F4U-5 Corsairs in action at VMF-513 Flying Nightmares

[ronl]

Hi Matthias,

Maybe the wing has been modified. From diagrams that I have seen, the top of the boxes forms the top part of the wing. You had posted pictures earlier showing the armament bay with the panels off. The top of the ammuniton boxes forms that part of the wing where the boxes are located. On most Corsairs, the boxes are numbered and can be seen on the top of the wing. I will post a diagram showing what I mean.

Thanks.

Ron

[ronl]

Hi Matthias,

Further to my previous post, attached is the link to a thread I started in WIX asking for information pertaining to cannon armed Corsairs (Oct. 8, 2010). There are some great diagrams in the thread showing the cannon arrangement and the location of the ammunition boxes in the wing. The .50 cal armed Corsairs had 6 boxes in each wing, while the 20mm cannon armed Corsairs had 4 larger boxes in each wing.

Here is the link: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=38179&p=381791#p381791

I note that the tops of the ammuniton boxes are not numbered in the VMF-513 Flying Nightmare restoration.

Ron

[ronl]

Hi Matthias,

I was searching the internet today and was pleased to find this picture of a Corsair 20mm ammuniton box. It is one of the few pictures of a Corsair 20mm ammuniton box that I have found. From what I have read about the ammunition boxes, it looks like an outboard box for the port wing. You can see that the top portion of the box, when fitted in the wing, becomes part of the top of the wing. Have you seen this type of box in the Corsair that is being restored? According to the F4U-5 E&M manual, the inboard and outboard boxes were not interchangeable within or between wings. The inboard boxes in each wing were identified with a black stripe around the boxes.

Ron

[Mark V]

again @Ron, I have not seen any ammunition boxes belonging to this fighter .... sorry

Matthias, she certainly has the boxes, they were there when she was in the other hangar being painted. I suspect they were put back in - as they are flush with the wing surface they are not that obvious - especially as everything is black!

[ronl]

Hi Matthias,

Thanks for checking on this. I was hoping that the Corsair would have the 20mm ammunition boxes and I look forward to seeing your pictures after you have had the opportunity to take some. If you could take pictures of the inboard and outboard boxes, that would be great. Also, some pictures of the front and back of the boxes would also be appreciated.

I have attached a page from the F4U-5 E&M manual which gives some information on the boxes.

I was going to attach a picture from Airliners.net of the Collings Foundation Corsair which has the boxes clearly numbered. However, I think there are copyright issues so I won't post it. If you check the site, or google the Collings Foundation F4U-5 Corsair, you will find some good pictures.

I look forward to seeing your pictures of the ammunition boxes. Have a Happy New Year Everyone.

Ron

[ronl]

Hi Matthias,

Attached is a picture I found of a Marine AU-1 Corsair which shows the numbering on the 8 20mm ammunition boxes. The numbering follows the same explanation given in the page from the F4U-5 Manual that I posted. In the port wing, the outboard boxes are numbered "1" and the inboard boxes are numbered "2". In the starboard wing, the outboard boxes are numbered "3" and the inboard boxes are numbered "4".

Ron

[the330thbg]

wow.., i never knew the box tops were part of the wing? That is a cool design and an ingenious way to quickly just snap in a 'magazine' of ammo and away you go. How did they fasten into the wing?

[ronl]

The boxes were held in place by the ammuniton box retaining doors. I have attached another page from the F4U-5 maintenance manual which shows this. I agree, it was a very ingenious design. The same design was used for Corsairs with the 6 .50 cal ammuniton boxes.

[ronl]

Matthias,

Not at all!!! The design for the F4U ammunition boxes is very ingenious, and as far as I know, the only fighter that incorporated this type of design. Actually, it is a very complex design compared to the basic boxes or compartments in the wings where you just loaded the ammunition into the wings.

Looking forward to seeing your pictures of the ammo boxes at some point in the future.

Thanks.

Happy New Year.

Ron

[ronl]

Where have Matthias's posts and pictures gone? He has been providing some outstanding information on this and other threads. Hopefully, his posts and pictures can be brought back.

Ron

[Scott Rose]

Where have Matthias's posts and pictures gone? He has been providing some outstanding information on this and other threads. Hopefully, his posts and pictures can be brought back.

Ron

Not sure what happened. His account doesn't exist anymore and there is nothing in the logs saying it was removed. I'll see what I can find out but it doesn't look good in regard to recovery of the missing account, posts, data.

[Coachswife]

Hi Everyone,
I've just received possession of my Great Uncle's flight logs and it's cool to see that he flew several of the planes listed below, including the ones photographed. He did some damage in 123188! Very cool to put history together. I don't have his scrapbook of pictures yet, but am anxious to see what photos are in there. He was quite the historian and saved a lot of great articles, photos, and letters. He flew in VMF 513 before his napalm tank on 123202 was hit by ack-ack and he had to bail out over enemy territory. He spent about 2 years as a POW and survived. He began flying again in November '53, two months after getting home. He was training on F9F's out of El Toro in '54 and died after suffering engine trouble and was too low to bail out--he rode the plane down into the ocean (after a successful water landing in WWII.) He was a beloved relative and I wish I could have met him.