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Goodyear F2G-1 Super Corsair
The apparent capability of the Corsair meant that there was interest in exploring how far the design could be pushed. Vought, as already mentioned, was fully occupied with existing work and projects. So the Navy authorized Goodyear to create a new model – the F2G “Super Corsair”. This was intended primarily for the US Marine Corps and would emphasize low-level interception, with the ability to operate as an attack aircraft.
Of the obvious differences, the F2G was equipped with a bubble canopy to correct some of the Corsair’s earlier problems with pilot visibility. The F2G also carried a larger fuel load and a redesigned and taller tail that was equipped with an auxiliary rudder to compensate for engine torque during takeoff and landing. Now, with the basics out of the way, I want to address some issues regarding the historical record of this aircraft. I have found quite a few anomalies in the source material, especially and perhaps not surprisingly the online material, so it will be fair to say that I will be engaging in more speculation in this article than usual.
For starters, several sources state that the development of the F2G was to counter Japanese kamikaze attacks. This seems unlikely as the Japanese did not begin to consider kamikazes as an official tactic until June 1944, and the first mass attacks did not begin until October of that year at the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
In fact, Goodyear conducted development work on the basic Corsair in late 1943/early 44, and it was apparently they who proposed the idea of a Super Corsair to the US Navy. The Navy placed its first orders for the F2G in March 1944 – seven months before kamikazes became a formal threat. And the production order – placed before the aircraft had even flown – was for 418 F2G-1s for the Marines. These had manually retractable wings and were intended as a land variant.
Only ten of the carrier-based F2G-2s, which had hydraulically retractable wings, were ordered. This paltry order was apparently for aircraft testing only, because by March 1944 the US Navy had not approved the Corsair, in any form, for use on aircraft carriers.
In fact, the older F4Us would not begin operating in this manner regularly until late that year. And this was in response to the need for a low-level interceptor to counter Japanese kamikazes, at which the older Corsair excelled.
So I suspect that the confusing dates and role of the F4U have led to some misunderstanding about the original ideas behind the F2G.
Not that it wouldn’t have been great in the role. Because the engine in the F2G was a monster. The original Goodyear FG-1 was largely powered by the Pratt & Whitney R-2800-8W Double Wasp, which produced a maximum power of 2,250 horsepower with water injection and was hardly a fighter engine.
But the Super Corsair got the R-4360-4 Wasp Major.
This 28 cylinder radial developed 3,000 horsepower and Goodyear was talking about fitting a water jet, which would raise the power to 3,650 horsepower. This would give the fully equipped fighter an expected top speed of 450 mph (724kp/h). The armament of the FG-2 would have been largely the same as the original Corsairs, with a choice of four or six .50 calibre Browning heavy machine guns mounted in the wings. But as for the bomb load, we find another anomaly in the sources, and again this may have obscured some of Goodyear’s thinking behind the aircraft. Most sources, particularly those found on the internet, state that the F2G’s weapons load was either 8 rockets or a maximum bomb load of 1,600 pounds (c726 kg). And that’s completely wrong, and I think there’s a misunderstanding of earlier works, probably William Green’s “Warplanes of World War II.” If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it. Anyway, in it Green says that the weapons load for the F2G is “…eight 5-inch rockets or two 1,000-pound or 1,600-pound bombs.” I believe somewhere along the line that has become “1,600-pound bombs,” which is wrong. The standard US Navy armor-piercing bomb was the AN-Mk.1 – which weighed 3,500 pounds. And so, the F2G was a fighter that could carry two of these anti-aircraft weapons. In short, in the F2G you had an extremely powerful low-level ground interceptor capable of quickly shuffling and destroying invading aircraft. In addition, it had improved maneuverability and range due to its enhanced fuel capacity, ideal for conducting combat air patrols over U.S. Marine landing sites. It also had formidable anti-ship capabilities, especially with low-level performance that would have made it, for the day, extremely fast on offensive runs against Japanese ships. Kamikaze attacks on American ships were not what they had in mind when the F2G was proposed. It was the Guadalcanal and Solomon Islands campaign. When the F2G was ordered in early 1944, the United States was considering the next steps in the Pacific War – the invasion of the Philippines. The battles of the previous two years had shown how adept the Japanese were at suddenly attacking Allied landing zones with both aircraft and warships. The Philippines, a huge target, was likely expected to be particularly difficult to deal with in the face of such attacks. Remember, this is before the annihilation of the Japanese carrier force at the Battle of the Philippine Sea – both the Japanese Navy and the Army Air Force were still fighting hard and with some strength. So, I suspect the idea behind the F2G was to give the Marines the kind of aircraft they would have liked to have had available on Guadalcanal – an aircraft where, even if they were cut off for periods, as was the case in that earlier campaign, they had an aircraft that could wreak havoc on enemy attackers. As I say, this is speculation, and largely irrelevant because the F2G did not make it into service. Problems with the Wasp Major delayed development, and when it first flew in July 1945, there was really no need for the Super Corsair. The original F4U performed perfectly and would do so for years to come. In addition, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps had received two new aircraft that covered the kind of roles the F2G would have – Grumman’s F7 Tigercat and F8 Bearcat. The former was an extremely capable ground-based fighter-bomber, while the latter was an interceptor that did not quite match the F2G’s intended performance. Furthermore, the war was over, and the Navy was also in the process of developing its first jets. These were clearly the way of the future, so why spend money on the Super Corsair when it wasn’t really necessary? As a result, only ten F2Gs – five -1s and five -2s – were built before the order was cancelled