F-AZVJ
Welcome to the Living Legends section of F4UCORSAIR.COM. These pages are dedicated to the remaining Corsair's still in existence. Aircraft will be displayed by "N" number also referred to as "tail" number. This unique alphanumeric sequence of characters is assigned to all private/experimental aircraft. The reason aircraft will be listed in this manner is that when a plane changes owners, especially warbirds, the paint scheme sometimes changes but normally the N number does not. All photographs displayed are copyrighted material of the photographer and you must have the owners consent to use them.
F-AZVJ
Vought F4U-4 Corsair Bureau number (Bu#97264), registered on the French register as F-AZVJ, and owned by Christophe Jacquard. Previously owned by Charles Hall of Pinedale, Wyoming as recently as 1995.
Mark Morris photo
G-BXUL
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair Bu# 88391, flying in the UK as G-BXUL
on the British register for the Old Flying Machine Company and based at the
Duxford Airfield. This Corsair formerly flew in a VF-17 paint scheme as
N55JP and painted up as 'Big Hog', the mount of VF-17 commanding officer Tommy
Blackburn before being repainted into New Zealand markings.
It is the sole remaining flying 'Clipped-wing' New Zealand Corsair, having seen duty with the RNZAF in WWII.
Kelsay Wood photo
G-FGID
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair Bu# 88297, registered on the British
register as G-FGID, currently flying with The Fighter Collection from Duxford
airfield, England. Used to wear VF-17 colors of 16 kill ace Ira Kepford.
Owned by Louis Antonacci of Hampshire, Illinois prior to 1986.
Mark Morris photo
N11Y
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair Bu# 67087 and registered in the U.S.
as N11Y, this Corsair is a recent restoration from assorted airframes and has no
history to speak of, other than having been to El Salvador and back as a parts
source for the El Salvador Air Force Corsairs during the 60's and 70's.
The plane is owned by the C & C Air Corporation of Los Angeles and is flown
and maintained by Chuck Wentworth of California.
Mark Morris Photo
N43RW
The Lone Star Flight Museum F4U-5N Corsair, Bu# 121881,
registered in the U.S. as N43RW and flies for the Lone Star museum as 'Annie
Mo', the Korean war mount of 5 kill ace Guy P. Bordelon. Lone Star acquired the
Corsair from Don Knapp of Florida in 1990 after it was displayed on a pole in a
park in Argentina with rocks in the fuselage to hold it down. The Corsair
was restored by Nelson Ezell in Breckenridge, TX and first flew again in 1994.
R.S. Barriclow Photo
G-CCMV
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair Bu#92399, flying now on the British civil register as G-CCMV for new owner Paul Morgan, was until recently a stateside Corsair, flying for owner David Jeansonne of Louisiana, and before that was in the stable of warbirds operated by Charles Osborne of Sellersburg, Indiana, and carrying the N number of N448AG. The plane is set to make its UK debut during the late summer of 2000 and should be a welcome addition to the collection of U-birds flying 'across the pond'.
Mark Morris photo
N68HP
Chance Vought F4U-4 Corsair Bu#97302, registered in the U.S. as N68HP, is not currently flyable following an accident in early 1993 wherein the engine stopped running at 1000 ft and owner Howard Pardue had to set the plane down on a dirt road near the plane's home base of Breckenridge, TX. The plane landed without its gear down and split open just aft of the canopy, spilling Mr. Pardue out and onto the ground, but he recieved only minor injuries and walked away. The plane has yet to be rebuilt to flying condition.
Mark Morris photo
N83JC
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair Bu#67089, carrying U.S. Civil registration number N83JC, has passed through the hands of several owners before coming to its current owner, Jeff Clyman-once a member of the 'Tired Iron Racing Team' and owner Don Davis up in Casper, WY, it flew as race #82, 'Wart Hog' before being sold on to Gary Meermans of Long Beach, CA in 1986. Mr. Clyman purchased the Corsair in early 1994 and has made the plane a cornerstone of a new museum and aviation complex with the backing of the State of New York and several corporations.
Doug Fisher photo
N9964Z
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair Bu#92468, owned and flown by the
Confederate Air Force as N9964Z, is quite possibly one of the busiest and most
frequently seen Corsairs at airshows. Certainly the last U-bird to be
rebuilt by the folks at Vought (from 1974 to 1981) following an accident, the
plane was re-delivered to the CAF by none other than Vought CEO Paul Thayer in
1981. The plane flies in a paint scheme carried by a Corsair on board the
aircraft carrier 'U.S.S. Essex', and is a regular attendee at CAF airhows held
in Midland, TX every October.
