Whistling Death - Vought F4U-4 Corsair 

As a boy I fell in love with Corsairs while watching Robert Conrad in 'Baa Baa Black Sheep''

the Hellcat, Thunderbolt, and Corsairs don't get enough respect

Hands down one of the most beautiful designs flown by the Allies during WW2

As a young man I knew a pilot by the name of Bruce Muir. He flew corsairs during World War II off the Bunker Hill. He had 32 kills with three assists. When the deck of the bunker hill was destroyed he and his flight were diverted to Pappy Boynton field and flew with him for 2 weeks. Later in the war he was jumped by four Japanese planes and was shot down and had to ditch in the sea. As he swam away from his plane he was continuously strafed by the Japanese. He was eventually picked up by a PBY. He suffered burns on the insides of both legs as his plane was going down. These scars were visible when ever he wore shorts. Later on in life he became the owner and proprietor of the Big Bamboo in Kissimmee Florida. Thats were I got to know him. He was a great guy and tough as nails. I learned allot from him. Rest in peace Bruce and thank you.

Wait, a 12 minute video talking about the Corsair with mention of it's specific sound rushing over it's wing air intakes...and no sample of the sound!? Devious.

The F4U was built at the Vought plant which is still here in Stratford Connecticut (although it hasn't been used for manufacturing in a few decades). The plant was originally the Sikorsky Aircraft plant (when Sikorsky was still producing airplanes), and United Aircraft (later United Technologies) merged Vought with Sikorsky, which is why the Japanese nicknamed the F4U "Sikorsky". My father was born in 1929, and when he was a teenager during WWII, he and his friends would go to edge of the airport across the street from the Vought plant to watch the test flights of the Corsairs. They would stand outside the chain-link fence at the Main Street end of the runway and wait for the F4U pilots to taxi up to them and turn around to take off. My father and his friends would grab onto the chain link fence, and the pilots would look at them in the rear-view mirrors and wave. Then the pilots would rev up the Corsair's engine, and my father and his friends would hold onto the fence as tight as they could while the prop wash from the F4U would lift them off of their feet until they were stretched out horizontally, while being pelted with dirt and gravel. Then the planes would take off, either for testing or delivery to the military. The road at the opposite end of the runway is officially named Long Beach Boulevard, but because it was the last road that the Corsairs would fly over before heading off to Asia during WWII, everyone here in Stratford calls it "Burma Road".

My father was in the 1st Marines in WWII. At Pelileu, he had a lot of stories about the Corsair. One, was the 'shortest bombing run' in history. The Marines held the airfield and the Corsairs would take off, drop napalm on the hills just past, and circle around and land without raising/lowering the landing gear.

This is my favorite airplane of all time. This and the F14. Black Sheep Squadron introduced me to this plane as a young man, I wanted to be Robert Conrad when I grew up.

Omitted the fact that the F4U did kill one Mig 15 in Korean War

This video is a prime example of "don't tell us, show us." Insert a clip of the famous sound after you tell us about it.

Six days before the end of WWII, on August 9, 1945, Canadian naval pilot Robert Grey flying a F4U Corsair earned the last Victoria Cross (VC) awarded during the War. He lead an attack on a group of Japanese ships off Okinawa and while the attack was successful, the VC was awarded posthumously.

Thank you so much for mentioning our Honduran Corsair famously known here as the FAH 609 and is currently preserved in static display in our museum.

Thak you guys so much for this video. The F-4U has always been my favorite WWII fighter, ever since the days of watching "Black Sheep Squadron" as a kid. Not quite as sexy as the P-51 but an absolute beast in the sky. My dad was a Navy vet in the Pacific in WWII and he used to tell me all sorts of Corsair stories. This video brought back a ton of good memories. Thanks again, and keep up the excellent work!

It won me over when I saw one at an airshow. It came flying by in a hard bank, and the sound of that big engine and huge prop cutting the air was the coolest thing I've ever seen.

In WWII my dad was a 17year old Marine assigned to Aviation Maintenance at MCAS El Toro. he was handed a brown tool box and sent out to the flight line to bleed the brakes on the F4U’s. He loved airplanes and thought he had the best job in the Marine Corps. Even ow at 93 he still talks about the Corsairs.

If you've ever wondered what the white lines on the fuselage forward of the cockpit were, they were tape to prevent leaking engine oil from the R-2800 engines from fouling the canopy.

