@ Chantilly, VA
August 2018
This Vought F4U-1D Corsair soars over the main exhibit floor at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Smithsonian annex at Washington Dulles International Airport. This warbird is painted in the livery of the Corsair “Sun Setter,” a Marine close-support fighter assigned to Marine Fighter Squadron VMF-113 in July 1944. The gull-wing design, a design solution to accommodate the 13 ft diameter Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propeller, makes the F4U one of the most distinctive fighters of World War II. First flown on May 29, 1940, it was the first single-engine fighter able to exceed 400 mph in level flight. More than 12,500 of these warplanes were produced. The -1D model introduced a single piece “blown” clear-view canopy, along with a new water-injected R-2800-8W Double Wasp engine boosting tope speed to 425 mph.
