Comparison list between the F4U-1A and F4U-1D?

[Chris Hannover - Germany]

Hi all,

 

do we have a comparison list between The F4U - 1A and F4U - 1D?

I already know the canopy is a bit different. Are there some more major differents? A 1 houre google session got not much useful results...

 

I have the Trumpeter 1D kit and want to build a 1A Corsair.

 

 

Any help is welcome.

Thanks,

 

Chris

[LSP_Ray]

Let's see...

-1A had the extra canopy rail which you already know about.

-1A did not have the rocket rails or hardpoints on the wings. Some did have a centerline hard point for drop tank, and some field depot added "Brewster Rack" added to carry a bomb on the centerline.

-1A did not have the armament panel on the right(?) top of cowl(this was for the rockets and bombs).

-1A had a slightly different diameter prop, IIRC.

Need to check my ref's on this one, but it is possible the -1A had a slightly different tailwheel arrangement. One, they added a tailwheel extension at some point plus there was some modification to the tailwheel doors, and I am a little foggy on which variants the change was made.

-1A definitely did not have a cutout in the flap to use as a step.

That is all I can think of offhand.

[Chris Hannover - Germany]

Hello Ray,

 

thanks for the help!! It´s printed out, and i will see what i´m able to fix.

 

Thanks much,

 

Chris

 

Did you got the PM?

[Gary V.]

Actually, I think the -1a's did have an open step in the flap. I remember seeing an old photo with the step clearly showing. I will look for it. Meanwhile here is the Planes of Fame museum Corsair with the step visable on the starboard flap.

 

Sorry, couldn't get the picture to work. Here's the link:

 

http://www.air-and-space.com/20040516%20Ch...0flying%204.htm

 

There are two photos in which the step is visable.

 

and here:

 

http://f4ucorsair.tripod.com/graphics/f4u_cno4.jpg

 

and here:

 

http://f4ucorsair.tripod.com/graphics/f4u_sns5.jpg

 

and here:

 

http://www.psnw.com/~dpkav8r/corsair/cors7.jpg

[wingman777]

I know the F4U-1A had the glass panel in the floor that the pilot could see thtough by looking down between his legs. Did the -1D have it or not? Also one version had cowling gills that were symmetrical and the other version had them in different sizes depending on the location of that gill panel.

[Juggernut]

Never heard of cowl flaps difference between the -1 series. Now the F4U-4 had different cowl flaps than the -1 series.

 

The step in the flap on the planes of fame museum is a replacement flap from another hog. -1A corsairs did not have the step in the flap.

 

The prop on the -1A is larger in diameter than is the -1D 13' 4" vs. 13' 1" respectively. The propeller is completely different (specifically the blade shape) on the -1A.

 

Yes, the -1A series had the clear window whereas the -1D did not. However, alot of them were painted over using the underside color. No big deal here.

 

The tailwheel transititoned to the longer strut somewhere during the -1A production run. There is no conclusive proof when this was done. (none that I know of anyway)

 

I've never seen any armament panels in the cowl of a Corsair. I'm not sure what the poster meant unless he's referring to the XF4U-1, that had cowl machine guns.

 

-1A corsairs had wing leading edge fuel tanks whereas the -1D did not.

 

-1A corsairs may or may not have had the 6" stall strip on the right wing outboard of the wingfold.

 

-1A corsairs had the canopy frames and so did some of the -1D production run. this was removed during the -1D production run.

 

-1A corsairs (brewster built corsairs the exception) did not have underwing hardpoints for carriage of rockets and bombs. There was a provision for a centerline fuel tank though.

 

-1A corsairs were delivered to the US Navy in the standard three tone camoflauge of Nonspecular sea blue over Nonspecular intermediate blue of Nonspecular white undersides. Very few -1D corsairs were delivered in the tri-color scheme.

 

Cockpit colors on the -1A corsair were, for the most part, US Interior green whereas the Goodyear built FG-1D's had black sidewalls above the side control panels.

 

Both the -1A and -1D used the P&W R-2800-8 engine but if IIRC, only the -1D had water injection (nothing a modeler would be able to see)

 

Brewster did not produce and -1D Corsairs, but did produce -1A Hogs.

 

That's it for my memory on what the differences between the -1A and the -1D Hogs are.

 

Oh! The very early models of the -1A hogs had cowl flaps that extended completely around the circumference of the cowl. Later versions deleted the opened flaps on top of the cowl where the pilot had to look.

 

 

HTH

 

TimC.

[Pete G.]

