F4U Corsair vs P-51 Mustang

[Dan Fahey]

No Dan, they did not, they rebuild the entire airplane, depending on the airframe and Cavilier model, only certain components were rebuilt. There were a lot of surplus, used parts and components on those airframes to include the later ones. The term "rebuilt" or factory new can only be affixed by the original airframe manufacturer although the military loosely throws that term around. I'm not sure how many had H tails but I'm sure they were probably the ones made from 1967 on.

Just curious the addition of the H-Tail.
Guessing it improved the handling for landing.
Any high speed benefit?

 

[Dan Fahey]

Well youall will have to decide if this counts or not. The I-30 (Yak-3 prototype) and the UTI-26 (Yak-7
prototype) first flew in 1941. Along with some Yak-9s they were reproduced from 1991 to 2002 in
Russia with Allison engines. I believe that's considered longevity of design.

Interesting the Allison was smaller in displacement and weight.
How did they perform over the Kimlov Vk105 and Vk107?

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Just curious the addition of the H-Tail.
Guessing it improved the handling for landing.
Any high speed benefit?

The later ones I believe had 1800 HP engines so I'm sure the H tail helped with the additional HP and torque.

 

[CORSNING]

Interesting the Allison was smaller in displacement and weight.
How did they perform over the Kimlov Vk105 and Vk107?

Yak-3M

 

[Dan Fahey]

The later ones I believe had 1800 HP engines so I'm sure the H tail helped with the additional HP and torque.

They got the more reliable Late model transport heads.
The improved engine performance must have been good..

 

[jalistair]

Ok agree - but by your verbiage it sounded like you were addressing a variation of a production model (F4U vs F4U-5N)

Now the combat you speak about occurred during the Soccer War and the Honduran pilot who flew the F4U was a very good pilot. A former neighbor (who flew P-51s during WW2) trained him. At the end of the day, this still doesn't prove much.

Really? I bet you guys had some interesting conversations, did you talk about the Soccer War much? Agree with you that the dog fight doesn't prove much about the aircraft, more so about the pilots. My world was the AH-64D, had fellow pilots who had trained the Egyptians on the same bird and also know several Israelis. The interesting thing is that all three nations essentially fly the same aircraft other than some electronics. Yet the competency level isn't even close to the same. The Israeli pilots view the Egyptian aircraft as forward deployed reserves for the IAF while the American IP's would state that the inconstancy of the Egyptians renders the AH-64 all but useless. So... it is quite likely that Honduras had better pilots.

 

[jalistair]

"Well I am American so when mentioning production runs Germany never crossed my mind and still doesn't. As for the DC-3, that is not a single engine plane. The Cessna isn't a military plane. "

J jalistair - go back an look at your original post

"I do believe the Corsair was the longest produced single piston engine plane"

Nothing is mentioned about a "combat' aircraft.

Fair enough.

 

[jalistair]

Know a good bit about this war especially how and why it got started.
The Soccer games were only part of the issue and Refereed games as intense as these.

On the aircraft side...
El Salvador bought civilian Mustangs and Corsairs outfitted them up for combat.
Bought several Cavalier Mustangs with up-rated Merlins and wing tip tanks.
Merlin's with the good transport cylinder heads.
They grabbed up T-28,s Texans and DC3/C47s.
Converted the C47's into Bombers.

Hondurans had purchased F4u-4 and -5's.
Fernando Soto shot down two -1 Corsairs and the Cavalier Mustang.
Salvadorians after the loss pulled the wing tip tanks off the other Cavalier Mustangs.
El Salvador lost two Mustangs to AA and two crashed in midair.
Added up had to be about a third of their force.
Both sides did hire mercenary pilots.

Honduras did well in the air war but was losing the ground war.
Figured the Mustangs and Corsairs were effective enough staffing and bombing Honduran positions.
OAS intervened to stop it and got it stopped
Has took decades to sort out all the disputes with a final agreement signed in 2013.

Ah, South American politics....

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Really? I bet you guys had some interesting conversations, did you talk about the Soccer War much?

Always enjoyed talking to Mike. He trained Soto, said he excelled in gunnery. Mike was part of the post WW2 military assistance program where we sent US instructors to train Central and South American pilots.

Michael Alba | American Air Museum in Britain

 

[Admiral Beez]

Did the British variant suffer due to its shorter wingspan?