Goodyear F2G Corsair

F2G "Super" Corsair
F2G-1 "Super" Corsair #88458, painted as Race #57, owned by Bob Odegaard of Kindred, North Dakota, flying at the 2005 AirVenture at Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Role	Carrier-based fighter aircraft
Manufacturer	Goodyear Aircraft
Designer	Rex Beisel
First flight	15 July 1945
Introduction	1945
Retired	1945
Primary users	United States Navy Numerous air racers
Number built	10
Developed from	F4U Corsair

The Goodyear F2G "Super" Corsair was a development by the Goodyear Aircraft Company of the FG-1/F4U-1 Corsair design as a special low-altitude version of a fighter equipped with a Pratt & Whitney R-4360 twenty-eight-cylinder, four-row radial air-cooled engine. Although often cited that the origin of the aircraft was as an interceptor of low-flying Japanese suicide airplanes, its actual beginnings came about in 1939 when the Pratt and Whitney company first proposed its enormous new engine. Thus the F2G lineage was tied to its engine design rather than tactical requirements.

Design and development

A U.S. Navy F2G-1 in 1945.

Using experience from building the fixed-wing FG-1, a version of the folding wing F4U-1 Corsair, in early 1944, Goodyear extensively modified a standard FG-1 airframe, designated the XF2G-1, to take advantage of the 50% increase in take-off power provided by the R-4360 engine. In addition, an all-round vision bubble-type canopy was installed. In March 1944, Goodyear was awarded a contract to deliver 418 F2G-1 and 10 F2G-2 aircraft. The F2G-2 version included modifications for carrier operations.

Armament provisions included alternative wing-mounted installations for four or six 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 was increased greatly over that of the FG-1, and provisions were provided to carry two droppable external tanks.

By the end of the war in August 1945, only five each of the F2G-1 and F2G-2 aircraft were completed. Testing revealed deficiencies in lateral control and insufficient speed, which were bars to further development of the aircraft. In addition, the Grumman F8F Bearcat, that could do all the F2G could do, was already in production making the F2G redundant. Thus, further production of the F2G was canceled.

Survivors

Only three of the "Super Corsairs" are still in existence

• F2G-1 Corsair, BuNo. 88454, is on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington. It was the first production aircraft and was acquired from the Marine Corps by the Champlin Fighter Museum, and later came to the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington, with the rest of the Champlin collection.

• F2G-1 Corsair, BuNo. 88458, better known as "Race 57", is airworthy and owned by Race 57 LLC in Chandler, Arizona. 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 plane, registered as NX5588N, went from owner to owner and slowly deteriorated. Finally, in 1996, NX5588N was purchased by Bob Odegaard of North Dakota, and was returned to airworthy condition in 1999. The aircraft is currently on loan to the Fargo Air Museum. Odegaard raced the plane in the Unlimited class at the Reno Air Races from 2006 to 2008 and it was featured in the movie Thunder Over Reno.

• F2G-2 Corsair, BuNo. 88463, better known as "Race 74", is airworthy and owned by Thomas Ungurean in Coshocton, Ohio.. The aircraft was one of four F2G-2 sold by the Navy to Cook Cleland in 1946. Cleland took the aircraft to the Cleveland Air Races where he won the 1947 Thompson Trophy in "Race 74". When the Cleveland races ended in 1950 Cleland abandoned the all the F2G-2 at their home field in Willoughby, Ohio. "Race 74" was rescued at Willoughby by local aircraft collector Walter Soplata. The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland eventually purchased "Race 74" from Soplata, and sent it to Odegaard Aviation for restoration to static display. When the museum fell on hard times several years ago "Race 74" was sold to Thomas Ungurean of Coshocton, Ohio. Ungurean had "Race 74" sent back to Odegaard Aviation for restoration to flying condition. The aircraft has been finished in its 1949 configuration, appearing in the markings it wore when it was flown by race pilot Dick Becker. The aircraft made its first post-restoration taxi trials on 24 June, 2011, and was expected to appear at AirVenture 2011 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Ungurean has also stated his intention to take "Race 74" to the Reno Air Races in 2011, although not as a competitor. On 18 July 2011, the aircraft made its first post-restoration flight at Kindred, North Dakota. After encountering engine problems on a following flight, the aircraft is back in restoration awaiting further engine repairs.

Operators

United States

• United States Navy

Specifications (F2G-2)

Data from^{[citation needed]}

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 33 ft 9 in (10.3 m)
• Wingspan: 41 ft (12.5 m)
• Height: 16 ft 1 in (4.9 m)
• Wing area: 314 ft² (29 m²)
• Empty weight: 10,249 lb (4,649 kg)
• Loaded weight: 13,346 lb (6,054 kg)
• Max. takeoff weight: 15,422 lb (6,995 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-4360-4 "Wasp Major" 28-cylinder radial engine, 3,000 hp (2,200 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 431 mph (374 knots, 694 km/h) at 16,400 ft (5,000 m)
• Range: 1,955 mi (1,699 nm, 3,146 km) with external tanks
• Service ceiling: 38,800 ft (11,800 m)
• Rate of climb: 5,120 ft/min (26.0 m/s)
• Wing loading: 42.5 lb/ft² (208 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (370 W/kg)

Armament

• Guns: 4× .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns, 400 rounds/gun
• Rockets: 8× 5 in (127 mm) rockets or
• Bombs: 1,600 lb (725 kg)

See also

Related development

• F4U Corsair
  

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• F8F Bearcat
• Hawker Sea Fury
  

Related lists

• List of fighter aircraft
• List of military aircraft of the United States
  

References

Notes

Bibliography

• 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. ISBN 2-913903-28-2.
• "Racing Corsairs." Society of Air Racing Historians. Retrieved: 16 January 2007.

External links

• F2G-1 Corsair on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle
• F2G-1D Corsair in flying condition at Odegaard Aviation