Corsairs over Connecticut

This past Saturday I went to Corsairs over CT which was held at Sikorsky Airport in Stratford. They had 5 corsairs, 4 of which made demo flights. They also had a B17 bomber which flew. The B17 was sooo loud, not to mention odd to see flying. The particular B17 at the show actually bombed Tokyo during WWII !!!!

There was also some other odds and ends there like an old Beechcraft like this one

www.aviation-top-pics.com...

(which made me of think Howard Hughes for some reason) and some FAC army plane on display as well as a WWII era jeep, halft track and ambulance. They also had a mock factory setup to show how the Corsair's were built.

the neat thing about the Corsair is that it was built right here in CT and I was told it was the only aircraft at the time to be completely built by 1 company Chance-Vought.

Some of the orginal factory workers showed up at the event and signed a big prop on display. There were also WWII Corsair pilots which talked about flying the Corsair in WWII and Korea.

It was pretty neat to see the king of WWII fighters airborne in 2005!

Here is a link to the Corsairs over CT event website

www.veteranssalute.org...

Here is some good info on the F4U Corsair

en.wikipedia.org...

Sorry I didn't take any pics, I forgot my camera @ home that day

Here is a good pic of an F4U Corsair just like the ones at the show



B17




[edit on 6-6-2005 by warpboost]

An old friend of mine, now dead, was one of the Corsair pilots who (upon their homecoming from the Korean War) flew underneath the Golden Gate Bridge! He said officialdom FREAKED and no one was ever allowed to do that again. Go wild Bill!

May he BUZZ the Gods in his Corsair into eternity!

Thanks for posting that cool story EastCoastKid. RIP Wild Bill


I'm a really young guy compared to people that remember Corsairs, but part of me is saddened and feels like Corsair's era was the goldenyears of military aviation in the sense that fancy avionics and computers weren’t around yet and radar was still a nascent technology and the pilot is who won or lost a dog fight. Now it’s just sit back and let the computers, radar etc do their work, then fire and forget.


[edit on 6-6-2005 by warpboost]

Originally posted by warpboost
Thanks for posting that cool story EastCoastKid. RIP Wild Bill

It was an honor to know him. He was a helluva guy. Only guy I ever let give me hell over bein' a "Christmas Tree." (Being Navy, he called us Army that for all our pretty medals.) He was a POW, too, btw. A true hero. And he LOVED those Corsairs, man. He'd be thrilled to know younger generations were learning about them.

I'm a really young guy compared to people that remember Corsairs, but part of me is saddened and feels like Corsair's era was the goldenyears of military aviation in the sense that fancy avionics and computers weren’t around yet and radar was still a nascent technology and the pilot is who won or lost a dog fight. Now it’s just sit back and let the computers, radar etc do their work, then fire and forget.

I just saw the "Aviator" the other day. I was commenting on how wild it musta been to be flyin (so long ago) without any glass around and in front. Can you imagine the wind?!

I was in a HUEY helicopter unit in the Army. Last of the units. Man, were those some fun times. Great people. Flying was the funnest thing I've ever found to get paid doing. I sometimes really want to kick myself for turning down flight school and a career in Army Aviation.

[edit on 6/6/05 by EastCoastKid]

Originally posted by EastCoastKid
I just saw the "Aviator" the other day. I was commenting on how wild it musta been to be flyin (so long ago) without any glass around and in front. Can you imagine the wind?!
[edit on 6/6/05 by EastCoastKid]

Not to get off the topic, but you should try to go for a ride in an old bi-plane if there is somone around near youy that does it. There is a guy here that does 20 minute flights for $150 for 2 people so if you get someone to go with you its $75 per person. There is only a 6 inch tall windscreen between you and bugs in your teeth

Man, I would love to!

My grandpa told me once, his grandpa took him out to a field to see one when he was just a sprout.. Old Grandpa B. leaned on his cane, craning his neck to see the plane coming out of the sky, and said, "Humph! That's the works of the devil!"

Corsairs had to be some of the best fighter craft ever made. Other than a few take off and landing problems they were supposedly very high performance and very relialbe. They sure don't make planes like the used to I guess.

BTW, RIP Wild Bill.

germany has 190 and 109s rebuilt like those corsiors

seems to be a new trend for airshows.

Originally posted by cyberdude78
Corsairs had to be some of the best fighter craft ever made. Other than a few take off and landing problems they were supposedly very high performance and very relialbe. They sure don't make planes like the used to I guess.

BTW, RIP Wild Bill.

So claimed Bill.

Wish he was still around. I'd show him those pics you posted. He'd be lovin' it.

Originally posted by Char2c35t
germany has 190 and 109s rebuilt like those corsiors

seems to be a new trend for airshows.

They should have them come to the Corsair show and dogfight to show everyone who the boss is

When I was watching "The Aviator" I was thinking, man they sure don't fight like that anymore..(dogfighting). That was ballz2theWall flyin.