INFORAMTION REGARDING THE FDC OF THE 24 KARAT GOLD PLATED CORSAIR COVER
First Day of Issue: July19, 1997
First Day City: Dayton, Ohio "Birth place of the Wright Brothers"
Stamp Designer: Phil Jordan Falls Church, Virginia
The carrier-based Corssir depicted on this U.S. Stamp took six years to develop. The result of the effort was a superior, long-lived fighter that saw exstensive action in WWII and was recalled to service in Korea.
Rex Beisel, chief designer at Chance Vought, headed the Corsair project that began in 1938. Although several of the planes began service with land-based Marine squadrons in 1942, they did not measure up to carrier requirements. Then fate intervened. A Japanese Zero Fighter, captured in the Aleutian Islands in 1942, gave the engineers the technical intelligence needed to finalize the Corsair design.
In fact, the F4U Corsair that went into carrier service in April of 1944 out-performed the Zero in every respect. Known as the "bent-wing bird," it had an unusual inverted gull-wing that allowed for a short, retractable undercarriage. A 2000 horsepower engine powered the plane, giving it a range of 1,562 miles, a ceiling of 34,500 feet, and a maximum speed of 425 miles per hour.
Corsairs were the workhorse of the U.S. Pacific fleet. Nearly 12,700 were built during a decade of production. They saw extensive service as dive bombers, attack airplanes, and night fighters. Their WWII combat record was outstanding. Flying more than 64,000 missions, Corsairs had a kill ratio of better than 11 to 1. They shot down 2,140 enemy aircraft while suffering just 189 losses.