Ken Dawson photo
NX5588N
Considered, quite possibly, by Corsair enthusiasts to be
THE ultimate Corsair restoration of the last 50 years, Goodyear F2G-1 Corsair
Bu#88457, carrying U.S. Civil registration number NX5588N turns heads wherever
it goes. Owner Robert Odegaard took delivery of the Corsair in 1996 and
made the plane into what it is today-a tribute to a fighter built to do one
thing-combat Japanese Kamikaze suicide aircraft. With a huge 4 row
radial R-4360 engine on the front, the plane was capable of outclimbing any
early jet, and had a top speed around 450 mph. Unfortunately, the end of
the war came about and only a limited number of F2G's were built (10 or 12,
depending on the source), and today only 3 exist. Post-war, F2G Corsairs
captured 2 Thompson Trophies in air racing, and this particular aircraft in 1999
won the Rolls Royce award at Reno for excellence in aircraft restoration.
A must see aircraft for Corsair enthusiasts.
Ken Dawson photo
NX72378
Chance Vought F4U-4 Corsair Bu#97388, carrying U.S. Civil
registration number NX72378, is owned and flown by Gerald Beck of Wahpeton,
North Dakota and is seen here at a Confederate Air Force show a few years ago.
The Corsair, a former Honduran machine (FAH 610), was salvaged from that country
by Earl Ware in 1981, and subsequently sold on to Mr. Beck and became a long
term restoration project.
Mark Morris photo
???
Goodyear FG-1D, Bureau number unknown, unregistered on the U.S. civil register-owned by Arthur 'Wally' McDonnell and trucked to Mojave, CA for restoration in 1975, not a lot has been done to the plane to help it progress towards the day when it may one day fly again. Anyone with numbers or history on this particular bird, please contact this us at F4UCORSAIR.COM
Doug Fisher Photo
N179PT
Chance Vought F4U-5N Corsair Bu# 122179, now carrying the N179PT, has had an interesting life-recovered in 1978 from service in Honduras with that country's air force, it went through a number of owners before being shipped overseas to the UK and flown by Warbirds of Great Britain as N179PT and 179NP. The plane has recently returned stateside and been purchased by owner Jim Read and was involved in an accident at Oshkosh 1999, narrowly avoiding being destroyed in an accident involving the Cavanaugh Flight Museum F4U-4 Corsair N712RD and Howard Pardue's F8F Bearcat. Happily, damage was minimal and the plane showed up, as seen here, at Oshkosh 2000
Doug Fisher photo
N47991
Chance Vought F4U-4B Corsair (cannon armed) Bu# 97390, and carrying U.S. civil registration N47991, is obviously not quite out on the airshow circuit yet. Owned by Charles Nichols of the Yanks Air Museum at Chino, CA, the plane will eventually be restored to flying condition.
Doug Fisher photo
N3PP
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair Bu# 92509, flying with the Kalamazoo Air Zoo museum and registered on the U.S. Civil register as N3PP, has been a common sight at Midwest airshows for a number of years, since it began flying with the Air Zoo back in 1977. Often times a featured 'Flight of the Day' performer at the Air Zoo, whereby a flight is performed each day for museum visitors by various aircraft, the plane is also an almost perennial performer at Oshkosh.
Mike Schneider photo
N72NW
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair Bu# 92436, registered in the U.S. recently as N72NW, was recently purchased by owner Brian Reynolds from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Collection, based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where the plane had flown for the last 16 years as a tribute to those Canadians who had flown the plane in combat, and is painted up in the colors of Robert Hampton Gray,
the second Naval pilot of WWII to win the Victoria cross, Britain's highest honor. The plane now resides in Olympia, WA as part of collector Brian Reynolds growing collection.
Doug Fisher photo
NX773RD
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair, Bu# 92433, registered in the U.S. as NX773RD, is a
brand new restoration from California by owner Ray Dieckman. Purchased from the estate of the late Harry Tope, the plane has been under restoration
since 1992, either in Kalamazoo, MI or in Ray's hangar in California, and upon roll out to an anxious crowd in early 2000, it was discovered that an
engine bearing had gone bad. A replacement engine was found and within a few weeks of its original unveiling, 'Marine's Dream' was up and flying and
headed for Oshkosh.
Ken Dawson photo
N713JT
Joe Tobul's Chance Vought F4U-4 Corsair: N713JT,
Bu#97143 purchased from Charles Unkle in 1984 and underwent an 8 year restoration before its first flight in 1992, but suffered serious damage in an accident when it ran off the end of a runway and had to be rebuilt again. The plane has emerged from the restoration shop again and in 1999 rejoined the airshow circuit.
