F4U Corsair: 'Black Sheep' adopted by the Royal Navy

Said to be too difficult to deck land by the United States Navy, the F4U Corsair's raw power came as a saving grace to a Fleet Air Arm desperate for a new generation fleet strike fighter. Here its pilots remember their first impressions of the 18-cylinder beast, and how it was received by the Royal Navy.

[lieschenmultikill]

What a wonderful historical piece about this plane. There are loads of American documentaries, but I have never seen one of British pilots. Rare markings and different colored planes for modellers. What strikes the most is, that man make a machine run effective. Well trained and unspoiled Brits appreciated. Thanks a lot for this rare footage! Extremely appreciated! 👏👏👏

[Cardinal]

Love this. First hand account: "Typical American, overbuilt". And typical Brits. "We can sort this out with a few changes." Also enjoyed the note that the airframes were built by GM/Frigidaire. Ah, the good old days when you could buy a fridge that could survive landing on an armored deck without spilling the milk.

[dennismason]

Seeing the Brits embrace the Corsair warms me deep down inside. Plus the Brit camo and roundels.

[tonyblougoutas]

Good to know the Brits liked them, honor and gratitude to those who served, thank you .

[EthanBSide]

I never knew you Brits had the Corsair. I'm a US Marine's son (fighter pilot, but the F-4 Phantom II), so I love this plane. I'm glad you could tame her and love her too!

[iffracem]

Love the concept of actual pilots/users commentating. Far better than a person reading a script. Well done.

[bassmithbassist]

Why haven't I seen this before???? Absolutely incredible documentary from the British perspective on the F4U Corsair!!!! Thanks for posting!!!!

[redtomcat]

These are hard times for Great Britain and the US.  I was pleased and proud to hear the British veterans speak highly of the Corsair and America.  Thank you all !!!

[Caratacus]

Always liked the look of the Corsair. It just looks mean.

[xipingpooh]

I’ve been looking for interviews with Royal Navy pilots and their thoughts on the Corsair. This was great, thanks for posting it!!

[veritasvincit]

My grandad was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm rigger at HMS Garuda (repair yard) in India during the war. He also spent some time on them in Sri Lanka (Ceylon as it was called then).
He loved them. He worked on Wildcats (he never called them Martlet), Seafires and did his trade training at Garston on Swordfish but the Corsairs were the ones he talked most about.

[mugofbrown]

An absolute beast of a machine. One of my favourites. The Fleet Air Arm clipped the wings and used a curved approach on landing.

[russellwilliams]

My father was on H.M.S FORMIDABLE and maintained these aircraft .God Bless You Dad....

[duran]

Awesome video the Royal Navy's participation in the latter stages of the Pacific war is hardly covered but great job here on this video can't wait for part 2

[johnmunro]

"6 planes were delivered, and 6 women got out of them. There were no more complaints after that" the glorious ferry pilots!

[iancarr]

Fascinating video and commentary. Looking forward already to the next part. Great work Jamie and AI.

[jonathanisernhagen]

These gentlemen are completely charming. To have earned their approval was such an honor for Chance-Vought.

[Trojan]

Great interviews, thanks. Got to talk with Marine F4U & US Navy Aces when put on air combat symposiums in 90’s & early 2000’s . They liked it in combat but until landing gear modified it bounced on deck . Also needed spoiler on wing to control snap stalls. British had to crop wing tips to fit their smaller carriers hangers but this cured stall problem.

[robertphillips]

Ed McMahon from the Tonight Show flew these planes and was an instructor during WW 2 as a Marine.

[cliffcampbell]

It's so weird seeing the F-4U Corsair painted that way. I'm so used to seeing it in (mostly) blue with a big white star.
It was the British that figured out aircraft carriers with an angled deck could launch and retrieve aircraft at the same time (also something with mirrors for the landing pilots too).