Another P&W R-2800 legend, just like Thunderbolt and Hellcat

I'm so glad that you mentioned Fernando Soto's Corsair. Back here in Honduras, Col. Soto's story is highly revered. His plane has been safely kept, and you can go and see it. Col. Soto is considered the only "ace" im Latinamerican aviation history. There si a story as well, that tells that after the war between my country and El Salvador, Col. Soto met with one of the downed salvadoran pilots. When this happend, the Salvadoran Airmen saluted Col. Soto with respect. Nodding him for the feat, and finally bringing peace between the once enemys. Again, I do appreciate bringing Col. Soto's story up. It is a great channel. Keep up with the good work.

Had a great uncle who flew an F4U Corsair. Great plane. It saw him through his service.

As usual, another great video from Dark X. This particular video skimmed the surface of a question I've had for years, i.e. the performance differences between the F6F, F4U, and P-47 - given that they all had the same P&W R-2800 engine. Since all three of these single-engine WWII fighters are iconic US aircraft from that period, I would like to request a follow-up documentary comparing the three fighters - and what accounted for the various performance differences - given that they all used the same engine. I'm sure it would be an interesting story for those who subscribe to this channel - most of all me!

Sooo what did the Whistling Death sound like?!?!? I watched the whole video, i didn't hear any plane like sound or sounds....

I had the opportunity to hear the sound the F4U made in a dive back in the '80s when I worked at a small airport where one was housed. Its owner took it out for a flight one day and from about 5,000 feet dove at the runway and leveled off about 200 feet for a low pass at about 350 knots. Whistling Death is a polite name, screaming death is more like it. It was amazing and that memory will live with me.

When in grade school, I received a model airplane, it had a small gas motor, controls were with two strings, the model had gull wings, but the box was marked P51. I was in my forties before anyone could convince me the P51 didn't have gull wings. Sometimes, I still think the gull winged P51 was the best looking fighter!

These were made in Stratford, Connecticut and the factory buildings still stand there. Years later it turned into Avco-Lycoming which developed and built the Army Tank Engine for the Abrams.

My uncle Lt Wm Miller USN was killed in 1943 flying a F4U Corsair against the Japanese. He wanted to follow his father, a WW1 fighter pilot.

F4U-4 corsair was the most beautiful bird of its day…. Still beautiful after these many years.

Growing up in the 70s and beyond. Gregory Boyington was my hero. Not exactly the best roll model but at the sametime he was.

My favourite prop driven plane. I immediately fell in love with it as a kid after my air cadet officer showed me it’s unique wing shape and why they made them like that. I really love the lines on this plane….it’s somehow simple and complex at the same time if that makes sense to anyone. Like, you can tell it was super high tech for it’s era but also the lines on the body are just so simple and it’s like everything that wasn’t needed was carefully removed and all you have left is the most essential lines, resulting in simple, sleek, beautiful shaped airplanes. Plus that dark blue paint you sometimes see is really suitable to the plane. If I ever had Jeff Bezos money I’d totally buy one!!!

I'm glad you made this because the F4u is my favorite fighter of ww2 next to the P51. THX!!

The british thought up how to approach in a circular approach to allow the pilot to see the flight deck of an air craft carrier and land

They also saw action in the Atlantic Theater. These were one of my father's favorite planes while he served on the flight deck crew of a carrier in the North Atlantic. He often remarked on how one couldn't stand up on the flight deck when the pilot throttled up the engine in preparation for launch because the air wash from the 4-blade propeller was so strong. He also loved the looks of that gullwing design.

Some interesting points: The Fleet Air Arm didn't fix all the issues with the Corsair, it was very much a joint effort between the FAA, Vought and the US Navy and Capt. Eric Brown went to some length to stress that point in his recollections of the Corsair's development. He added it would be impossible to disentangle who was specifically responsible for what improvements. All FAA Corsair pilots were carrier qualified by the US Navy off the Maine and/or Rhode Island coasts. The Navy didn't reject the Corsair for carrier use so much as defer its inevitable acceptance; Why should they accept a not-yet-ready for carrier use aircraft when 1) they were still working to get carriers ready to sail and the Hellcat would be ready to go when they did and it was turning out to be very carrier friendly aircraft and 2) the Marines desperately needed an airplane ... NOW, so they got the Corsair. The FAA didn't have fewer accidents with the Corsair so much as they had no other realistic replacement for it, as did the US Navy in he Hellcat, so bit the bullet until the it could be updated, after which it was finally cleared for combat. The first use of the Corsair on a carrier in combat was by VF-17 Jolly Rogers on November 11, 1943 (Battle of the Solomon Sea) when, operating from a land base in New Georgia it (and other groups) flew CAP for the carriers (Bunker Hill, Essex, Independence, Saratoga and Princeton) whose aircraft were attacking Rabaul and landed on the carriers (Essex and Bunker Hill) for fuel and rearming (VF-17 was credited with 18.5 kills on this day). By contrast the FAA's carrier based Corsairs saw first combat on April 3, 1944 in Operation Tungsten (against Tirpitz).