Mike Schneider photo
N194G
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair, Bu#92050, carrying the N# of N194G, has been a Colorado resident most of its life. After military acceptance on may22 1945, and a hopscotch career with the Navy, the plane was struck from the Navy's inventory on 31 May of 1948, while in Minneapolis, the plane was then purchased by Jim Colbern who then passed it on to Bob Mitchem of Broomfield, CO. After being modified as a racer with clipped wings and a Wright R-3350 engine on the front, the plane was purchased by James Axtell in 1977 and has been in storage in a T-hangar at Jefferson County airport until recently being
transferred to the Wings over the Rockies museum at Lowry AFB in Denver, where it is on a 5 year loan.
Mark Morris photo
N3466G
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair Bu#92132, registered on the U.S. civil register as N3466G, is currently under restoration with its owner, Butch Schroeder of Danville, Illinois. The plane previously resided with David Tallichet's Military Aircraft Restoration Company at Chino, CA from 1973 to 1984, and has slowly been deteriorating in outside storage. Given Schroeder's reputation for fantastic restorations, this is a bird that Corsair enthusiasts will enjoy seeing when it comes out of its restoration.
Doug Fisher photo
No N Number
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair Bu# 88382, not carrying an N number (she no longer
flies), was the victim of a mid-air collision in July of 1950, and her
remains fell into lake Washington in Washington state, there to be recovered in 1983 and rebuilt into the machine you see illustrated at the Museum of
Flight in Seattle, Washington.
Bob Schwartz photo
NX240CA
Chance Vought F4U-4B Corsair Bu# 97359, flying today with U.S. Civil registration NX240CA for new owner Max Chapman of Indianapolis, IN and seen here at Oshkosh, 2000 was recently sold by its previous owner, Norm Lewis of Kentucky. Prior to Lewis acquiring the plane, it flew in the UK with the Old Flying Machine Company from 1988 to 1992. A participant in the TV series 'Black Sheep Squadron' from 1976 to 1978, it was at that time owned by Thomas Friedkin of Cinema Air in California, even though F4U-4's were not flown by the VMF-214 'Black Sheep' during the time period depicted in the much maligned tv series.
Doug Fisher photo
N3771A
Chance Vought F4U-4 Corsair Bu# 97142, carrying U.S. civil registration N3771A, is in residence at the Pima County Air Museum in Pima, Arizona. This aircraft was once owned by Bob Bean of Arizona, but passed on to Arthur 'Wally' McDonnel of Mojave CA before moving on to Marine Corps museum in Quantico, VA from 1988 to 1994, and then finding its way down to the Pima museum.
Doug Fisher photo
NX83782
Chance Vought F4U-1A Corsair Bu# 17799, carrying N number NX83782, is owned by Planes of Fame museum, based at Chino, CA. A regular flyer, it is seen frequently at west coast airshows and, last I heard, was accessible for 20 minute rides for $300. Used as a movie prop in the early 60's, the plane was recovered in the early 70's by Ed Maloney and restored for his Air Museum in 1976-77 before going on display at Planes of Fame.
Photo by Doug Fisher
NX52JB
Chance Vought F4U-4 Corsair, Bu# 81698 and carrying N number
NX53JB is an occasional flyer for owner John MacGuire and is based at the War Eagles Museum in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. Owned by MacGuire since 1978, its previous owner was Joe Arnold of Mulberry, Arkansas.
Photo by Jim Buckel
N67HP
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair Bu # 92095, flying under civil registration number N67HP, is remembered best for its incredible displays while under the ownership of former owner Howard Pardue, who owned the plane from1977 until 1990, when he sold it on to present owner Del Smith and his Evergreen Aviation collection of McMinnville, Oregon (now owners of Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose'). An ex-El Salvador machine, the plane was brought back to the states by Har Ran aviation and was owned at one time by John Stokes before being purchased by Howard Pardue in '77.
Doug Fisher photo
N49068
Chance Vought F4U-5NL Corsair Bu # 124486, carrying civil registration number N49068 for new owner Mike
George had a mishap recently when on landing the engine caught fire and seriously damaged the front end of the aircraft, and thanks to the quick work of the airport fire crews the plane was saved, but will take about a year to rebuild to flying status once again. A former Honduran
machine (FAH 606) recovered by Bob Ferguson and Howard Pardue in 1979, The plane was until recently seen at west coast airshows with former owner Richard Bertea as part of his stable of warbirds, including a Douglas Skyraider and a Hawker Sea Fury.
