Quote:
Originally Posted by Llarry
The irony is that in 1943-44 the F4U was kept off carriers because of "lack of carrier suitability." That changed in 1945 and by the Korean war period, the Marines, such as your dad, operated F4Us off of smaller carriers (USS Bataan CVL 29 in your photo) and even smaller escort carriers (CVEs). The F4U stayed in the fleet until past the end of the Korean war before finally being replaced by jets.
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My dad told me how the pilots had to land on carriers. Even after they altered the landing gear to make it softer, it was still a bitch to land on a carrier because of the long nose. I wish he was around to tell those stories. What a time it was.
After Corsairs were replaced by jets, he started flying the early version the F2H Banshee. He hated it for lack of power.