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Last update:
12/21/2012
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Goodyear F2G-1 Super Corsair |
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Scale 1:32 |
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Author: William Aldridge |
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Please take a look at
Our Offer page before placing an
order. |
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Price $12.00 |
F2G-1 Super Corsair
Four versions of the model are included
1. Airplane with bomb racks and rocket
launchers
2. Airplane in Naval Air Test Center
markings
3. Overall white
4. As seen in Seattle Museum of Flight
File size - 59.8 Mb
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Model # 068 |
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Buy Race #57,
Race #74 and military version together |
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Valid only for all three planes
purchased at the same time |
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Price $26.00 |
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If ordering a CD, please
add $5.75
for Shipping & Handling. One charge per order. |
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Technical data: |
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Length |
10.31m |
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Span |
12.49m |
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Engine |
Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major,
3,500hp |
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Max Speed |
724 km/h |
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Crew |
1 |
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Contrary to popular belief,
the Super Corsair was not designed in response to the Kamikaze threat,
although when the Kamikaze’s started screaming down, the program was
speeded up for a time. Pratt and Whitney had been working on their next
generation radial engine, the monster R-4360 Wasp Major and it was
suggested that it could be installed in the Corsair. The R-4360 had 28
cylinders and seven Magnetos and weighted in at about 3000lbs. In order
to get the necessary air flow around the cylinders a spiral shape was
adopted hence the nickname “Corncob”.
After the
engine was successfully installed and tested in an F4U-1, Goodyear was
tapped to design a production version because Vought was busy building
regular Corsairs. In order to fit the much longer engine into the plane,
the firewall had to be moved aft 11”. The wing and tail structures also
had to be beefed up to handle the increased loads imposed by the heavier
engine. In addition to that, the carburetor intake was moved from the
wing roots to the top of the cowling and larger oil coolers were
installed. It was found that during a go-around the Corsair's already
large rudder was incapable of countering the massive amounts of torque
produced by the new engine, so the vertical tail surface was heightened
by 12” to accommodate an auxiliary rudder that only deflected when the
flaps were lowered. The other major change that makes the Super Corsair
instantly recognizable was the cutting down of the turtle deck behind
the cockpit so a full bubble canopy could be added.
The Super
Corsair was designed in 2 versions the F2G-1 and the F2G-2. The F2G-1
was the carrier version with a slightly smaller diameter prop for better
deck clearance, a tail hook, and the hydraulics necessary to fold the
wings. Both versions had folding wings but the land based version’s had
to be folded by hand. By the time Goodyear had produced five production
versions of each variant the Navy decided that Grumman’s excellent
Bearcat was all the interceptor it needed and cut the contract.
In 1946
the Cleveland air races resumed and were dominated by surplus Mustangs
from the US Army Air Force. Inter service competition being what it was,
the Navy wanted to get into the winners circle. Cook Cleland, an ex-navy
dive bomber pilot who had raced a regular Corsair in 1946 without too
much success, took his case to Admiral Halsey who asked what it would
take to win. Cleland’s answer was “An F2G Corsair”. A couple of days
later the five F2G-1’s were declared surplus and sold for $1250
each. Cook Cleland snapped up four of them and a gentleman by the name of
Ron Puckett got the fifth.
After
feverishly working to get the planes ready for the 1947 Cleveland races,
Cleland took the first place in his personal plane #74 with teammates Dick Becker and Ron Puckett
rounding out the top three for a clean sweep for the Super Corsairs. The
race however was marred by the fatal crash of Cleland's other teammate,
Tony Jannazo flying race #84. It is believed that he was overcome by
carbon monoxide.
With the crash
of #84 Cleland transferred it’s civilian registry number (N5588N)
to his fourth corsair, painted it in it’s distinctive red and white
starburst scheme and gave it the number 57. Ben McKillan gained some
success with it winning the 1949 Tinnerman trophy and placing 3rd
in the Cleveland air races that same year.
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Model built and photographed by Michael Dixon. Wing folding
mechanism has been scratch-built by Mike. Base is not included. |
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