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Posted by Ralph Wood on July 15, 2026, 8:52:12, in reply to "Re: Sorry Ralph, you've got some bad info"
Nice, thank you.
The FAA took delivery of their planes in November, 1943, and assigned them to carrier service directly:
https://caspir.warplane.com/aircraft/serial-search/aircraft-no/200000435
https://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/SQUADRONS/1830_Squadron.htm
This US unit first went aboard Enterprise in January, 1944, per a paywall protected USNI article I have found on the unit.
What is correct here is that the US unit used the F4U-2, which was basically an F4U-1 with a radar, while the FAA's MKII (an F4U-1A, basically) was what they seem to have put aboard their carriers.
Lots of hair splitting. The FAA put them in regular carrier service first...by only months. When the US then did, they did it with older planes. It devolves into a somewhat childish pride contest. (My dad can beat up your dad! Naha-nah nah-nah NAH-nah!)
I stand by my statement...While the FAA used it regularly from their carriers before we did, not much else can be truthfully claimed beyond that. 
Previous Message
While the FAA used it regularly from their carriers before we did, not much else can be truthfully claimed beyond that. Previous Message
Not even that.
VF(N)-101 was the first Navy unit to take the Corsair on a carrier successfully, and they did it with essentially the F4U-1 without the "de-bounced" landing gear or the stall strip on the wing, and they operated at night off unlighted ships, flying from USS Enterprise as part of Air Group 10. In the spring/summer of 1944, they provided the first night air defense to Task Force 58, later supplemented with detachments of F6F-3Ns operating from other carriers, and scored five shot down, one probable and three damaged during their tour. Led by LCDR Richard "Chick" Harmer, VF(N)-101's major contribution was proving night fighters could operate from carrier decks; Harmer himself is credited with the first night victory, a Betty on April 24, 1944, after previously damaging a Betty on February 19 and he shot down another Betty on June 28 in the Marianas, the unit's last score.
https://imodeler.com/2013/07/vfn-101-f4u-2/
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