Beautiful job on the paint and a great video. I was the historian at AirCorps Aviation who researched the paint scheme and found and contacted John S. Bolt, John's son. You folks do amazing work! It is great to see it flying.
I do remember that in June of 78, they brought a Corsair to Porterville, Ca for the annual moonlight fly in, along with the Corsair they had THE real Pappy Boyington there of which I got his book signed by him, I also remember my dad giving me a boost up to look inside the cockpit to check it out, one of the ground crew kind of got upset but when my dad explained to him that he flew these with VMF 211 during the war he kind of hushed up, one of the other things that I do remember is when my dad and Pappy made eye contact, they did remember each other and shook hands, what memories.
Was your dad one of the many guys that Boyington would bully when he would get drunk? ( about 4-5 days a week) I read a lot of stuff saying that Boyington was a total dick... drunk asshole to everyone around him.
She turned out gorgeous. Thanks for honoring a part of Corsair history that not many know about and for honoring Lt. Col. John Bolt. I hope to see her in Oshkosh this year.
Fantastic, I would like to congratulate everyone who worked on the restoration of this beautiful Corsair. I hope someday I'll have the opportunity to see a Corsair flying!
Seeing that beautiful Corsair gave me goosebumps. It is so beautiful. I had never seen one in those colors before. Thanks for sharing a great story about a great airplane flown by great pilots.
This story and video is beyond cool. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. So respectful and gracious to so many different military people, our Marines, Chance Vought employees, the French, and this long produced aircraft. That late model Corsair with the 20 millimeter guns has been one of my favorite World War 2 type aircraft since the early 1980's when I was obsessed with Black Sheep Squadron show and especially considering that it was also used in Korea. It is amazing that particular aircraft was still being manufactured in 1952 a full seven years after the World War 2 ended. Thank God there were people and the U.S. Marines to at some point to care for that aircraft throughout the decades and of course the French too for selling it back to us. Sorry for the ramble people, this video just helped me to screw my head back on correctly after a very rough Monday. Happy Holidays to all.
Wow! Huge respect to all those who restored her. What a wonderful privilege and enormous responsibility to fly her. Best wishes from a PBY5A and Stearman Pilot in the U.K. 🇬🇧
Awesome history of this aircraft and super proud its been fully restored to keep the history of this aircraft for everyone to see and remember the greatest generation in American history of World War 2 hands down!!! ❤
my father was an F-AU1 and F4U-7 pilot in the French naval air force. He is a veteran of the events in Algeria and took part in the Battle of Bizerte, Tunisia. it is possible that he flew on this plane. I will have to consult his flight logs. I find it honorable to honor a pilot, but concerning this plane, it would be totally brilliant to restore it in its original colors and markings, in the colors of the French naval aeronautics. there is none and its F4U-7 specificity deserves it!
I know a wee bit about statistics and characteristics of this sort and that, and I view them with passing interest. All I need to fall in love is to look. That’s a beautiful bird!
I have to agree with the comments made by Wayne Flanigan...The site and sound of any WW2 piston powered fighter or bomber aircraft in flight almost always tears me up.I think of all the young lads who flew up on every mission saying...let's try not to get killed today ...what a job... Salute.
Awesome piece of Aviation history nice work!!!! Just curious why does she sport the USAF stars n bars from Sep. '47 If she was painted in the Marines colors?
The French navy was an important user of American carrier base aircraft like Corsairs, Hellcats, Helldivers, Avengers, Dauntless, HSS and HUP-2 Choppers, SNJ land based trainers, Privateer, PBY, P2V...French air force had P 47, AT-6, T-28, C47, C119, Bearcat, Skyraider... and many more, almost all the invetory of piston engine aircraft available after the WW2, the French navy was also the very last user of the last gunfighter the F8-E ( FN) Crusader, with a special version of the F8-E like the F 4U-7 few years ago...
Nice .....! But why don't keep it in F4U7 version? This is a special model for French Navy fitted with the F4U4 engine and a mix with the AU1 version ! French wanted an interceptor and a ground attack in the same plane !!!
wrecked in may 2019 . Looks like it was totaled . or at least very bad wrinkle down the fuse gear ripped off left wing spar bent. Are they rebuilding it?
I saw this bird at Oshkosh and it had a major oil spill there. What a mess. Also the rudder was flapping back and forth in the wind. No control lock. Then I heard it crashed a year or two later. Anybody know the current status of this aircraft?
+ deadcarnahans The accident ripped a hole in the main spar. It can be fixed but a new spar might have to be manufactured or sourced. I see that the registration is still active so perhaps it will get rebuilt eventually.
I'm so bummed! How are we supposed to enjoy the moving and inspirational marching music at the end without the annoying sound of the airplane in the background?
Why do we have to listen to the Damned music when the airplane makes plenty of music would like to hear a taxi out but you can't hear that damn crap music
+Ethan Gadis Banged-up but hardly totaled. It can be fixed but they are going to need a new aft spar. The pilot reported losing power on takeoff at mid-runway, not an ideal time. He cut the throttle and applied the brakes and went into the dirt.
@@skiptalbot I can't find any updates. I had read that the spar was ripped, and the Corsair spar is a very complex structure in the aircraft. New restorations have been able to manufacture a new spar but it will probably take a while unless a spare wing is sourced.
