Australia's F4U down and out

[DOC a5]

the only F4U CORSAIR in Australia is damaged after a gear up landing at Hunter valley airshow on SAT 28th JAN no injuries with approx. $500000 repair bill the prop alone is $90000 so I guess it will be some time before it flies. there is 1 vid on youtube possibly the only 1 as it was flying before the show on sat at 8am.

 

 

 

 

[ben87r]

Is that the one that was hangared in Darwin for a bit?

 

 

[DOC a5]

I would say so BEN being the only 1 down under it was sourced from the Honduran Air force and is painted still in their colours there are youtube vids of it flying at Point cook and its home at Tyab.

 

 

[johnm]

I think there is another flying Corsair in NZ ?

 

 

[DOC a5]

I think there is another flying Corsair in NZ ?

Yes John there is only 1 there aswell the NZ navy flew them off the British carriers in WW2 strange hey. it was the Brits who actually mastered the deck landing technique before the US navy. in Australia we never had any CORSAIRS only Mustangs P51 Kittyhawk P40 Spitfires and Boomerangs for WW2.

 

 

[ben87r]

I would say so BEN being the only 1 down under it was sourced from the Honduran Air force and is painted still in their colours there are youtube vids of it flying at Point cook and its home at Tyab.

That's sad to hear. This is one of many photos I took of it before it was test flown after rebuild.

 

 

 

[Mick]

 

 

Yes John there is only 1 there aswell the NZ navy flew them off the British carriers in WW2 strange hey. it was the Brits who actually mastered the deck landing technique before the US navy. in Australia we never had any CORSAIRS only Mustangs P51 Kittyhawk P40 Spitfires and Boomerangs for WW2.

While Australia did not operate them, there were Corsairs based here, they belonged to the Royal Navy and were based at Maryborough in Queensland. Attached pics show Corsairs lined up and you can see the "carrier deck" marked on runway 17 / 35. For those that know the airport you will see the aero club building and maintenance hangar that are still there today.

 

 

[BLA82]

Is a prop really 90k

 

 

[fly_tornado]

warbird parts are ridiculously expensive now

 

 

[JEM]

History of Graham Hoskins Corsair here

 

Soccer War Corsair | HistoryNet

 

 

[acro]

i sold a corsair prop for 4k...my mate has about 10 of them, they are not worth 90k...for the 23E50 hub/3 blades anyway, i highly doubt a 4 bladed hub is much more

 

 

[DOC a5]

[ATTACH=full]48224[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]48223[/ATTACH]

 

While Australia did not operate them, there were Corsairs based here, they belonged to the Royal Navy and were based at Maryborough in Queensland. Attached pics show Corsairs lined up and you can see the "carrier deck" marked on runway 17 / 35. For those that know the airport you will see the aero club building and maintenance hangar that are still there today.

thanks for that info mick really appreciate it I zoomed the pics and the markings on those CORSAIRS are the same as what was on the NZ CORSAIRS on the british carriers maybe NZ did not have a suitable runway for carrier practice or maybe the brits cant find NZ bro hey.

 

 

[DOC a5]

i sold a corsair prop for 4k...my mate has about 10 of them, they are not worth 90k...for the 23E50 hub/3 blades anyway, i highly doubt a 4 bladed hub is much more

what you can sell them for and what you can fly with at an airshow are 2 different things certification wise this is WW2 stuff you cant just order a new prop from Hamilton standard like for a Cessna cirrus piper. etc. would be good to have at time machine with a flux capacitor to go back and buy the CORSAIRS and MUSTANGS that they were selling as scrap for $300

 

 

[DOC a5]

History of Graham Hoskins Corsair hereSoccer War Corsair | HistoryNet

thanks for that info JEM the pieces of the history puzzle are getting clearer.

 

 

[JEM]

My dad was on Bougainville WW2 and said the NZ Corsairs were the noisiest things ever, being run up by the mechanics at 5am daily. The pilots billeted well away.

 

 

[acro]

what you can sell them for and what you can fly with at an airshow are 2 different things certification wise this is WW2 stuff you cant just order a new prop from Hamilton standard like for a Cessna cirrus piper. etc. would be good to have at time machine with a flux capacitor to go back and buy the CORSAIRS and MUSTANGS that they were selling as scrap for $300

BS props are on condition, warbirds are not certified

 

 

[Mick]

thanks for that info mick really appreciate it I zoomed the pics and the markings on those CORSAIRS are the same as what was on the NZ CORSAIRS on the british carriers maybe NZ did not have a suitable runway for carrier practice or maybe the brits cant find NZ bro hey.

 

Doc I am told this image was also taken at Maryborough. There appears to be a Fairy Firefly in the background and I have found no indication of Fireflies being based there. I guess it could have been passing through.

 

There is a plaque in the Maryborough terminal recording which aircraft operated there during WWII although it does not indicate which force they belonged to. The information re the Corsairs being Royal Navy comes from a local military museum.

 

Cheers!

 

 

[DOC a5]

[ATTACH=full]48255[/ATTACH]Doc I am told this image was also taken at Maryborough. There appears to be a Fairy Firefly in the background and I have found no indication of Fireflies being based there. I guess it could have been passing through.

 

There is a plaque in the Maryborough terminal recording which aircraft operated there during WWII although it does not indicate which force they belonged to. The information re the Corsairs being Royal Navy comes from a local military museum.

 

Cheers!

awesome stuff mick the royal navy and the KIWIS painted the center of the markings that are white in your photos to red when they became operational got to love aussie WW2 history thanks mick.

 

 

[DOC a5]

My dad was on Bougainville WW2 and said the NZ Corsairs were the noisiest things ever, being run up by the mechanics at 5am daily. The pilots billeted well away.

will not hear that noise ever again my uncle from NZ was a pilot there and made it onto the BRIT carriers with the F4U and survived the war to return to NZ with a samuri sword that he got out of a kamikaze attack plane on his deck.thanks JEM

 

 

[kaz3g]

Was in Tyabb last Saturday for the AWPA sausage sizzle. Word is they already have a spare engine and prop, and the greatest concern is the possibility that rear spars were damaged by the flaps extended landing.

 

Flaps themselves and landing gear covers will be right with some panel work and the airframe escaped other apparent damage. They'll pull some panels off and look at the spars and get it flying again ASAP.

 

Kaz

 

 

[Bazthebeaut]

I would say so BEN being the only 1 down under it was sourced from the Honduran Air force and is painted still in their colours there are youtube vids of it flying at Point cook and its home at Tyab.

In 2013 I saw a corsair being re built in Mareeba at the hanger that has the other warbirds.

 

 

[Bernie Knight]

Good news it may be up flying again soon.

 

It's been a bad few months with the Ryan - from the same hangar - damaged extensively as well.

 

 

[Guest Hampden]

[ATTACH=full]48224[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]48223[/ATTACH]

 

While Australia did not operate them, there were Corsairs based here, they belonged to the Royal Navy and were based at Maryborough in Queensland. Attached pics show Corsairs lined up and you can see the "carrier deck" marked on runway 17 / 35. For those that know the airport you will see the aero club building and maintenance hangar that are still there today.

Wow, I did my first flight at Maryborough 7 years later in a Miles Messenger, being 5 at the time I can't remember more than the engine start.

Geoff

 

 

[facthunter]

Was that where the saying ' "don't shoot the Messenger" started? Nev