I was reading some reviews on some of the different corsair kits and some guy was saying the kits were inaccurate as the corsair had clipped wings I was like strange I've only seen the rounded wings so I looked it up and the Brits operated a clipped wing corsair. Now was that a special contract order or did the British make that modification themselves and why. I know they clipped the wings on a number of planes saying it improved the roll rate. Was that the reason they felt it would help improve the maneuvering ability. Also were Brits the only ones to operate the clipped model? Anyway the reviewer was wrong about the wings but the clip wing did exist but not as extensively as he was trying to say most corsairs had the full rounded wing and not the clip wing as he was trying to say was the common type. Kinda like those guys calling the Isu 152 the SU 152 they are close but not the same KV hull vs ISU hull. The multitude of Soviet prototypes built on the KV chassis.
Some, not all, depending on squadron and to which carrier assigned, Fleet Air Arm F4Us were, indeed, modified with a shortened, or clipped, wing. This modification had absolutely nothing to do with aircraft performance but was entirely based on lower overheads, ceilings for the non-nautical, of Royal Navy carrier hangar decks as opposed to the overheads of hangar decks on US carriers. Simply put, the lower overheads on some RN carriers meant that the wings on the F4U could not be completely folded in the up position. Slicing off a portion of the wing tip and faring it over solved the problem. This is why only the RN operated this modification. What you might read or hear about improved performance is/was simply untrue and is wrapped part and parcel around the mythology that any and all improvements to the F4U itself or its operation came from the RN. All of which myths, with the exception of the improved hangar deck stowage resulting from the aforementioned shortened wings, are simply and demonstrably untrue. This includes the supposed, and mythological, RN developed "crabbed" approach for carrier landings; another absolutely untrue presentation.
Thanks for your time and information I didn't think about the overhead issues on carriers which was a problem early on with some aircraft till they started standardizing designs to account for those things. I will.have to build one for my collection as it looks different and the British colors and markings look good too.
