Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aircraft and Vehicles => Topic started by: Kazaa on July 05, 2010, 03:34:53 PM
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Was this a standard feature in WW2? It really does narrows down the field of view; most of the corsair photo's I've seen of don't have this protective head plating either.
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I'm not sure of its purpose. I don't think it's armor. Most of the WWII pics of Corsairs with the bubble canopy I've seen do have that.
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It's not armor at all.
It was built there as support for the canopy glass to prevent that glass from cracking as the canopy slid back.
Kazaa, you may be looking at later, post-war F4U's. In 1945, F4U-4's and even F4U-1D's were getting rid of that canopy cap, and by post-war times, F4U's no longer had them at all. No Korean War F4U's you find will have them. I have a feeling you may be looking at Korean War Corsairs as the majority of F4U's had the cap in WWII.
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I have a feeling you may be looking at Korean War Corsairs as the majority of F4U's had the cap in WWII.
Only a handful of F4U-4s had that plate. Most--including those that were used in WWII--didn't have it, so it really SHOULD be removed from the F4U-4 mesh.
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If I was an F4U pilot during WW2, I would have remove the canopy support on day one.
Thanks for the info guys. <S>
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its a major reason i don't fly the F4U
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just give the rudder a little kick every once in awhile and you can see who's behind you.
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If you adjust your views right, you're not going to have a problem.
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If you adjust your views right, you're not going to have a problem.
Exactly. The rear view is not obscured at all. Try taking up a Hellcat or P-39. Both have huge blind spots.
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(http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy355/greencurrycamo/corsairs.jpg)
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(http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy355/greencurrycamo/corsairs.jpg)
The roundel with a red stripe through the white was introduced after WWII.
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If you set your sights right it isn't a problem. F4U is a great bird, I wouldn't let a little problem like this stop you from flying it. It ia s real pleasure to fly once you get the hang of it a bit. You also get used to not having the best rear view capability.
A little off topic but is that an early copter by the wheelhouse/tower?
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(http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy355/greencurrycamo/corsairs.jpg)
The roundel with a red stripe through the white was introduced after WWII.
There is a chopper over the carrier, and the planes on what would be the front catapults(?) look like jets.
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There is a chopper over the carrier, and the planes on what would be the front catapults(?) look like jets.
So, the picture confirms:
...by post-war times, F4U's no longer had them at all. No Korean War F4U's you find will have them. I have a feeling you may be looking at Korean War Corsairs as the majority of F4U's had the cap in WWII.
:(
wrongway
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(http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy355/greencurrycamo/corsairs.jpg)
That image is probably from some time in 1950, it is for SURE well after WW2.
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there are f9fs (freaking jets!) on the boat of coarse its after 1950
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The red stripe mentioned earlier was introduced in 1947 once the USAAF became the USAF. Easy way to tell post-war birds. In addition, WWII US planes did not have 'Army', 'Air Force' or 'Navy' slapped on the fuselages in WWII.
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>> so it really SHOULD be removed from the F4U-4 mesh.
Dump it. I'd fly the version of the F4U-4 without it if it was available.
Arguably there were more F4U-4's in WWII without them than F4U1-Cs.
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maybe because i fly the Hog all the time it really doesn't bother me at all, just a little SA and changing flight direction every once in awhile all should be great. I could see it being different if you fly in planes with bubble canopies all day, but not a huge problem. F6F on the other hand is a tough one, all ways help to have a good wingman or at least one thats paying attention while in a furball.
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Doesn't bother me much either, I fly the hogs a lot so I'm used to it. Like someone else mentioned, compare it to the Hellcat. You can't see near as well in hellcat
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It doesn't matter to me how well I can see to the rear. By the time they're there, I'm in so much trouble it doesn't matter.
HONK!
Gooss
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maybe because i fly the Hog all the time it really doesn't bother me at all, just a little SA and changing flight direction every once in awhile all should be great. I could see it being different if you fly in planes with bubble canopies all day, but not a huge problem. F6F on the other hand is a tough one, all ways help to have a good wingman or at least one thats paying attention while in a furball.
I'd have to agree...
I fly the hog a bit here and there too, and the only time the rear-view canopy thing even comes to mind is when I read about it here on the boards. It doesn't bother me in the least while in flight. If I logged in right now, I'd have to make an effort to even think about it or remember this thread. It just isn't a factor once you get used to it.
In order to check six effectively in any fighter you need to roll a bit. Same applies to the hogs.
Actually, from a visual standpoint, I think hogs look kind of goofy without the plate.
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It doesn't matter to me how well I can see to the rear. By the time they're there, I'm in so much trouble it doesn't matter.
HONK!
Gooss
You've got to cause enough trouble right off the bat that the other guy doesn't get a chance to cause you trouble. :devil
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What about players who have TrackIR? Do these guys have to work a lot to see around the obstruction?
