FS2004/FSX Corsair F4U-1 WW2 fighter
==========================================
The Chance-Vought F4U Corsair was arguably the finest naval aviation fighter of its era. Work on this design dates to 1938 and was headed-up by Voughts Chief Engineer, Rex Biesel. The initial prototype was powered by an 1800-HP Pratt & Whitney double Wasp radial engine. This was the third Vought aircraft to carry the Corsair name. The graceful and highly recognizable gull-wing design of the F4U permitted the aircraft to utilize a 13-foot, three-blade, Hamilton Standard propeller, while not having to lengthen the landing gear. Because of the rigors of carrier landings, this was a very important design consideration. Folding wings were also required for carrier operations. The F4U was thirty feet long, had a wingspan of 41 feet and an empty weight of approximately 7,500 pounds. Another interesting feature was the way the F4Us gear rotated 90 degrees, so it would lay flush within the wing when in the up position. In 1939 the Navy approved the design, and production commenced. The Corsair utilized a new spot welding process on its all aluminum fuselage, giving the aircraft very low drag. To reduce weight, fabric-covered outer wing sections and control surfaces were fitted. In May of 1940 the F4U made its maiden flight. Although a number of small bugs were discovered during early flight tests, the Corsair had exceptional performance characteristics. In October of 1940 the prototype F4U was clocked at 405-MPH in a speed test. The initial production Corsairs received an upgraded 2,000-HP radial giving the bird a top speed of about 425-MPH. The production models also differed from the prototype in having six, wing-mounted, 0.5 caliber machine guns. Another change was a shift of the cockpit about three feet further back in the fuselage. This latter change unfortunately made naval aviators wary of carrier landings with the F4U, due to its limited forward visibility during landings. Other concerns were expressed regarding a severe port wing drop at landing speeds and a tendency of the aircraft to bounce off a carrier deck. As a result, the F4U was initially limited to land-based USMC squadrons. Vought addressed several of these problems, and the Royal Navy deserves credit for perfecting an appropriate landing strategy for the F4U. They found that if the carrier pilot landed the F4U while making a sweeping left turn with the port wing down, that sufficient visibility was available to make a safe landing. With a kill ratio of 11-to-1 in WW II combat, the F4U proved superior in the air to almost every opposing aircraft it encountered. More than 12,000 F4Us were built and fortunately a few dozen remain in flyable condition to this date.

Perhaps the most famous Pacific fleet squadron, and definately the one with the most recognisable insignia, was VF-111. The original Sundowners were established at NAS North Island on the 10th of October 1942 as VF-11. While at NAS Maui, for training prior to deploying into combat, the famous insignia was designed. Depicting two Corsairs shooting a "rising sun" into the ocean, it was stencilled onto each one of the units' F4U-I Corsairs, along with the legend "Sundowner" (numerals were not allowed upon unit insignia at that time). After a successful campaign during WWII VF-11 was redesignated as VF-111 in the spring of 1948. A member of VF-111 scored the first jet kill in aviation history by downing a North Korean MiG-15 in the early days of the Korean War.
The original VF-111 was disbanded on the 19th of January 1959.

Effects
--------
-On startup there is automatic engine smoke.
-Then follow the exhaust flames with smoke.
-Wing vortex effect appears by default at 2.5g or quick roll rate.(in FSX)
-Continuous blue flames with smoke if engine is running .
-You have WAR emergency power with the WEP gauge.
-Contrails from 20,000 ft.
-Wing cannon with flash, smoke and falling cartridges can be triggered with the standard Strobe key (O).
It is much nicer however if you put the FS2004 standard Strobe key (O) to the trigger from your joystick.You can change this in the Key menu.
It is a good idea if you replace the standard (L) key for lights by the L+CTRL, (normaly activating the landing lights only). This avoids you having to have all lights on when pulling the trigger.


Installation:
==============
-Unzip "Corsair Dbolt" into a temporary file and move the "Corsair Dbolt" folder into the main Aircraft directory.
-Attention...the panel.cfg files are different for FSX and FS2004.
-For FSX,change the FSXpanel.cfg into panel.cfg and let it replace the first one.
For FS2004,change the FS9panel.cfg into panel.cfg and let it replace the first one.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-Read instructions carefully , say YES...when asked if the gauges sources should be trusted. If you say no....some of the gauges are not going to work !
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-Leave the "fighters" cab in your panel folder.
-Copy the f4u1a_corsair.gau and WEP.gau into your flightsim
gauges folder.
-Copy the effects into the Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator X\effects folder and the 20can.wave in the sound folder.
ATTENTION :
-For FS2004, change the FS9_Wing_Guns.fx into fx_Wing_Guns
-For FSX change the FSX_Wing_Guns.fx into fx_Wing_Guns


Flying the model
================
This plane is a good flying machine. It feels a bit heavy and is sensible to the elevator trim.Take off is a bit slow and you'll have to use rudder to keep straight.
-CTRL+E opens the canopy
-Radiator flaps are opened/closed by the close cowl key.
TAKE-OFF :if you have manual rudder enabled, apply enough rudder and brake when you hit the throttle .
Better apply throttle proportionaly and slowly at first.
1.Parking brake on, start engine, 1/4 flaps
2.Disengage parking brake
3.Hold enough rudder, brake to keep the aircraft straight
4.Take off at about 100 Knots, let speed build up, as the plane at first sinks back to the ground, wheels and flaps up at 120 Knots.
5.Approach at 25% flaps, wheels down at 100 Knots.
6.Touchdown at 80-90 Knots.
7.To fire guns activate O-key or trigger.


CREDITS
=======
Special thanks to :
-To Sergio Dolcemascolo (Dbolt) who did many mods and the "big hog" textures
-To Evan G. Butterbrodt who made the "Sundowner"texture.
-To Scott Johnson (B24 Guy) who did the original cfs2 conversion.

LEGAL:
======
The project is released as freeware. You may modify it and repaint it. You may upload this file to another website as long as it is not for profit.
You need the written permission of the original authors to use any of these files for commercial purposes, otherwise a simple credit would be nice. Non commercial repaints-remakes are welcome but I would appreciate very much receiving a copy of your model.
This file should not cause any problems with your computer, but I accept no responsibility if you think it does.


Happy Landings!!

A.F.Scrub
January 2009
Email: af_scrubbypc@hotmail.com