F4u- Corsair Prepping korea war jacksonville NAS 1950 By GIANNIS MITZAS

F4u- Corsair  Prepping korea war  jacksonville NAS 1950

Five years after the end of World War II, the United States became embroiled in the Korean War. for spare parts for those unsuitable for anointing. Here a series of F4u-4s is being prepared for a new service at jacksonville NAS in March 1950

The Corsair assembled was an F4u-1A version. F4u-1D .F4u-1C .Which had the role of teacher after the war, or were part of the National Guard .F4u-4. F4u-4B / P serving in Naval Bases and aircraft carriers. As well as F4u-5. F4u-5N.F4u-5NL.F4u-5P. Which were the most recent in Corsair service since their production had started in 1946.

The first phase of the restoration was to lower the engines for mechanical inspection and reconstruction. The planes, as we see in the photo above. They are without wings and rudders. Only the unrestrained is left. The decolorization process must have been done by pressing a pressure machine with hot water, perhaps chemical remover.

In this photo we see the various F4u-1D & F4u-5 wings. The F4u-1 up to F4u-4. They have a fabric cover and are painted, while the rest of the aircraft is bare metal. While the F4u-5. It is made of aluminum, in the same place. In a series of photos, we see that the fabric parts of the aircraft are painted, with FS-35042 USN Sea Blue. While we see the rest is discolored metal. It seems that the painting process took place in gradual steps and not directly, after the reconstruction.

Here we see an F4u-4 Ready to be transported, on the Korean front. A typical way of protection, a kind of oil-based adhesive that protects against moisture. After the transfer, it was done in containers and the planes spent days traveling by sea.

 All interior parts are painted with a Flat Yellow and not with the Yellow Green found in the Corsair of 2 WW. They were not applied with Primer and the paint fell directly on the pure metal. I make the assumption that due to the war, there was time pressure for the Corsair to be delivered immediately and for this reason no primer was passed. Before the final painting with Sea Blue FS-35042. This is the main color of the navy in the Korean War. With the only exception of the night fighters F4u-5N which were black and not all of them in their entirety.

The engine cover, which is peeled. It shows that no substrate has fallen before the final color and we see the metal. We find this in several Corsair. But that doesn't mean he didn't have any Praimer underneath. Some fighters did not pass the restoration phase and maintained the factory color and substrate.

              

      Giannis Mitzas