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2PUPs

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Well got to thinking , and decided to start my other kit . Just got the middle wing on to the fuse for now . Tomorrow I hope to get the two outer folding wings on . The plane is the blue one not the brown and white thing .

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looks to me like you have got Godzilla dog blocking the runway :)
 
Yes thats one of two german shorthaired pointers we have . The one in pic is 10 yrs old our other one is 9
 
Ah, the F4U, great plane! The "Bent Wing Bird" or as the Japanese pilots called it, "Whistling Death." One of the best combat planes of WWII and beyond. A Corsair flown by Marine Captain Jesse Folmar shot down a MIG-15 jet in the Korean War. Unfortunately, he was in turn jumped by 3 MIGs and also shot down, but he survived. What is the scale of the plane? Is this RC? Does the kit really have two 500 lb. bombs as are shown on the box?
 
Hey Rocky , the plane has a wingspan of 63" , it is rc ,electric , and has the bombs and missles also . Two greatest planes of that area in my mind is the F4U and P-51 mustang .

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2PUPS, I agree on the P51 and the F4U. Two others that were very successful combat planes, although not nearly as "sexy" as the Mustang and the Corsair, were the F6F Hellcat and the P47 Thunderbolt. I lived in the Dayton, Ohio area years ago (don't live very far from there now) and the National Air Museum is located there. I have spent many days admiring the planes. If you have never been there, it would be worth the trip. To see some of these magnificent planes close up is amazing.

Your model is really great. Are the rockets and bombs permanently attached or can they be removed for better aerodynamics? I was surfing this morning and I saw a video or two of a guy flying one of these. Really neat and a lot easier than I used to do with the gas engines many years ago.
 
I remember hearing that the bent wing design was a result of a mistake by the designers. The way I heard it, they ended up having to use a propeller that was too long and would have dug into the ground (in the original design). They ended up bending the wings simply to raise the nose up while the plane was on the ground. It seemed to work out that the solution to their problem also had aerodynamic advantages.

I have liked this plane since watching "Ba Ba Blacksheep" on tv. great show. Also read Pappy's book.

Great looking model. How fast does it go?
 
It goes slow as I am not as quick as I use to be :h , but I am guessing bout 40 + mph
 
Hey Rocky , the bombs are removeable for better flight . Here`s where I am at on build as of today . This has a million wires for electrics , this kit even has lights on the wing tips .

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Beautiful! The one that I saw on the internet had fixed landing gear. I assume that yours does also. How do the wings lock in place when unfolded for flight? The guy that was flying his Corsair on the net said that he thought his two-blade prop made it faster. Not sure I understand why that would be. I know that in practice, the Corsairs had either a three- or flour-bladed prop.

You may or may not know that the pilot of your VF-17 (the Skull and Crossbones squadron) Corsair No. 29 was Lt. Ira C. Kepford. Here is al little about him.

Ira Cassius "Ike" Kepford

Ira Cassius Kepford was born on 29 May 1919 in Harvey, Illinois, son of George and Emma Kepford. He was a star halfback at Northwestern University, where he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1941. He was honorably discharged from the Reserve on 29 April 1942, and accepted an appointment as a Naval Aviation Cadet. Kepford earned his wings at Corpus Christi, Texas and Miami, Florida on 5 November 1942, and was assigned to VF-17, the famous "Jolly Rogers," the following January.

He was one of the original hellions of this famous squadron, and was confined to quarters for ten days for mock dogfighting a P-51 right above the city of Norfolk. After training, the squadron arrived at New Georgia in the Solomons in late October, 1943.

Battle of the Solomon Sea

On the Nov. 11, 1943 strike at Rabaul (also known as the Battle of the Solomon Sea) Kepford downed four enemy aircraft, for which he was awarded the Navy Cross. Flying cover for the carriers in Roger Hedrick's flight, he lit into a gaggle of Kates. Flying through Bunker Hill's intense AA, he downed a Kate only 1,000 yards from the ship. Low on fuel, he started back to base when he spotted six unescorted Vals. Making the most of the opportunity, he quickly downed three of the slow, nearly helpless dive bombers. During his firing run on a fourth Val, he ran out of ammo and realized he was practically empty of fuel. Ike radioed for a course and permission to land on a carrier. Bunker Hill took him aboard, happy to honor one of their flying defenders. Even the distinguished Capt. Ballentine was pleased to serve Ensign Kepford a cup of coffee. After a relaxing half-hour, Kepford took off in his re-fueled and re-armed Corsair. He racked up four kills and eleven hours of flight time that day.
Leading a division on a Jan. 27 escort over Rabaul, Kepford destroyed two Zeros that were attacking another division.
On January 29, Kepford led his wingman, "Teeth" Burriss, in an attack on 12 Japanese fighters over Rabaul; he scored four kills, and was awarded a Gold Star for this action. Kepford and Burriss made up half of a Roving High Cover mission; the other two planes had aborted. As the bulk of the American strike/escort force flew in at about 15,000 feet, a dozen Zeros at 24,000 lurked above them. Ike and Teeth got in first, and in textbook series of dives, overhead firing passes , and recoveries, they both shot down four Zeros.
Only a few of the uncoordinated Zeros were even able to engage the regular escorts. As Lee Cook noted in his authoritative history of VF-17, The Skull & Crossbones Squadron: VF-17 in World War II, Kepford and his mates were the top guns of their day, feared by the Japanese fighter pilots who described them as "attacks on us by wolves."

