Despite everything I felt very lucky to have flown Corsairs, they were the best you know even though it took me sometime to realise this when so many friends died flying them.(Colin Facer, Corsair pilot, HMS Illustrious) The Vought-Sikorsky Corsair was one of the most potent fighters of the Second World War.It was also one of the most flawed. Conceived by Rex Beisel, Voughts Chief Designer during 1938, the US Navy condemned it as being too dangerous for carrier operations and refused to certify it safe for use at sea. With the British Aero Industry unable to build fighters with sufficient range and potentcy for carrier use the Admirtalty sought alternatives.With the Lend Lease programme, created by President Roosevelt, in place they could acquire weapons from American factories. In practice, this meant standing in line behind the US Navy, Marines and Army for service, but it still opened up new opportunities to be exploited.So, with newly built Corsairs being stockpiled and the pro