Good Year F2G "Super Corsair".

High Performance Dead End:  The F2G “Super Corsair”

By

Scott Schwartz

     Diving one’s perfectly good airplane into an enemy ship may seem alien to our way of thinking. Nevertheless, the Japanese Kamikaze airplane and pilot was a frighteningly effective weapon.  Nearly three thousand Kamikaze attacks were launched during World War Two.  As a result of these attacks, thirty four American ships were sunk, and 368 were damaged.  In addition, almost 5,000 sailors were killed in Kamikaze raids.

By the end of the war, American ships had been equipped with numerous, quick-firing anti-aircraft guns that forced attackers to fly through a “wall of lead”.  The guns, combined with aerial interception, made Kamikaze and conventional attacks very difficult.  In spite of these defenses, 14 percent of attacking Kamikaze airplanes were able to reach their targets.  In addition, almost 8.5% of the ships that were hit by them actually sank.  Had the Japanese employed the Kamikazes earlier in the war, when American ships had relatively skimpy anti-aircraft defenses, the results would have been devastating. The outcome of the war may have even been altered.

It is no surprise then, that the U.S. Navy needed an aircraft that could take off and climb quickly in order to intercept Kamikaze attacks.  The F6F Hellcat, and the F4U Corsair were superb fighters.  Heavily armed, able to absorb a lot of damage, and fast, these two airplanes were the mainstays of the U.S. Navy’s fighter force from late 1943 onward.  The problem was that most Kamikaze attacks occurred at low altitudes, and with very little warning.  Neither the standard Corsair, nor the Hellcat, which were both equipped with the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 18 cylinder engine, could climb fast enough to intercept the Kamikaze’s.  The Navy wanted a nimble airplane that could intercept them before they reached the fleet. 

Accordingly, the Goodyear Airplane Co. (the aircraft manufacturing arm of the Goodyear Tire Co.), which had already been building “standard” Corsairs known as FG-1’s (Vought Corsairs were designated “F4U-1”), modified an FG-1 to accept the massive Pratt & Whitney R-4360 28 cylinder engine  in early 1944. This engine produced 3,000 horsepower, compared to the 2,200 horsepower put out by the R-2800.    

Other modifications included a “bubble” canopy and increased fuel capacity.  The new airplane was designated as the “F2G-1” and boasted a climb rate of 7000 feet per minute!  The Navy ordered 418 F2G-1’s for use by the Marine Corps as land – based interceptors.  An additional 10 aircraft, designated as F2G-2’s, were ordered for operation from aircraft carriers.

Ironically, the increase in horsepower did not translate into a major increase in top speed.  The F2G had a top speed of 431mph, which was only about 15 mph faster than the F4U/FG-1 Corsair.  In addition, flight testing revealed that the torque produced by the huge engine made lateral control difficult at low speeds, where the vertical stabilizer was not very effective.  This problem, combined with the F2G’s unimpressive top-speed, and the impending end of hostilities, caused cancellation of the production contract.  As a result, only five F2G-1’s and five F2G-2’s were built. 

Ironically, the F2G found its niche in the civilian world for a few years.  A former Navy pilot by the name of Cook Cleland purchased four surplus F2G’s and flew them in the Cleveland National Air Races, which were held between 1947 and 1949.  The “Super Corsairs” were more than a match for the P-51’s and P-63’s that dominated the air racing circuit at the time.

However, a situation that is eerily similar to the one facing many airports today arose.  Urban development began to surround the race course. This and a couple of crashes sealed the fate of the Cleveland races.

After the Cleveland races ended, little use could be found for the F2G’s. After all, they were not the most practical ex-military aircraft to own and maintain. Due to the airplane’s limited production run, parts were scarce, and maintaining the R-4360 engine was challenging to say the least.  For example; like most aircraft engines, each of the R-4360’s 28 cylinders required two spark plugs.  That’s 56 spark plugs to change!

As a result, no one was beating a path to Cook Cleland’s doorstep in order to acquire the Super Corsairs.  He wound up donating two of them for use as firefighting training aids.  Both were burned in the process. One of the Super Corsairs crashed, and another was abandoned and eventually became part of a private collection.  The last of the Cleland F2G’s – “Race 57”, passed through several owners over the years without being restored.  This airplane wound up in the hands of the Lone Star Flight Museum, who, in 1990, sold the airplane to a couple of people who intended to cut it up for parts.  They wanted to use the parts for the restoration of an FG-1 that had once been used as a wind machine!

The war bird world is a small one indeed. North Dakota aircraft restorer Bob Odegaard managed to obtain what was left of “Race 57”.  By the time he got his hands on it, the airplane was missing most of its parts forward of the firewall.

Odegaard painstakingly restored the aircraft to flying condition.  He located a Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engine, and had a new cockpit canopy made from scratch.  All in all, over 12,000 man-hours were invested in the project, and by 1999, “Race 57” was flying again.    

Today, “Race 57” can be seen at air shows, and is one of only three F2G's in existence.  

Although the F2G was not successful as a military aircraft, it was not the end of the Corsair line.  The last two versions of the Corsair were the F4U-7, and the AU-1.  The AU-1 was designed as a low-altitude ground attack airplane.  Both of these airplanes remained in production until 1952, giving the Corsair the distinction of being the last American piston engine fighter ever produced. 

Goodyear F2G Corsair specifications:

Top speed:  431 mph at 16,400 feet.

Range 1,955 miles- with external fuel tanks.

Service ceiling:  38,800 feet.

Armament:  Four .50 cal. machine guns.  The aircraft could also carry 8 rockets under its wings 1,600 lbs of bombs.

Engine:  1 Pratt & Whitney R-4360, 28 Cylinder (four rows of seven cylinders) radial air-cooled engine.

Restored Goodyear F2G - "Race 57" at one of the "Planes of Fame " airshows.
At the time that this photograph was taken, the aircraft was owned by Bob Odegarrd.
Photo by Scott Schwartz