Corsair KD431 : The Time-Capsule Fighter

by Morris, David

• ISBN13: 9780750943055
• ISBN10: 075094305X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-07-30
• Publisher: Trafalgar Square

Summary

Would you 'restore' an expensive piece of antique furniture by stripping it down to the bare wood, and then re-coating it in a high-gloss polyurethane varnish? If you did, then at a stroke you've probably wiped its value from several thousand pounds down to a few hundred, and destroyed its original character. The same principle holds good for vintage aircraft restoration and preservation. At the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton, is a rare Second World War Chance Vought Corsair fighter aircraft. To fully understand the aircraft and unravel the myths and truths surrounding KD431, an enormous research task lay ahead. The end result was the revealing of what is probably the last truly original Corsair fighter left in existence and one of very few Second World War aircraft displayed in such original condition.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vii
Preface	p. ix
The 'Ensign Eliminator'	p. 1
Corsairs in the Fleet Air Arm	p. 12
Flight from Ceylon	p. 17
The Great Challenge	p. 23
Step by Step	p. 30
Corsair Pilots Speak	p. 169
Postscript	p. 190
Appendices
Corsair Technical Data	p. 192
Corsair KD431: A Diary of Known Dates and Movements	p. 194
Corsair Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm	p. 197
Some of the Restoration Techniques used on KD431	p. 199
Surviving Corsairs	p. 201
Bibliography	p. 203
Index	p. 205
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