Doug Fisher photo
N62290
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair Bu # 92629, carrying civil registration number N62290 and flying for owner Bob Pond, this Corsair is an ex-El Salvador machine, flying for that country as FAS 215 until the early 70's, when it was purchased and brought back to the states by Har Ran aviation and subsequently sold on to John Stokes of Texas. The plane was configured as a bird off of the carrier USS Essex, and remains painted that way today, despite an accident in 1983 while in Minnesota and under the ownership of Pond. Rebuilt and still flying, she was a fixture at midwest airshows until the Pond Museum's move to California in 1998.
Doug Fisher photo
N4901W
Chance Vought F4U-5NL Corsair (N for Nightfighter, L for winterized) Bu # 124569, registered as N4901W and owned by Ray Thompson, is a former Honduras Air Force machine, serving with that air force as FAH 601 until 1978, at which time it was recovered and brought back to the states by Robert Ferguson and Howard Pardue. The plane then moved through a procession of owners, the most recent owner being David Burnap of Ohio, before being sold on to Mr. Thompson in recent years.
Doug Fisher photo
NX6667
Chance Vought F4U-4 Corsair Bu # 97259, carrying civil registration
NX6667, is owned and flown by the Experimental Aviation Foundation of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Acquired by collector Robert Bean, it was sold on to Eugene Akers of Lancaster, CA in 1966 and became the Air Racer 'Lancer Two', carrying race numbers 22 and 100. Retired from racing, the plane was then passed on to Wilson 'Connie' Edwards of Big Spring, Texas who in turn donated the aircraft to the
Experimental Aircraft Association in 1981. Restored as Ken Walsh's late-war mount in 1993, the plane can frequently be seen out on the flightline at EAA events in Wisconsin.
Doug Fisher photo
No N Number
Chance Vought F4U-1A Corsair Bu # 50375, carrying no civil registration, was struck off military inventory in 1946 at Naval Air Station Norman, Oklahoma and was stored for museum use until 1980, when she emerged from the restoration shops at Silver Hill, Maryland and the National Air and Space Museum as 'Sun Setter', and was displayed at the NASM Museum until 1994, when she was transferred to the Virginia Air and Space center in Hampton, Virginia, on loan from the NASM.
Doug Fisher photo
N4802X
Chance Vought F4U-4 Corsair Bu # 97349, carrying the civil registration N4802X, even though it never flies, is dramatically displayed at the U.S. Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola, Florida. Owned at one time by collector Robert Bean, it was later displayed on a pole in front of the Tucson Inn in Arizona before being picked up by Arthur McDonnel and placed into deep storage at his Mojave, CA facility around 1978. Brought out for static restoration later that year, the plane passed on to the Marine Corps Museum at Quantico, Virginia but was placed on loan with the Pima County Air Museum in Tucson, AZ before finally being acquired by the Naval Aviation museum in 1984.
Doug Fisher photo
N766JD
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair Bu # 92246, carrying civil registration number N766JD, though it never flies, is on display at the U. S. Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, Florida and is illustrated here in what could be termed an 'extreme close up'. Acquired by David Robinson in 1964, it passed on to James Spletstoser of Florida before being sold on to Joseph Norris in 1970 and moved to Virginia. The plane found itself right back in Florida in 1972 when Bentwing aircraft acquired it, and it has since passed on to the Naval Museum, as seen here.
Doug Fisher photo
No N Number
Goodyear FG-1A Corsair Bu# 13459, carrying no N number, is on display at the United States Marine Corps museum at Quantico, Virginia. No further history on this aircraft is currently available. Notice the 'tail heavy' attitude in which the plane is displayed, the tail being lower to the ground than on other Corsairs illustrated in this website.
Doug Fisher photo
N5215V
Chance Vought F4U-4 Corsair Bu # 97286, carrying civil registration N5215V and named the 'Angel of Okinawa', is owned by Kermit Weeks of Polk City, Florida and was a regular flyer, but it is not sure how often this plane flies anymore, as she is featured prominently in Weeks' 'Fantasy of Flight' museum at the Polk City location. Once owned by eccentric collector Robert Bean of Arizona, who was convinced that the Devil lived in the tail of this particular aircraft, it was sold on to new owner Merle Gustafson in 1972 and was campaigned actively at Confederate Air Force shows and others until Gustafson's untimely death in a shipboard welding accident in the mid 80's.
Dick Phillips photo
N700G
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair, Bu # 88303 and wearing the civil registration N700G for owner Ed Shipley and the Flying Heritage Museum, this Corsair is currently at Breckenridge, Texas in the care of Nelson Ezell and undergoing thorough maintenance to insure its flying future. Registered from 1956 to '66 as N6594D with owner Gene Strine, the plane then went through a couple of other owners before winding up with Doug Champlin at his Champlin Museum in Arizona in 1984. Purchased by Larry Rose of Arizona in 1987, it wound up in Shipley's hands in 1995 and in 1997, it flew off of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in a ceremony to commemorate the Doolittle bombing raid of WWII.