My favorite WWII Fighter plane! I made a few models with my father as a Kid!

Thank you for this video. This is my favourite piston engined aircraft ever. Excellent...

So far as WWII aircraft are concerned, my all time favorite fighter has always been the F4U. The P51 was a fantastic fighter but for me it always ran a close second to the Corsair.

My father was a CPO Articifer in charge of damage control on all of Royal Navy Aircraft carriers in the Far East. Formidable and Indomitable was hit by Kamikaze planes off Okinawa, his team dumped tons of quick setting cement into the dent of the Formidable's flight deck to maintain flight operations. The BEST generation. RIP dad.x

There was a version of the F4U called the F2G which is powered by the mighty P&W R4360 Wasp Major

Amazing engineering detail was the bent wings to keep landing gear short and stronger and still have that massive prop. Made for a legendary design signature.

I wish you had found a simulation of the sound the plane makes while diving. That would have been sweet. Thank you for your work.

Replacing the original canopy with the Malcolm Hood greatly improved visibility and I think gave it a cleaner look.

My favorite - great job! Wish you would have mentioned Boyington though.

The factory in Stratford still sits there empty. They made the first sikorsky helicopter there, sikorsky flying boats, OSU-2 kingfishers, corsairs, huey and chinook engines, the first turbine engine, lcac engines, missile nose cones for minutemen, M1 Abrams tank engines, the list goes on. A fascinating history and abandoned for 25 years.

I had toys of these when I was a kid. I also discovered that there's one of these in a hangar at Ontario airport, California. One time while visiting there I had a chance to see it in person. What I found amazing is how huge it is for a single-seat fighter-- the front cowling and engine is truly an awesome sight when standing in front of it-- it towers over you. The one at Ontario looked like it was still flight-worthy, looked to be in excellent condition.

One of my WW2 faves. Thank you.

6:17 That is some absolutely unreal fucking footage, holy crap.

It looks like a big engine with a air plane bolted on. It's my favorite WW2 fighter plane.

Thanks for doing this video. The F4U is one of my all-time favorite aircraft

They also forgot that Lt Robert Hampton Gray won the Victoria Cross in a Corsair, Flying from HMS Formidable. The last Canadian VC of WW2.

my favorite fighter! When I was a kid I built a model of one

A sound bite for some of these sound specific videos like "whistling death" I can Google it but it would have been nice very good content keep up the good work

Beautiful aircraft

Supermarine Spitfire, Gloster Meteor plus I believe, Me 262 in Czechoslovakian guise were all WW2 fighters that continued in production after VJ Day. The British Fleet Air Arm used a clipped wing version of the Corsair that was landed by using a curved approach to port. The record breaking test pilot Captain Eric Brown, RN was instrumental in developing this technique. The Royal New Zealand Air Force flew the aircraft in the Pacific Theatre whilst a Canadian pilot flying with the FAA gained a posthumous Victoria Cross in a Corsair.

As usual this was well researched and presented. Very informative and entertaining.

Had the pleasure of watching an actual Corsair flying at a small airshow at my hometown airport a couple years back. First time in my 40 yrs actually seeing one in person. It does indeed whistle and is quite a large aircraft when standing next to it. Especially that propeller! I can not imagine the rudder input needed when you advance the throttle for takeoff..

Some much needed love for Vought from this channel, i approve

It's just something about those old piston driven planes that I love so much maybe it's the engineering and the brains that went into making these beautiful planes or what but you do have to admit that a lot of those old planes look so beautiful you can tell the guys that built them really put their blood sweat tears and love into building these things

It is so refreshing to view a YT video that is free of clickbait, lies or bias. I have always admired the Corsair since I watched the Black Sheep TV show. American ingenuity at its finest.

My grandfather always said, it was his favorite and also scariest plane. If you didn't respect it, it would take you down to the ground. He flew it for the length of his career before switching over to jets. He trained night flying for the navy during Korea. Edit: his saddest stories that haunt him to this day aren't war stories (since he didnt see combat) but training missions gone wrong and losing trainees in the corsair. A very mean machine that looked gorgeous.

The last time I was this early, the Germans still had 3 months of fuel remaining and could conduct strategic maneuvers and encirclements, with air support, instead of choosing which battle to use the avation fuel on and sending panzer divisions in a straight line and hoping for the best.

At spartan school of aeronautics in 1977 I got to work on the wasp 2800 engine. Can you say goose bumps when it startes!

That was wonderful Thankyou for making this video.

Read somewhere that the inverted gull wing was chosen so the wing root met the fuselage at a 90° angle to reduce drag.

