The Vought F4U Corsair was one of the most important fighters of World War II. It went on to serve again during the Korean War and some were later converted to racers because of its high engine power and speed.

The F4U was designed to meet a US Navy specification for a high performance fighter issued in 1938.

To meet the requirements Vought designed their fighter around the most powerful engine with the biggest propellor then available and built it with gull wings to give the large propellor adequate ground clearance.

Because the cockpit was so far back it was difficult to land on aircraft carriers so it flew from ground bases beginning in February 1943.

It was cleared for carrier service from late 1944. In all 12,582 F4Us were constructed.

This model represents a F4U-1D flown by VF-84 in 1945.

Hasegawa 1:72 kit with Microscale decals completed by Leigh Edmonds in January 1986.