Doug Fisher photo
N65WF
Chance Vought F4U-5N Corsair Bu # 122184, wearing civil registration number N65WF for owner James Smith of Fortine, Montana, this plane is also from the stable of Corsairs collected by Bob Bean in the 50's and later passed on to the Honduras Air Force (as FAH 605) in 1956 and returning years later in 1978 to the U.S. as the property of Howard Pardue and Robert Ferguson. Pardue flew the plane from '78 until 1987, when it passed on to Robert Ready of Ohio, who flew it for several years until selling it on to James Smith in 1992.
Doug Fisher photo
KD431
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair Bu# 14862, on display in the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton, England and displayed as KD431 with the side codes E2-M, the plane resided at the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield, England from 1946 until 1963, at which time it was picked up by the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) and transferred to the Fleet Museum later in 1963.
Tony Clarke Photo
N6897
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair, Bureau number 92106, carrying N number 6897, is something of a mystery. Owned at one time by warbird collector David Tallichet, the plane was passed on in 1989 to a Gary Kohs of Chicago, IL and is currently under restoration by John Lane at the Airpower Unlimited restoration facility in in Jerome, Idaho. Rumor has it that this is to be the most detailed stock restoration to date.
Dick Phillips Photo
N5222V
Bootstrap Aircraft is restoring Chance Vought F4U-4 Corsair N5222V, Bureau Number 97330, and serial number 9484. The complete history and additional photos can be seen at
www.bootstrapaircraft.com. If anyone has photos or information on this aircraft, please contact Bootstrap at
bootstrapaircraft@earthlink.net.
OE-EAS
Chance Vought built F4U-4 Corsair Bu# 96995, on the Austrian civil register as
OE-EAS and flying for owner Siegfried Angerer, was one of a number of aircraft recovered from the Honduran Air Force (where she flew as FAH 614) in the early
70's by Robert Ferguson and Howard Pardue. Restored by new owner JK 'Buck' Ridley, she spent the 80's flying in Texas until she was sold on to Angerer and
sent overseas in 1989 and now attends airshows in and around Innsbruck. This photo shows her before she departed from Breckenridge, TX on her way to Austria.
Dick Phillips Photo
No N Number
Chance Vought F4U-5NL Bu# 122189 is the quintessential gate guard aircraft,
having never flown after her military career and has been shuffled from base to base and worn various paint schemes over the years. Originally stored after
her service career in Bainbridge, GA, she was then transferred to the U.S. Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, FL and remained there from 1965 to 1976, at
which time she was transferred to the Marine Corps museum at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California, where she presently resides. She wears Korean
War 'low viz' markings of a flat red 'WF' on her tail and the number '15' on her side, barely visible in this photo.
Dick Phillips Photo
N100CV
Chance Vought F4U-5NL Corsair Bu# 124447, on the US Register as N100CV, is
another of the former Honduran Air Force machines salvaged in the mid 70's as FAH 602 and brought back to the states by Hollywood Wings. Pieced back together
and made flyable from a collection of parts, she was then owned by Glen Hyde of Dallas and first flown on January 21, 1987. Since that time, she has passed
through a few other owners hands (including the Marine Corps Museum in El Toro, CA) and is now, as far as we know, still on loan to the Mid America Air Museum
in Liberal, Kansas.
Dick Phillips photo
No N Number
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair Bu# 88368, currently displayed on the USS Yorktown museum in Charleston, South Carolina, was recovered from Lake Washington in Washington state, and is in fact only a few production numbers away from its sister ship on display in the Seattle Museum of Flight which also crashed into Lake Washington and was recovered and restored for the museum. This Corsair (88368) was salvaged from the lake in good condition and restored to static display condition at Paine Field, WA in 1984, and upon the Yorktown's retirement in the early 90's, the Corsair was transferred to the carrier for static display there.
Mike Schneider Photo
FAH609
Chance Vought F4U-5N Corsair Bu#124715, is currently on display at the Museo del Aire de Honduras in Tegucigalpa, D.C., Honduras. The aircraft served with the Honduran Air Force from 1956 to mid/late 1970's and it was last flown in 1981. Captain Fernando Soto flew the aircraft during the "100 Hour War" that took place in 1969 between Honduras and el Salvador, obtaining three confirmed aerial victories. This warbird will be subject of future restoration and preservation projects.
Ricardo Antonio Montes Photo
Mike Schneider Photo
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