Warbird Information Exchange

Here is the 2 seat Corsair.


Mark F.

YUP - we had a "two seat" corsair here in Wendover last year for our show. The Corsair looked beautiful - nothing like Mark's photo, BUT, the 2nd seat looked terrible to sit in. The "back seater" has to get in, sit down and strap in - then the pilot fold his seat into position, effectively sealing you in, and off you go - it seems to me that if anything were to happen you are already in a good position to kiss your tail goodbye!

On the replica side, I have often thought that if you could get a good builder and do one of the WAR replicas with composites (a la extra 300 or MX2) and a slightly bigger engine it would be a real go getter (on a small scale)

Tom P.

These are the two I was thinking of. The one on the left was a factory job, the one on the right clearly not, but less obvious than the 2-seater photo above. I hope they reinforced that one - that's a big hole they cut in that plane.

http://www.corsair82.com/corsair/seats/seats.html

I know I have posted these before. I have ridden in the back of the -5 in Kalispel. It is reallllly comfortable and visibility is awesome. I am alittle over 6ft 180 and had no issues getting in or out. I would pay for a Corsair ride anyday!

jim

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www.spiritof44.com

The Olympic Air Museum in Olympia, WA had a Corsair two-seater. As I recall, they had some sort of air-stair door rigged up. The airplane came from Canada (I think) and thats where it got the mod. I understand that the aircraft is undergoing a restoration though. Hopefully they omit the ridiculous door.

Wow! That must have been awesome! You are a lucky guy. I would love to do that some day.

Whose Corsair is based in Montana?

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Mark Morris

It's Rays...

jim

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www.spiritof44.com

This one:
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/corsairr ... 22184.html

and the one Jim flew in;
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/corsairr ... 24569.html

Got it...Raymon's....shoulda known....saw it at the Corsair gathering being flown by Steve Bakke.....gotta do like Mears suggested and get a map and put pins in it with the corsair's number and the owner, change 'em when the bird changes owners, etc...

Thanks,

Mark

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Mark Morris

I rode in the back of that Corsair 67 times and that door got me in and out so I don't think it was too ridiculous. Small, and I don't think i would fit well today but it was fun! They are restoring it back to stock configuration.
The seat has been removed. That mod was done by Kal-Aero in Kalamazoo Michigan back in the late 70's or early 80's. Kal-Aero became part of Duncan Aviation.
It had good visibility with most of the structural integrity of the rollover protection intact. The armour plating was cut out to see forward and the windows were tinted dark to not take away from the appearance to much.
Most people never knew it was there or that it had 2 people in it until i popped the latch and the door folded down.
I have attached a couple photos of it! Thats a much younger me in the top photo. The lower photo shows the door open with the late Peter Gutowski waiting in the cockpit for his turn in the airshow (Hamilton I believe).

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Mike

Ah yes, There we were, left engine on fire, right engine feathered...ahh yes,...there we were, ..Screwed! No Kissing!

thats the one Jim - I think I recognize the back of Steve's head there to! Cool that you got to ride in it - still looks a little tight to me but maybe I am a bit clastrophobic. . .

Tom P.

I have to agree with Jim... I rode with Dale Snodgrass a few times in the backseat of the F4U-5 formally owned by Jim Read and it was AWESOME !!!! I'm 6' and 260lbs and got in and out just fine... The only difference with that Corsair was that it didn't have windows for the backseater, but I just unlocked the shoulder harness occasionally and would lean forward looking over Dale's shoulder... When I first asked Dale about riding with him he said "there's no windows - you won't see sh*t except the back of my head" and I just replied "Who cares - it's a Corsair !!!"... If you get a chance at a Corsair ride - don't think about it - JUST DO IT !!!
Mike