CHANCE-VOUGHT F4U CORSAIR
(AU-1 Marine Corps ground attack version)
Aircraft of loan from the U.S. Navy

During WWII the now famous “Corsair” became a rugged and successful fighter, serving the Marine Corps and the Navy in the grueling South Pacific campaigns. Its pilots post and enviable record in air-to-air combat, destroying approximately 2,140 enemy aircraft against 189 losses. This 11:1 victory ratio is second only the that of the Grumman F6F “Hellcat” (19:1). The F4U, AU and FG versions of the Corsair served during the war as a complement to the Navy’s “Hellcat.”

In 2005 our aircraft, while on display at the Alabama Museum in Mobile, was severely damaged by the wind and waves of Hurricane Katrina. Bent, Broken, and submerged in brackish tides, it was pulled from the brine and sent to the San Diego Air & Space Museum for a comprehensive restoration. For nearly three years museum volunteers worked tirelessly to bring the aircraft back to better than new condition. The engine and other main components were completely disassembled and rebuilt, win and fuselage panels were replaced, and entire sections of the airframe were fashioned from scratch including the rockets under the wings and cockpit consoles, switches, and gauges.

In honor of his combat service in both WWII and the Korean War, the Museum's aircraft is finished in the colors and markings of that flown by Marine Lt. Col. Jerry Coleman, popular play-by-play announcer for the San Diego Padres and former Major League baseball player with the New York Yankees. While many ball players put down their bats to server their country in wartime, Mr. Coleman was the only player to see combat, as a pilot, in both wars.

VMA-323’s “Death Rattlers, a unit that traces its combat record back to WWII, began operations during the Korean War in 1950 from the deck of the USS Badoeng Strait as part of Marine Aircraft Group 33 (MAG-33). This squadron supported United Nations and American ground forces in the battles of Pusan Perimeter, Inchon, Chosin Reservoir and almost every other major campaign of the conflict. During action near Kosong, on August 11, 1950, a VMF-323 Corsair pilot became the first Marine aviator to be killed in Korea. The unit also took part in the brilliant attack on the Sui-ho Dam in June 1952. The dam was attacked by 250 Navy and Marine Corps bombers and fighters, dropping 90 tons of munitions on the power station, transformer yard, and auxiliary facilities. The power station was destroyed but the dam was left intact. VFMA-33 operates today as an FA-18 squadron based at MCAS Miramar here in San Diego.