F4U-1 Corsair

The museum’s F4U-1 is a rare “Birdcage” Corsair,  its cockpit canopy featuring framed panels rather than the bubble canopies of later versions. It saw limited service before crashing into Lake Michigan during carrier qualification on June 12, 1943. Vought engineer Rex Beisel designed the Corsair around a powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine, the propeller blades that stretched 13 feet in diameter necessitating a unique inverted gull wing. The F4U Corsair’s maximum speed exceeded 400 M.P.H. Read More