Even though the Vought F4U Corsair would have the longest production run of any American piston engined fighter, 1942-1953, the service history of the Corsair believe it or not overlaps with that of the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. ⠀ ⠀ The final production variant of the F4U Corsair was the ground-attack optimized variant, the AU-1. It was introduced into Marine Corps service in 1952 and was retired from the USMC in 1957 as the last American Corsairs. ⠀ ⠀ France’s Aeronavale operated both the F4U-7 and the AU-1 from 1954 to 1964. The F4U-7 was built specifically by Vought for the Aeronavale starting in 1952 as a replacement for SBD Dauntless, F6F Hellcats and SB2C Helldivers that were embarked at the time on French carriers. French Corsairs flew combat in Indochina, the Suez Crisis, the Algerian War and Tunisia. ⠀ ⠀ Argentina operated Corsairs 1956-1968 from their carrier ARA Independencia (formerly the HMS Warrior). ⠀ ⠀ Honduras and El Salvador began operating the Corsair in 1956 and 1957 respectively. In the 1969 Soccer War, Corsairs of both nations fought each other with Honduras downing three Salvadoran Corsairs. El Salvador retired their Corsairs in 1976 and Honduras retired their Corsairs in 1979. ⠀ ⠀ In 1966, the US Navy launched the VFAX program for an aircraft to replace both the F-4 and A-7. In 1973, Congress wanted a lower cost alternative to the F-14 Tomcat and the Navy was ordered to look at the Lightweight Fighter Program (LWF) candidates of the USAF- the YF-16 and YF-17. In 1975, the Navy decided to adopt and further develop the YF-17 to become the F/A-18 Hornet which made its maiden flight on 18 November 1978 while the Corsairs were still operational with Hondurans!⠀ ⠀ #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KAFW #AFW #AllianceAirport #FWAAS2015 #AllianceAirShow2015 #airport #planespotting #Vought #F4U #Corsair #McDonnellDouglas #FA18 #Hornet #BlueAngels #instagramaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvGeeksAero #AvGeekNation #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge (at Fort Worth Alliance Airport) https://www.instagram.com/p/B43laFfhzPB/?igshid=gl7374txvh8g
