TAMING THE F4U corsair

Flight Journal, Oct 2004 by Tillman, Barrett

By late January 1943, VF-12 had 22 combat-ready Corsairs and began field carrier-landing practice on March 3. The "Peg Legs" lost no time; the next day, the CO and Lt. (jg) Johnny Magda, a Midway veteran and future Blue Angel skipper, set course for USS Core (CVE-13). They logged four landings, incurring blowouts of the nonstandard pneumatic tailwheels. Once the hard-rubber, carrier-suitable wheels were installed, the rest of the squadron proceeded to qualify throughout the month. One plane went over the side, but the pilot was rescued.

In training, VF-12 lost seven pilots, but few were killed owing to the Corsair's faults (four perished in an early-morning storm). Thereafter, Clifton led the squadron to the Pacific, happy to be combat-bound in F4Us. In New Caledonia, however, the squadron was ordered to convert to Hellcats prior to embarking on USS Saratoga (CV-3). The change was accomplished in late July, much to the discomfiture of Clifton's pilots. Clifton's executive officer, Lt. Cdr. Robert G. Dose said, "The Corsair was a beautiful bird. We estimated it had about 50 knots on the F6F. The F4U-1 with its flashy performance was, however, a tricky plane to fly. It had a vicious stall, for one thing. If you stalled 30 feet up, you wound up on your back. By comparison, the Hellcat was a baby buggy."

Dose further recalled, "The F4U had a bad ground-looping tendency. About 60 feet after touchdown, it would swerve abruptly to the right. I used to watch the nose like a hawk and jam on full left brake and jerk the beast back to normal." Another VF-12 pilot agreed. Ensign "Dog Ears" Coleman compared the F4U's takeoff characteristics to "a hog on ice." Thus, a name was born.

The Navy's second Corsair squadron was established at NAS Norfolk, Virginia, on New Year's Day 1943. The CO was Lt. Cdr. John T. Blackburn, a 30-year-old Annapolis graduate with brief combat experience leading a Wildcat squadron during the invasion of North Africa in November 1942. Though a "trade school" product, John Blackburn wasn't a by-the-book officer. He valued results above method and efficiency above protocol.

Fighting 17 obtained its first F4U-1 in February. Blackburn delivered it, managing an "interesting" takeoff from NAS Floyd Bennett's snow-mounded runway in New York.

At Norfolk, Blackburn began to search for a suitable name for his outfit. As with Clifton's VF-12, the F4U itself raised a suggestion. "Since we were to be a Corsair squadron, we should have a piratical theme," he recalled. Because the original corsairs were Barbary pirates, a skull and crossbones emblem quickly emerged. The squadron mechanics had stencils and a supply of black and white paint. Each aircraft was given the Jolly Roger emblem on the cowl, beginning a long-standing tradition in naval aviation that still exists, today emblazoned on VF-103's Tomcats.

Blackburn also decided on a name for his personal airplane. The pilots picked up on VF-12's moniker and began calling their mounts the "Hog." As a result, the CO named 17-F-1 Big Hog, with the name painted in white letters on the vertical stabilizer.