Thanks for all the information btw.
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You need to adjust your default head position, but I don't have much trouble.
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An examination of photos of the F4Us that had it fitted shows that the 'hood' frame extension, armour or not, shouldn't intrude into the directly-up view to the extent it does in the AH Hawg-Nose. Rather banjaxes the view above and behind though.
:cool:
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An examination of photos of the F4Us that had it fitted shows that the 'hood' frame extension, armour or not, shouldn't intrude into the directly-up view to the extent it does in the AH Hawg-Nose. Rather banjaxes the view above and behind though.
:cool:
You need to adjust your default head position, but I don't have much trouble.
And then it doesn't.
wrongway
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(http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy355/greencurrycamo/corsairs.jpg)
that helo looks like an R-5
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What about players who have TrackIR? Do these guys have to work a lot to see around the obstruction?
Nope
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What about players who have TrackIR? Do these guys have to work a lot to see around the obstruction?
Thanks for all the information btw.
I have a track IR and it is a pain in the bellybutton to look around that plate. It forces you to set the gains for forward and up that are much higher than I would normally use in order to see around it without moving your head out of range of the IR tracker. This gain set up is not comfortable for most other planes so I have to monkey with it a lot when flying with the F4U. When you realise how far you have to move your head to see behind you in an F4U, it makes you wonder if many pilots would have flown with that plate in place. A good research topic indeed.
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[posted twice due to server hang up]
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Exactly. The rear view is not obscured at all. Try taking up a Hellcat or P-39. Both have huge blind spots.
The P-39 used to be the worst. The last patch fixed a head movement limitation so now you can move you head all the way forward. Makes a huge difference. With a Track IR, the P39 is now on of the Best for visibility [you still need to bob around the structure, but with Track IR it does this in real time so it's a piece of cake.] With fixed views it much improved but not as good as a Pony or the other bubble canopies.
Funny I used to read how pilots loved the visibility and could never understand it when flying the plane in the game. Now I get it.
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(By the way, beautiful pic of that P-39 in your avatar, Vinkman.)
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(By the way, beautiful pic of that P-39 in your avatar, Vinkman.)
I have the hi-res version if you PM me an e-mail I'll sent it to you. This is actually a P-63 Kingcobra, they look very similar. :salute
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That is one of the reasons I tend not to fly the F4U. I've been shot down many times because of that plate.
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That is one of the reasons I tend not to fly the F4U. I've been shot down many times because of that plate.
(http://officespam.chattablogs.com/archives/Computer-Error-Replace-User.jpg)
Enough said. :rofl
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As a former Black Sheep i have seen this a problem in flying F4U's
However, it took a total of 30 seconds to fix
1.hold 0 and use your pageup/pagedown keys to move forward
2.then press f10
Then the headplate is not a problem
>Problem Solved<
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As a former Black Sheep i have seen this a problem in flying F4U's
However, it took a total of 30 seconds to fix
1.hold 0 and use your pageup/pagedown keys to move forward
2.then press f10
Then the headplate is not a problem
>Problem Solved<
:aok
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Wow and here I thought that plate was there to keep the sun off my noggin all these years.
By the way is this meaningful?
The F4U-1A incorporated a semi-bubble canopy (replacing the earlier 'birdcage' type), with only 2 reinforcing bars in the upper surface. A taller tail wheel strut was also incorporated (lengthened by 6.48 inches). All subsequent F4U-1A's, as well as Goodyear FG-1D's (# 1001 onwards), and Brewster F3A-1's (# 650 onwards) had the R-2800-8W engine. The built-in bounce of the oleos was eliminated once and for all in 1944.
The F4U-1B was an F4U-1A featuring a fuselage centerline hard point and clipped wings (delivered to the British Fleet Air Arm).
Incorporated into the first F4U-1C was the installation of a Jack & Heinz electric starter in place of the starter cartridge. The -1C was cannon-equipped, with 20mm cannons in place of the 6 machine guns. It was first delivered in June 1944. Goodyear and Brewster made no equivalent model of the -1C. On the -1C and -1D, the 63 gallon leading edge wing tanks were deleted. Very few of the -1C were actually produced.
The F4U-1D appeared off the assembly line in April 1944. The Goodyear equivalent, the FG-1D, commenced rolling off the Akron, OH. assembly line in September 1944. The Brewster F3A-1D did not go into production, as Brewster went out of business in July 1944. The F4U-1D (Bu # 57583 on, being the 803rd F4U-1D, and the FG-1D, had a completely clear bubble canopy which became known as the clear-vision canopy, unlike its predecessor whose canopy was 'bubble' but not completely clear, still with the two reinforcing plates, one each side. During production of the -1D, a cut-out step was added to the right inboard flap to facilitate entry to the cockpit.
http://webzoom.freewebs.com/cafcorsair/Corsair%20The%20History%20Unfolds%20Page%202.html