AH, yes, i've been waiting for this one!

Back in the 1960's, my father took us to Opalocka Air Base in Miami. On a an old, unused section were 2 "surplus" Corsairs, still in decent condition (with flat tires). My dad asked a Navy man if they were for sale, and he said "put in a bid". He didn't, and we later found they had been sold for $500 - for BOTH ! One of my dad's big regrets was NOT bidding - he could have repaired them and sold them for a fortune later ! Oh, did I mention - he was a Navy mechanic on carrier duty in WW2 !

Ever since I was a kid and saw Baa Baa Black Sheep on cable at my grandparents house I have fallen in love with the F4U Corsair. It is by far the most beautiful fighter plane ever created in my personal opinion the F4 Phantom paid homage to it in its design.

Built an Airfix one of these when I was young always liked the gull wing

My dad flew this beast in the Marine Corps! He always called it the "bent wing bird!" My older brother told me once that...he wasn't sure if he was supposed to be in it..but he flew it anyway...not sure how many times he flew it though! He retired with over 10K flight hours in helicopters and fixed wing in Korea and did 2.5 tours in Vietnam throughout his 24 year career! I always miss you Dad! Semper Fi!

Growing up I watched the Black Sheep Squadron all the time. Fell in love with this aircraft.

One of my favorite planes, also a very well done video!

i have just recently become obsessed with the plane even switching from loving the p51 to the F4U

The Royal Navy fleet air arm used the Corsair n combat, in both the Pacific and Atlantic. The Brits showed the Americans how to land a Corsair on an aircraft carrier. Before then the American corsairs were land based only

The F4U Corsair, one of my favourite planes of WWII

I'm almost 72 years old I fell in love with that when I was a kid something about those goll wings, What a beautiful bird❤❤❤

Great stuff, the F4U is my favorite WWII aircraft, followed by the P-38 and P-51.

this is a perfect format for you guys to cover endless planes, ships, vehicles, etc. i would love to see more, exactly like this. great job guys. thank you

Dark skies rules. You pick the best aircraft for your videos. Keep ‘em coming.

What a planes! Puppy was a childhood hero of mine like many others on here. So many more stories of incredibly brave pilots.

I always respected and sought out your content. My one lingering question was “why can’t I be subjected to 24 adds while I watch this?”

The Corsair getting some love! My favorite allie fighter.

Back in the day, I was enjoying a nice sunset dinner with my gf at the 94th Aero Squadron restaurant(a nice replica of a WW1 battle damaged French farmhouse next to the Van Nuys airport runway. The waitresses wore sort of Red Cross nurse uniforms that were fantastic) When 3 or 4 Corsairs, presumably returning from filming Black Sheep Squadron, landed. I’ll always remember this. I think of it every time I watch a video on the F4u.

There's one of these at the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison, TX. Used to see it occasionally. Real shock the first time i was driving on LBJ Freeway and heard that Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp, looked up, and saw the unmistakable form of an F4U.

Love this plane

Every time I see one of these beasties, the opening theme from The Black Sheep Squadron goes through my mind. 😏

Baba black sheep squadron was my favorite tv show, Outstanding doc, love your work.

Thanks for slowing down with your speech, I can now hear what you’re saying and enjoyed your video much more THANK YOU again

I am 47 That is my favorite war plane because of my favorite show Black Sheep squadron

You didn't mention the Black Sheep Squadron flew Corsair's made many kills my dad was Instructor Pilot to most of the pilots

There was an F4-U Corsair in a local park when I was a kid. We used to climb onto the wing and slide off. The prop was enormous.

I saw some TV shows where these aircraft was used and the pride of the U.S. Marine Corps. I served in the Air Force and worked on the B-52 first and then the A-10 Thunderbolt, and finally the C-141's, C-5's, and C-130's and enjoyed my time in service and being able to fly on many of their aircraft.

The narrator sounds like he is on speed.

My dad was a test pilot for this plane had some amazing storys

Amazing history. Thanks for sharing.

Outstanding presentation as usual!👍👍👍👍👍

Landing a tail-dragger on a carrier deck must have been delightful. Jeez

Everytime I fight one of these in war thunder I always get smoked and now I know why lmao

As another history buff I've seen 2 videos from this channel and now I"m f*k'n hooked!

This is probably my favorite plane. The color and the gull wings alone would have had me sold.

Watchout Eminem, you got a new competitor

This is my second favorite fighter of WW2, the P-38 being first

My wood science prof in college was an inspector at a plant that made the tail aerilons of the Corsair. They were wooden and fabrics covered. The tolerances on the wood, clear fir and spruce was very high. They were actually more flexible to metal ones and responded to the stress better.