockpits, but when cockpit canopies were introduced in the 1930s, take-offs and landings were carried out with the canopy locked open, something that continued into the early jet age when ejector seats became standard. Just in case an aircraft ended up in the water and a hasty evacuation was needed. A pilot could stick his head out the side of the cockpit to improve the view of the deck if required, provided he sat high enough.
The ideal location for the pilot of a carrier aircraft of the period was around the leading edge of the wing sitting high up giving a good view forward and down to the left. Unfortunately when the Corsair moved from the XF4U to the production F4U-1 the cockpit was moved aft 3ft making the view from the pilot's low seating position even worse. Raising the pilot's seat was one of the many changes moving from the F4U-1 to the F4U-1A in 1943.
As for the XSBA-1 and the 30 much delayed production SBN-1, note how the canopy line was raised with the pilot sitting much higher.
XSBA-1
View attachment 795118
SBN-1
View attachment 795119
Someone clearly recognised their mistake!
Be careful about sticking your head out the side of the cockpit. I recall my father saying that sometimes students would do that in a T-6 and the slipstream catching their headset would try to yank their ears off. They learned not to do that again.Agreed. And how much the seat could be raised / lowered. Note in how many USN aircraft of the 1930s the pilot has his shoulders well above the lower edge of the canopy.
All about the pilot's line of sight to the deck. But not the deck straight ahead. It is that bit of the port quarter where the Landing Signal Officer / Deck Landing Control Officer was standing that was important. So it was a few degrees off the nose depending on just how far out from the carrier the aircraft made its final approach fro, with the angle opening out as the deck got closer. Some of the photos here show exactly what I mean, in particular one taken from a Swordfish cockpit with the aircraft about 50 yards from touchdown.
BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO — Vintage Wings of Canada
You are standing at the very edge of a steel cliff, high above the Indian Ocean. You look backwards across a hot steel deck shimmering in the 100ºF heat to the vast expanse of pale white-blue ocean….www.vintagewings.ca
They started with open cockpits, but when cockpit canopies were introduced in the 1930s, take-offs and landings were carried out with the canopy locked open, something that continued into the early jet age when ejector seats became standard. Just in case an aircraft ended up in the water and a hasty evacuation was needed. A pilot could stick his head out the side of the cockpit to improve the view of the deck if required, provided he sat high enough.
The ideal location for the pilot of a carrier aircraft of the period was around the leading edge of the wing sitting high up giving a good view forward and down to the left. Unfortunately when the Corsair moved from the XF4U to the production F4U-1 the cockpit was moved aft 3ft making the view from the pilot's low seating position even worse. Raising the pilot's seat was one of the many changes moving from the F4U-1 to the F4U-1A in 1943.
As for the XSBA-1 and the 30 much delayed production SBN-1, note how the canopy line was raised with the pilot sitting much higher.
XSBA-1
View attachment 795118
SBN-1
View attachment 795119
Someone clearly recognised their mistake!
Agreed. And how much the seat could be raised / lowered. Note in how many USN aircraft of the 1930s the pilot has his shoulders well above the lower edge of the canopy.
All about the pilot's line of sight to the deck. But not the deck straight ahead. It is that bit of the port quarter where the Landing Signal Officer / Deck Landing Control Officer was standing that was important. So it was a few degrees off the nose depending on just how far out from the carrier the aircraft made its final approach fro, with the angle opening out as the deck got closer. Some of the photos here show exactly what I mean, in particular one taken from a Swordfish cockpit with the aircraft about 50 yards from touchdown.
BODY ENGLISH — The Science and the Art of the LSO — Vintage Wings of Canada
You are standing at the very edge of a steel cliff, high above the Indian Ocean. You look backwards across a hot steel deck shimmering in the 100ºF heat to the vast expanse of pale white-blue ocean….www.vintagewings.ca
They started with open cockpits, but when cockpit canopies were introduced in the 1930s, take-offs and landings were carried out with the canopy locked open, something that continued into the early jet age when ejector seats became standard. Just in case an aircraft ended up in the water and a hasty evacuation was needed. A pilot could stick his head out the side of the cockpit to improve the view of the deck if required, provided he sat high enough.
The ideal location for the pilot of a carrier aircraft of the period was around the leading edge of the wing sitting high up giving a good view forward and down to the left. Unfortunately when the Corsair moved from the XF4U to the production F4U-1 the cockpit was moved aft 3ft making the view from the pilot's low seating position even worse. Raising the pilot's seat was one of the many changes moving from the F4U-1 to the F4U-1A in 1943.
As for the XSBA-1 and the 30 much delayed production SBN-1, note how the canopy line was raised with the pilot sitting much higher.
XSBA-1
View attachment 795118
SBN-1
View attachment 795119
Someone clearly recognised their mistake!
Professor Propwash speaks truth!But they built it anyway.