The Goodyear F2G Corsair, often referred to as the "Super Corsair", is a development by the
Goodyear Aircraft Company
Goodyear Aerospace Corporation (GAC) was the aerospace and defense subsidiary of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. The company was originally operated as a division within Goodyear as the Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation, part of a joint project ...
of the
Vought F4U Corsair
The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contracts ...
fighter aircraft. The F2G was intended as a low-altitude interceptor and was equipped with a 28-cylinder, four-row
Pratt & Whitney R-4360
The Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major is an American 28-cylinder four-row radial engine, radial reciprocating engine, piston aircraft engine designed and built during World War II. First run in 1944, at , it is the largest-displacement aviation ...
air-cooled radial engine.
Such a fighter was first conceived in 1939, when Pratt & Whitney first proposed the immense, 3,000
hp (2,200
kW) R-4360, and design work began in early 1944.
Design and development
Using experience gained building the F4U-1 under license – a variant known as the FG-1 – in early 1944, Goodyear modified a standard Corsair airframe to take advantage of the 50% increase in take-off power provided by the R-4360 engine. Known as the XF2G-1, the aircraft also featured a new all-round vision
bubble-type canopy.
A land-based variant, with manually-folding wings, was to be known as the F2G-1, while a
carrier
Carrier may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Carrier'' (album), a 2013 album by The Dodos
* ''Carrier'' (board game), a South Pacific World War II board game
* ''Carrier'' (TV series), a ten-part documentary miniseries that aired on PBS in April 20 ...
version with hydraulically-folding wings and arrestor hook was to be called the F2G-2. In March 1944, Goodyear was awarded a contract to deliver 418 F2G-1 and 10 F2G-2 aircraft.
Armament was to include four or six wing-mounted 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) machine guns and eight 5-inch (127 mm) rockets or two 1,000 or 1,600 lb (450 or 725 kg) bombs. The internal fuel capacity of the F2G was increased greatly over that of the F4U, and provisions were also made for two
droptanks.
However, post-production testing revealed deficiencies in lateral control and insufficient speed, which were bars to further development of the design. In addition, the
Grumman F8F Bearcat
The Grumman F8F Bearcat is an American single-engine carrier-based fighter aircraft introduced in late World War II. It served during the mid-20th century in the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the air forces of other n ...
– a rival design that had also entered production – had performance comparable to the F2G, even though it was powered with the same engine as the original F4U. By the end of the war in August 1945, when only 10 aircraft (five examples of each variant) had been completed, further production of the F2G was canceled.
Variants
XF2G-1: prototype. One converted from a standard FG-1 Corsair.
F2G-1: land-based variant, 418 ordered, five built, order cancelled.
F2G-2: carrier-based variant, 10 ordered, five built, order cancelled.
Operators
;
*
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
Surviving aircraft
Only two "Super Corsairs" still remain, after the others crashed, and only one of them is in flying condition.
; Airworthy (F2G-1)
* 88458 (better known as ''"Race 57"''): privately owned in
Bentonville, Arkansas
Bentonville is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, tenth-largest city in Arkansas, United States and the county seat of Benton County, Arkansas, Benton County. The city is centrally located in the county with Rogers, Arkansas, Rogers adja ...
. It was the fifth production aircraft and was purchased by
Cook Cleland, who went on to finish first in the 1947
Thompson Trophy Race and first in the 1949 Tinnerman Trophy Race. Over time, the aircraft, registered as NX5588N, went from owner to owner and slowly deteriorated. Finally, in 1996, NX5588N was purchased by Bob Odegaard of
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
, and was returned to airworthy condition in 1999. The aircraft was on loan to the
Fargo Air Museum
The Fargo Air Museum is an aviation related museum in Fargo, North Dakota. It is located at Hector International Airport in the northern part of the city. The museum includes many historic aircraft of which 90% are in flying condition.
History ...
. Odegaard raced the aircraft in the Unlimited class at the
Reno Air Races
The Reno Air Races, officially known as the STIHL National Championship Air Races from 2016, is a multi-day event tailored to the aviation community that takes place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, Nevada. A ...
from 2006 to 2008 and it was featured in the movie ''Thunder Over Reno''. The aircraft was bought in February, 2017 by Steuart Walton. It is based at Louise M. Thaden Airfield in Bentonville, Arkansas.
; On display (F2G-1)
* 88454:
Museum of Flight
The Museum of Flight is a private non-profit air and space museum in the Seattle metropolitan area. It is located at the southern end of King County International Airport (Boeing Field) in the city of Tukwila, immediately south of Seattle.< ...
in
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
.
"FAA Registry: N4324."
''FAA.gov'' Retrieved: 15 July 2021. It was the first production aircraft and was acquired from the Marine Corps by the Champlin Fighter Museum
The Champlin Fighter Museum was an aircraft museum located at Mesa, Arizona. It specialized in airworthy World War I and World War II fighters. After 22 years of operation, the Museum was closed on May 26, 2003, and its collection was moved to t ...
, and later came to the Museum of Flight
The Museum of Flight is a private non-profit air and space museum in the Seattle metropolitan area. It is located at the southern end of King County International Airport (Boeing Field) in the city of Tukwila, immediately south of Seattle.< ...
in Seattle with the rest of the Champlin collection.
Specifications (F2G-2)
See also
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
* Dorr, Robert F. ''US Fighters of World War Two.'' London, UK, Arms and Armour Press, 1991.
* Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War - Fighters (Vol. 4).'' New York: MacDonald and Company, 1961.
* Lockett, Brian
"Corsairs with Four-bank Radials".
''Goleta Air and Space Museum.'' Retrieved: 16 January 2007.
* Pautigny, Bruno (translated from the French by Alan McKay). ''Corsair: 30 Years of Filibustering 1940-1970''. Paris: Histoire & Collections, 2003. .
''Society of Air Racing Historians.'' Retrieved: 16 January 2007.
External links
F2G-1 Corsair on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodyear F2g Corsair
Goodyear aircraft
Inverted gull-wing aircraft
Racing aircraft
1940s United States fighter aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1945