Vought F4U Corsair

By Charles Stafrace

A piston-engined combat aircraft that managed to remain in frontline US Navy service for more than thirteen years in the 1940s to the 1950s, must have had something special. Such was the F4U Corsair, which entered US Navy service in 1942 and was not withdrawn until 1955. During that period the Corsair served in the Second World War and in the Korean War, generously contributing considerably to the war effort and achieving notoriety in the able hands of USMC pilots. The British Fleet Air Arm, too, flew the type in the Second World War, and indeed it was they who first employed it in deck operations. In 1956 the French Navy used it off its carriers during the Suez Crisis, and in Latin America it was still in use as a combat aircraft in 1978! Written by Charles Stafrace and illustrated by Richard J. Caruana, both familiar names in the Warpaint series, this publication covers the Corsair from its inception to its retirement.  The book's 72 pages also contain 142 colour and B&W photographs, 7 pages of colour drawings and a set of 1:72nd scale drawings as well as the usual data expected in the Warpaint series such as a comprehensive charts with squadrons and representative serials and production lists.