With ten aerial victories, he was the Navy's leading ace at that time. That evening, the CO of VF-17, Tom Blackburn chewed them out (!?) for recklessness and over-confidence. He scored two more the next day on a
emergency scramble to Rabaul. Another Zero on Feb. 3.

Escape over Rabaul

The mission set for Feb. 19, 1944 was typical for the fliers of VF-17 that month: 20 planes on a strafing mission to Rabaul. Butch Davenport led the division; Ike was number 3. They took off at 0800, northwest towards Rabaul. Kepford's wingman soon developed engine trouble and was forced to return. Kepford was ordered to turn also back; he turned south, but kept rubbernecking and shortly spotted a lone Japanese Rufe seaplane. Although he was alone, Kepford dived down and opened up. The six .50's shook the Corsair and rippled holes in the enemy plane. As he pulled out of his dive, Kepford glanced back and saw the floatplane crash into the water. An easy kill behind him, Kepford turned south for home, radioing "Hog 29 here. Scratch one. Returning to base."
But then he saw many, many dots, high above him and in between him and Bougainville. He hoped to remain inconspicuous, but four Zeros peeled off to attack him. Unwilling to fight the whole group, he turned north to escape them, but the four pursuers came on fast, with their tremendous altitude advantage. As the lead Zero came on fast and opened fire, Kepford decided to "go for broke." He dropped his flaps and landing gear and nosed down until he was skimming the waves; as the Zero roared over him, he pulled his Hog's nose up and opened fire. The Zero's stabilizer crumpled under the snapshot, and the plane crashed into the waves. As Kepford pulled in his gear and flaps, the remaining Zeros bracketed him . . . he was facing 3-to-1 odds, low and slow, and he was heading back in the direction of Rabaul.
The other three Zeros spread out behind him, boxing him in, and continued to gain. Tracers streaked by! It was time to use the newly installed water injection "War Emergency Power" WEP, a temporary boost to the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine. The Jap planes stayed with him, scoring some hits on the F4U. He was really trapped at this point, unable to turn because of the Zeros behind, and forced to continue speeding north, while not gaining appreciably. Slowly, he began to pull away, but the WEP started to over-heat the engine. He got out of range and eased back on the throttle a bit, disengaging the WEP.
Kepford had to make his move now! He cut across the path of the port Zero. The Japanese plane dropped to wavetop level, opened fire, and sharply turned, trying to turn inside Kepford. At which point the Zero's left wing caught a wave top, and the plane cartwheeled across the ocean surface, disintegrated, and sank. The other two Zeros were left behind as Kepford dashed for home, landing on fumes in his fuel tank. He struggled out of his plane, pale and exhausted. His flying suit and shoes were soaked through with sweat. As the tension of the nerve-wracking four hour mission lifted, he shook all over and tears streamed from his eyes.

Honors and Medals

With 16 confirmed kills at the end of February, Kepford was still the Navy's top ace, a distinction he retained until Alexander Vraciu went wild on June 19. Kepford returned to the States in March of 1944, and was assigned to Fleet Air Command at Alameda, California. In June, he was transferred to VF-84. In December, he was attached to the Staff of Commander Fleet Air, West Coast, where he served the remainder of WWII. In his five months of combat duty, Ira Kepford earned two Navy Crosses, the Gold Star, the Silver Star, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Air Medal, Unit Commendation to VF-17, and the American Defense Service Medal.

Postwar

Kepford retired from the Navy with the rank of Lieutenant Commander on 1 June 1956. He worked for Rexall Drug Stores afterwards, rising quickly to become president of the company's eastern division.
 
The landing gear are retractable on this kit . The wings lock in place with a mechanism . LT. Kepford is the name on the side of the F4U I am building at the momement . I like the info in your last post , very infomative . I knew of Kepford , but not to much about him . But I must say my all time favorite plane would be the Fokker Dr1 . I am already looking for another model and that is the one I want . Either from Glenn Torrance models or Texas RC . I have a fokker D6 pic below , that I am building , thats at other house need lots of room for that build as it has a 75 inch wing span . The pic is not of my D6 but what it will look like when done .

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Rocky,

Thanks for that most interesting read.

This sort of thing is great to read about. It is amazing how many heros gave of themselves and risked their lives just to defend this country.

What is really great to read is that he was successful after the war and that PTSD did not take control of his life.
 

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