Corsair or Hellcat

Corsair or Hellcat
San Diego, California (CA), US
At North Island Naval Air Station.

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voldude123 picture
voldude123
@ 2006-06-05 12:34:40
thats a F4U-1A corsair. im pretty sure of it
Hinkkanen picture
Hinkkanen
@ 2006-06-05 13:31:44
It looks too small to be either one compared to other aircraft around. Perhaps it is a homebuilt replica. These are usually smaller than the fullsize originals and are often sold in kit form from the firms like Loehle Aircraft Corporation (http://www.loehle.com/).
kjfitz picture
kjfitz
@ 2006-06-05 14:03:06
Based on its length the Google Earth Forums decided this was a hellcat.
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/0/Number/101270/page/vc/vc/1
Pdunn picture
Pdunn
@ 2006-06-05 14:08:09
Thanks for the info. You could be right, however, I would wager it's the real McCoy, simply becuase it is parked on the tarmac of a Naval Airstation that has other vintage aircraft like a pair of F9-F8 Cougar parked nearby.

I would imagine other than for airshows, the Navy would not allow home-builts to be birthed at the airstation. But I am only speculating.
voldude123 picture
voldude123
@ 2006-06-05 16:11:39
if you look at the wing, it is far to curved to be either an F6F or an F4F. and, if you look at the wings and the shadow, the wings look like a gull wing, a unique feature of the F4U. in addition to that, the cockpit looks like it is behind the wing, another tell tale feature of the Corsair. if its not a corsair, then its definately not a hellcat or a wildcat either. maybe a SBD Dauntless?
voldude123 picture
voldude123
@ 2006-06-05 16:14:49
to back up my last comment:
http://www.globalaircraft.org/photos/planephotos/f4u_4.jpg
Pdunn picture
Pdunn
@ 2006-06-05 16:39:14
I cast my vote with voldude123. Here is a Corsair from another map and it appears to have the similar proportions as the one pictured here:
http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/19598/
Pdunn picture
Pdunn
@ 2006-06-05 16:42:55
I did a little homework of the North Island Naval Air Station, and it turns out that it was home to the first ever squadron of F4-U Corsairs. Judging by this fact alone, I'm convinced it is a Corsair.

Here's the background: http://www.fighterfactory.net/airworthy-aircraft/navy-fg-1d-corsair.php
voldude123 picture
voldude123
@ 2006-06-05 20:20:49
yeah the reason why they had the gull wing was because the propeller was so big that it would hit the ground, but the designers wanted to have short landing gear. pretty ingenious design

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