John1 Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Another Corsair question, sorry if these are getting old! - I noted that the 32nd Tamiya F4U-1D kit provides the Mk 8 gunsight. This was a pretty basic unit, nothing more than a fixed reticle, not really that much different than what the USN started the war with. Just curious if this is accurate. By mid -45, the Army Air Corp was pretty much standardized on the K-14 gyro stabilized "ace-maker" gunsight. I thought I read that this unit was also pretty common on Hellcats, so would it have not be used on late-war Corsairs? The pics I've seen seem to indicate that the Mk 8 was the only sight used, I just find this to be surprising. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 Detail and Scale shows the Mk8 throughout Corsair production. Didn't see any K-14s on Hellcats either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted September 24, 2018 Author Share Posted September 24, 2018 11 hours ago, MikeMaben said: Detail and Scale shows the Mk8 throughout Corsair production. Didn't see any K-14s on Hellcats either. Thanks Mike. Don't recall where I heard that Hellcats had a gyro sight (may not have been a K-14 specifically) but so far in all the pictures I've seen it does look like the Corsair used the Mk 8 till the end of the war. Pretty surprising since the gyro sights truly gave pilots a huge advantage when shooting at an angle. The USAAF had them widely in service since late 44, I figured the USN would have followed. Oh well, at least I know the Tamiya sight is the correct one. MikeMaben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ade rowlands Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 Maybe the Gyros would be constantly upset by the roughness of carrier landings and general life at sea from pitching and rolling whilst parked topsides, sometimes minimal technology is the best approach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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