Vought Corsair Ballyhalbert (718 Squadron Fleet Air Arm)

The Vought Corsair, or to give its full description - the Vought F4U Corsair - was a single seater American fighter aircraft manufactured by Chance Vought that saw service primarily in World War II. Introduced in 1942, it was still flying until 1953 and during its long period of manufacture, over 12,500 Corsairs were built and it was still flying somewhere in the world into the 1970s.

The aircraft was designed as a carrier-based machine but it had serious shortcomings when landing on US aircraft carriers. The British Royal Navy leased a number of the aircraft for use on their own carriers, designated Vought Corsair I, II and III and the Navy solved several problems including making the wings shorter to fit the limited hangar deck height and the shorter take off and landing decks. Other modifications to improve performance and pilot visibility included a bulged canopy, raising the pilot's seat and wiring shut the cowl flaps across the top of the engine compartment, diverting the oil and hydraulic fluid around the sides of the fuselage. The Americans subsequently adopted many of the British modifications to improve their own safety record.