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Gull grey and white & matt-black Corsairs

Posted by Mick on Fri Mar 29, 2002 06:41:40 AM

A couple of colour pics in Flypast show F4U-5N Corsairs in use in Korea with VMF(N)-513, "The Flying Nightmares" one of which is BuNo123176,Red 19; Red 15 and Red 3 can also be seen.
I always thought the nightfighter Corsairs were normal dark blue but these are matt-black with red markings just like some Tigercat nightfighters were painted at the time.
Was this the usual paint scheme for -5N Corsairs in Korea or was it just specific to that unit, as there are also pics of -5N's in the normal blue with white markings, which I've seen plenty of before?
Anyone had a thought about doing a -5N Corsair in matt-black, it would certainly be unusual to see ?

Another unusual scheme.
I have a May 1968 colour pic in a book of -4 Corsair BuNo97286 apparently when owned by Bob Bean,and painted in the late 50s gull grey and white, with dark blue outer wings and rudder. Also orange band around rear fuselage and big white K on fin.
Was this a genuine navy scheme as I thought the Corsair had gone out of service before this scheme came into use, although it does look a professional job ?
Any chance of the current owner putting it back in these colours ?
Wishful thinking I know, and I also KNOW it ain't my aeroplane so it's probably not my place to say anything, but it would be very nice to see both the above paint jobs on show at the Corsair gathering, or Oshkosh sometime, bit of variation never did anyone any harm(as far as I know!).

TaTa
Mick

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