WARBIRD RADIO – According to a recent news release Planes of Fame Air Museum will soon hosts its monthly Living History Event. Open to the public, the Museum doors open at 9:00am. The theme for August 3 is the “Whistling Death – Solomon Islands”, featuring the Vought F4U Corsair. The featured speakers will present on the topic. Following the presentation, the F4U will perform a demonstration flight. At 12:00 noon, following the presentation, there will also be a Membership Sponsored raffle flight.
The F4U, Whistling Death-The Solomon Islands. The unique shape of the Corsair is a product of the designers’ requirement to combine a powerful engine swinging a large propeller with a low wing and a relatively short and strong main landing gear. The resulting inverted gull wing configuration made the Corsair one of the most recognizable fighters of World War II.
The Corsair was developed for operation from aircraft carriers, but its aft cockpit location and long over-the-nose visibility made traditional carrier landings difficult. Many early Corsairs were transferred to the Marine Corps which flew them as land based fighters from Pacific islands. In the Solomon Islands, one of the most famous Marine squadrons that flew the Corsair was VF-214, the Jolly Rodgers, also known as the Black Sheep, led by Gregory “Pappy” Boyington. The exploits of this group were fictionalized in the television series Baa Baa Black Sheep in the 1970s.
Like most aircraft developed at the beginning of the war, the Corsair was constantly improved during the course of the conflict. Corsairs were built under license by Goodyear and Brewster. Corsairs were used by the U. S. and other forces during and after the Korean conflict.
The museum’s F4U was acquired from a movie studio in the 1970’s. In 1976, the F4U was restored to flying condition in a stock F4U-1 configuration. Since restoration, the Museum’s Corsair has taken part in numerous airshows and flown in a variety of Hollywood productions, including the Baa Baa Black Sheep television series, Airwolf, Space, an IMAX film, and an ABC Wide World of Flying video.
The Planes of Fame Air Museum’s Corsair is currently the oldest airworthy F4U in the world.
The Planes of Fame Air Museum, founded in 1957 by Edward Maloney, is where aviation history lives. It is the oldest independently operated aviation museum in the United States. The museum collection spans the history of manned flight from the Chanute Hang Glider of 1896 to the space age Apollo Capsule. The mission of Planes of Fame Air Museum is to preserve aviation history, inspire interest in aviation, educate the public, and honor aviation pioneers and veterans. The Museum sponsors regular events in the form of inspirational experiences, educational presentations, flight demonstrations, and air shows in fulfillment of this mission.