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Re: Brewster Corsair - Long

Posted by Richard Allnutt on Wed Mar 12, 2003 12:43:23 PM

In reply top Re: Brewster Corsair posted by Joe Scheil on Wed Mar 12, 2003 11:55:13 AM

Of the 735 corsairs that Brewster built, about 500 went to the Royal Navy. Most of these were used for training purposes in the US, but some made it to the UK, Australia, and Ceylon (check Ray Sturtivant's excellent book on FAA serials, from '39 to '45). That being said though, I can find no reference that shows Brewster built corsairs were deployed in FAA squadrons which saw combat. None of the US-based Brewster-built corsairs saw combat. Interestingly, there has been a sort of myth running around that Brewster corsairs were shoddily built, but I can find no evidence to support this either, just modern historians with vague third-hand anecdotes without material evidence to back it up. I have talked to Ralph Romaine, one of the Brewster test pilots, and he told me that this was never an issue with any aircraft he tested. I believe that these stories may have arisen around four key issues.

First that the Brewster Buffalo was demolished by the Japanese in its one significant combat encounter in US service. However, these were nearly all green pilots, fighting in the way-over-weight F2A-3, against superior pilots using tactics they hadn't yet learned how to fight. We all know how well the Finns did with the Buffalo... a 26-1 combat to loss ratio! However, the utter defeat of the US Buffaloes, combined with some in-service difficulties, such as gear collapse problems on carriers, gave many US airmen a distinct suspicion of the Brewster product.

The second point is that the senior staff at Brewster, especially the Miranda brothers, had severe credibility issues with the Department of the Navy, and the US War Department. They always promised more than they could deliver, and their initial production facilities were not
very efficient either.... imagine building Buffaloes in multistory buildings... no place for a production line!

The third point is that there were severe labor issues ongoing at the Brewster plants. The Brewster Labor unions made production very difficult at times, and even when the Navy took over Brewsters management in 1944, it still couldn't resolve these problems.

The fourth issue is just supposition on the part of Ralph Romaine, but could be true. Apparently the Navy Secretary, John Foster Dulless if I remember correctly, had, before the war, been a partner in an aviation firm which lost a major contract to Brewster. This apparently lead to a vendetta of sorts, with Dulless doing everything he could to undo Brewster.

With regards to surviving airframes/components, there is the substantial remains of one F3A, the location of which you can look up on the FAA registry. It was recovered from a swamp in North Carolina back in the eighties. I have seen a picture of this airframe, and it is substantial, but needs a new spar if it is to fly again. The extreme rear fuselage was unfortunately recovered at a separate time though, and is with a different owner serving as a parts source at Vintage Fighters (if I read Air Classics correctly).

With regards to Brewster-built corsair components, Joe Tobul had some control surfaces on his F4U-4 corsair that were Brewster built (I have photographs of the data plates). Tragically Joe was killed in this corsair last year, as everyone on this board is probably aware of by now. Joe supposedly had enough spare parts though to build another corsair, so it is possible that some of these came from the same cache as the control surfaces on his -4, and could be Brewster built.

Anyway, that's about all I can add. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Richard



': Brewster ran into quality control issues w
ith their Corsai
: rs and discontinued production as you know. The aircraft
: were supposed to be stateside only for training as they ha
: d a few aircraft shed wings I think. The Brewster Corsair
: s were randomly photographed, and the only one I know of l
: ate war is an air to air shot over USMCAS El Toro, 1944 of
: an F3A-1 with a 1A canopy. All were probably stricken.
: There is supposed to be one survivor, but it is a project
: and currently in the "black world". Maybe someday it will
: be able to be recognised for the unique survivor it is.

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