Turbo whine...why do we like it?

[RobertN]

Pilot error?

I dunno... I'll have to see if I can find that info again. While both planes were built for varied purposes, I would go out on a limb and say it would be pretty even. I have talked with guys that flew F4U's off USS hornet CV12 and USS Coral Sea back in WWII. They thought the two would be pretty equal; both had +'s and -'s. Early numbers showed the F4U as slower, but the "G" that came at the end of WWII and in to Korea was pretty hot.

The numbers sure lean towards the P51 when you look at Air Races; there are not many F4U's in that arena...

 

[bx23barry]

I'm pretty sure the Corsair was the only WW II fighter used by the US through out the Korean conflict. At least the navy must have thought they were better than the mustang. The corsair is also my favorite fighter (the f104 and f16 are close seconds). The whole American hot rod thing of getting the biggest engine you can find and build the lightest plane you can around it. But the corsair had superchargeing not turbos. Them big radials are just nasty sounding! But turbo whine is kool too.

 

[cp1969]

At least the navy must have thought they were better than the mustang.

Maybe not having a tail hook on the P-51 had something to do with it?

The Corsair used the Pratt & Whitney R2800 which is probably the best radial ever made. Not the most powerful; just the best. The sound of all those cylinders routed into an open collector pipe is one of the best sounds ever. I don't know about the Corsair but the Lockheed PV-2 used the R2800 and routed all eighteen cylinders into a single collector. The Douglas A-26 used the same engine but used nine, two-cylinder exhausts and sounded completely different. The Allison sounds good but I like the sound of radials better.