Lots of good info here. Need to clarify a couple of points. According to D&S Vol. 55, the tailwheel was extended by 6.48 inches from -1A airframe BuAir 50080 onward. The window in the floor of the aircraft was also included only in a limited number of -1A models but was deleted at some point. Many of the windows that existed were painted over as they were not considered useful.

 

I think Ray is spot on with his assessment and didn't miss much if anything. I am also planning on backdating my Trump kit to a -1A. The prop on the -1 and 1A did have a larger diameter and a slightly different shape than the -1D. For me personally, the difference in props is very apparent. I plan on using a Rutman or Hasegawa F6F hub with Revell prop blades to make an accurate prop for the -1A. Somebody else probably has a better idea, but thats the best I could come up with so far.

 

Looking forward to seeing your build Chris! Based on your work posted, it should be fantastic!

[GVINCENT]

I undestand the Planes of Fame Corsair is a restoration. However, I went to several sites and found A LOT of pictures showing the step on the starboard flap. The pictures I found appear to be older, possibly wartime photos. I didn't list all the links I found but there are tons.

 

This was discussed somewhere else (another site) not too long ago (I wish I had saved the picture) and one of the participants in the discussion provided an old picture of a 1a that had the clearest (in my opinion) proof of the step.

 

I am no Corsair expert but I find it interesting that there is evidence of the step and so much debate about it. Maybe it was an early production thing or whatever, but it exists.

[Francis]

All those openings on the flaps of restored Corsairs is simple to explain. They used the flaps from the -4 models instaed of the correct ones. There is no war time photo evidence that these existed on the -1's. There was a long discussion on this a few years ago on Hyperscale.

 

Also, another note on differences of aircraft. Land based Marines Corsairs had the tailhook removed. Dont see this mentioned anywhere on this discussion. Though I would include it for good measure.

 

Francis

[Juggernut]

...there is evidence of the step and so much debate about it. Maybe it was an early production thing or whatever, but it exists.

 

This series of photographs, taken from the web, showing that there is NO step in the inboard flap on ANY Corsair prior to the F4U-4. This photo is of F4U-4's...note the prominence of the step.

[Juggernut]

Another...no step visible on the lower lefthand hogs.

[Juggernut]

And lastly, the best picture proving without doubt...there is no step on a -1A hog. This is a FAA Corsair II (aka F4U-1A). Notice the braced canopy and the fully extended flaps and the short tailwheel. Also note the clipped wings on the British hogs so they'd fit under decks.

[LSP_Ray]

I've never seen any armament panels in the cowl of a Corsair. I'm not sure what the poster meant unless he's referring to the XF4U-1, that had cowl machine guns.

Not armament in the cowl, the eyebrow switches that arm the machine guns in each wing are on the top left of a -1A (see Detail & Scale, page 36 photo top left) This panel was relocated from below the instrument panel on the -1 as they raised the seat a bit for better visibility as well as the bubble canopy in the -1A. On the -1D, they added a similar switch panel on the right side for arming the rockets and bombs that variant was capable of carrying. A decent drawing showing parts of both armament panels on a -1D is in the Warbird Tech book (Volume 4) on the F4u, on page71. The photo in D&S has had the panels removed unfortunately.

 

-1A corsairs may or may not have had the 6" stall strip on the right wing outboard of the wingfold.

a -1A would have the stall strip. I believe it was introduced late in the -1 run. If not, it was retrofitted to earlier models anyway so would be on there.

 

Also, a -1A would definitely NOT have the step in the flap, but the debate does rage on if it was available during the war. In D&S, Bert Kinsey claims it was added during the -1D production run, however I have yet to see one on a WWII photo. I have seen one on a RAAF aircraft just after the war ended. So either they were coming into the works about the end of WWII, or maybe the early ones had metal kick-in flaps so they looked closed when someone wasn't using them??? Anyway, sometime in the -4 run, they went to flaps with the open steps in them.

 

Another thing according to D&S: starting with build no.17930, the landing light under the port wing was deleted.

 

Also the -1A did not have the aerodynamic fairing in front of the tailwheel. I don't remember if the Trumpeter kit has that or not, but FYI anyway.

[Chris Hannover - Germany]

Maybe a silly question, but how does the pilots entered the cockpit without that step in the flap? The plane is very high, everytime to jump onto the wing is not the best solution, isn´t it?

 

However, i will check the Hasegawa Hellcat prop and compare it with the Trumpeter Corsair prop tomorrow and post a pic of them.

 

Thanks for all the trouble for helping me.

 

 

Thanks,

Chris

[Juggernut]

From what I have seen Chris, the pilot climbs on the wheel, then onto the wing then steps into the cockpit. There's probably other methods that others may know about but that's the only one I've seen in the newsreel footage.