Introduction

I have been fortunate to make two trips to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM) since it opened the new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (UHC) at the Washington-Dulles airport in Washington, D.C.  Please also see the technical notes at the end of this article.  The photos herein required significant Paint Shop work to overcome lighting issues.

In my opinion, the F4U-1D Corsair is, if not the star of the UHC show, one of the top-billing aircraft.  If you walk straight in, you come to the end of the ramp, and there it is, hanging right in front of you.  It is obviously airborne, gear, flaps, and hook are down, and it is at an angle to suggest it just took a wave-off from the LSO.  In fact, when I got down to ground level & looked up, I wanted to start waving paddles!!!  Seriously, the Corsair is one exhibit that has great all-around access from level and below.  There may be better aircraft, more famous aircraft, etc, but few are as "well hung" as the Corsair.

The NASM UHC website at:
http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/voughtf4.htm
provides full details on the aircraft itself.  Although of WW2 vintage, it did not see overseas service.  NASM restored it in the colors and markings of a Corsair named "Sun Setter," a fighter assigned to Marine Fighter Squadron VMF-114 aboard the USS Essex in July 1944.

I have added a couple "bonus" pictures of an FG-1D taken at the First Flight Centennial.

Pix#01-07 are to get the juices flowing. I'm going to try to become artistic and hack Pic#01 into a desktop picture or something. Pic#05 also shows the P-40 hung next to the F4U, but even though it has one of the better paint jobs, the angles and the gear up makes it seem pale in comparison.

Pix#08-10 give good detail on the exhaust area behind and under the cowl, while Pix #11 gives a shot behind the cowl flaps on the left side.

Pix#12-14 are shots of the prop hub and engine from the left and from under. Pix#15-16 are of the FG1D engine and specifically help clarify details in Pic#13.

The next three groups are the focus of my walk-around -- detail of the wheel wells, main gear, and the tail-wheel/hook. In the UHC display position, there is no problem getting underneath and shooting straight up and around -- no laying on your back and trying to wiggle under before you get chased away !!!! Nonetheless, I did have a couple jiggle issues and instead of giving you full shots of the both the left & right gear, I'm combining them into one series.

Pix#17-22 detail the main wheel wells and, by extension, portions of the landing gear legs, etc.

• Pic#17 is a shot directly up into the Left main wheel well. For those unfamiliar with the Corsair, the nose (front) is to the right in the picture. Note how the blue of the underwing had been oversprayed onto the white in the center section -- correct or sloppy ?

• Pix#18-19 are of the forward wall on the left wing.

• Pic#20 is of the outer wheel well wall & gear door on the right wing (so front of a/c is to left).

• Pic#21 is of the inner wheel well wall & gear door on the left wing (so front of a/c is to left).

• Pic#22 is of the rear wheel well wall on the right wing.

Pix#23-31 add a few more details of the main landing gear legs, struts, wheels, and etc. Obviously, since the Corsair is hanging, the struts are extended and would have to be modified for a sitting bird.

• Pix#23-24 are of the left gear, from the rear.

• Pic#25 is of the right gear from the side. Note also some flap detail.

• Pix#26-27 are of the left gear from the front left.

• Pic#28 is similar to Pic#34 but is of the right gear.

• Pix#29-30 are of the inner side of the right wheel.

• Pic#31 is from the FG1D and gives a better side shot of the main gear struts.

Pix#32-36 detail the tail wheel & hook area, with Pix#32-35 showing gear, hook, and well detail and Pic#36 giving the best shot of the actual raise/lower mechanisms..

And the rest are some external details.

Pic#37 is about the best one can do for a cockpit shot.

Pic#38 is of the fin & rudder.

Pix#39-40 are of the right wing flap hinges. Note the rear rocket rails in Pic#40.

Pic#41 is of the spent-shell exits and the front rocket rails on the left wing.

Pix#42-44 are the FG1D wing-fold mechansim.

And that does it for the UHC Corsair (with a little help from an FG1D).  The ability to get good underside shots like this should do something to raise the bar on wheel-well detailing ....

I welcome any comments on style, content, or technique that would improve future submissions.

Notes:

When I go photographing at air shows, museums, etc, my primary purpose is to get shots useful for modeling detail.  I tend to view color schemes as suspect or better addressed in the literature of history and the hobby.  This walk-around is no exception.

For my first digital camera, I selected a Canon Pro-90IS because it had 10x optical zoom giving it the equivalent of a 170mm telephoto.  I got it a year ago and am still not used to operating it compared to my old (but now broken) Petri FT-EE 35mm with several telephoto lenses including a one that looked like a SAM-launcher and probably would be banned from air shows these days.

Pictures are resized and edited as necessary using Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8.  I am, by no means, an artistic person and so probably don't get 80% of the utility from it that I should.  The "One Step Photo Fix" is pretty darn good, and I have learned enough to go through the steps manually on a particularly recalcitrant picture.

Model On !!!!

June 2004