Chance Vought F4U-5NL Corsair

Korean War Hero for sale

The presented aircraft is a Chance Vought F4U-5NL Corsair. The series -5 was the first post-war series. Flight testing began in April 1946, production ended after only 538 units in October 1951, of which 315 aircraft were buildt in the version-5NL. This night fighter version was also equipped with a winter equipment. Probably only five of these series-5NL Corsair are worldwide in airworthy condition, one of them is presented here.

The F4U-5NL serial 124541, supposable the only one with detectable "combat-history".

wartime pictures of VMF-513 - source Internet

On the so called history card the “curriculum vitae” (CV) of all Navy/Marines aircraft were outlined. With this history card it was relatively easy to follow the life story of the F4U-5NL serial 12454 with the US Navy/Marines. A turbulent history. Decisive for the restoration of the Corsair was the knowledge, that one of the operational squadrons that used serial 124541 was the "VMF513".

This squadron operated in the Korean War and became wellknown as the "Flying Nightmares", one of the most important operational units of the U.S. Marines.

# 124541 is probably the last surviving F4U-5NL operating with the "Flying Nightmares".

F4U5 serial CaptEugeneDerrickson Puson Airfield 07 1951 kl1

wartime picture of the wellknown "red15" - source Internet

So it was a matter of course to restore this rare, historic aircraft in the original appearance. "Preserving History" After Corsair # 124541 was stricken from the U.S. registers, she was sold to the Argentine Navy, the Armada. In the Argentine Armada, she was listed with the number 0433. The aircraft received the tactical code 2-A-202 and served with 2nd Esquadrilla de Ataque since the beginning of 1959, and got later the tactical code 3-A-204.

The fighter was assigned to the Argentinian aircraft carrier "Independencia"

On 06/11/1964 happened a landing accident with Lt.Jorge Pitaluga at the controls. The aircraft retired in April 1966 and was stored in the Naval Museum (El Tigre) as gate guard.

After the peaceful existence in the museum, the aircraft was sold in 1991 and ferried to Le Castellet/France in 1994. There, the aircraft received a basic restoration which lasted some years. The Corsair was converted to a F4U-7 and painted in the colors of the French Aeronavale. The F4U-7 Corsair was the final series and served with the French Navy for a long time. One of the former Aeronavale Corsair combat pilots was Ramon Josa. Decades later, Ramon Josa got the chance to perform with the restored fighter at many airshows over Europe. The circle closes. After the renovation works the aircraft got the French registration F-AZYS and according to the conversion to series -7 standard the matching serial number 133704.

source Internet , copyright unknown

In December 2009, the aircraft was acquired by MaxAlpha Aviation GmbH and was flown in the 2010 season extensively.

Corsair 29 03 1019

To take the history of the Corsair into account, we decided, in the context of necessary revision, to restore the aircraft back to its originality. A very time consuming job, which also drew a comprehensive parts research itself. TheCorsair was completely stripped to discover possible damage. The new covering of the control surfaces was one of the smaller tasks.

Corsair F4U 5NL D FCOR 2010 09 17 2

At the end of the day, the F4U-5NL serial 124541 resurrected and with the motto "preserving history" in the colors of VMF-513.

Corsair 2010 10 214c

In addition to the new painting, the aircraft has to be restored back to series -5 Standard. This necessitated extensive sheet metal work. Thus, the wing air intakes have been reconstructed and the cowling. Just the cowling and their radiator flaps, presented greater challenges to the team. Through our network we got missing -5 specific spare parts and also detailed factory documents. Some panels and hatches were defective and also had to be reconstructed.

Corsair 2011 04 011