F4U-7

This page is about the French naval fighter F4U-7. For other versions, see F4U (Family).

F4U-7

▄AD-4

▄F-84G-26-RE

360://https://old-wiki.warthunder.com/images/e/e2/Cockpit_f4u-7.jpg

F4U-7

▄AD-4

▄F-84G-26-RE

France

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.0	6.0	6.0

Class:

Fighter

Naval aircraft

Research:54 000

Purchase:185 000

Description

Intended for the French Aéronavale, the F4U-7 Corsair was developed to fulfill France's urgent need for a carrier aircraft. America responded to the call with the F4U-7, an F4U-4 airframe with the ground attack capability of the AU-1, a ground attack-focused Corsair. The F4U-7s were some of the last Corsairs to be produced in its long production run of 13 years. France began receiving the new Corsairs in 1953 and retired them 11 years later in 1964. During its service, the F4U-7 saw combat in many places like Algeria and Vietnam. Much like in WW2, F4U-7s flew sortie after sortie with minimal losses.

Introduced in Update 1.79 "Project X", the F4U-7 is one of 5 Corsairs in-game armed with the dangerous 20 mm cannons. Like every other Corsair, it's extremely fast at an astounding 885 km/h (553 mph) but does weigh more than the F4U-4/4B due to its provisions to carry a variety of ordnance. It is a strong plane when it comes to both air-to-air roles and ground attack roles but it also has the highest BR for a cannon-armed Corsair.

General info

Flight performance

Arrestor gear

Accelerates braking by grabbing the brake cable on the deck of the aircraft carrier

Max speed

at 9 000 m711 km/h

Turn time20 s

Max altitude11 500 m

EnginePratt & Whitney R-2800-18w

TypeRadial

Cooling systemAir

Take-off weight8 t

Characteristics	Max speed (km/h at 9,000 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	675	651	11500	21.2	22.0	13.5	13.5	200
Upgraded	754	711		19.1	20.0	25.7	18.5

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	✓

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
885	730	388	299	252	~11	~4

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 450	< 220	< 410	> 450

Survivability and armour

Crew1 person

Speed of destruction

Structural0 km/h

Gear730 km/h

• 38 mm Bulletproof glass in cockpit front.
• 3 mm Steel plates in front of the cockpit, top of the fuselage.
• 8 mm Steel plate behind the pilot.
• 12.7 mm Steel plate on the headrest.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB2 495 → 3 293

RB5 799 → 7 654

SB8 719 → 11 509

Total cost of modifications47 400

86 300

Talisman cost1 500

Crew training52 000

Experts185 000

Aces940

Research Aces480 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

100 / 210 / 460 %

166 / 166 / 166 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Fuselage repair Research: 1 900 Cost: 3 500 180 Radiator Research: 1 900 Cost: 3 500 180 Airframe Research: 2 600 Cost: 4 700 250 Compressor Research: 2 600 Cost: 4 700 250 Wings repair Research: 2 400 Cost: 4 400 230 Engine Research: 2 400 Cost: 4 400 230 Cover Research: 3 100 Cost: 5 600 290 Engine injection Research: 3 100 Cost: 5 600 290 G-suit Research: 3 100 Cost: 5 600 290		anm3_belt_pack Research: 1 900 Cost: 3 500 180 100 GPs Research: 1 900 Cost: 3 500 180 FRC mk.2 Research: 1 900 Cost: 3 500 180 FSBC mk.5 Research: 2 600 Cost: 4 700 250 Matra T10 140 Research: 2 600 Cost: 4 700 250 anm3_new_gun Research: 2 400 Cost: 4 400 230 FMBC mk.1 Research: 2 400 Cost: 4 400 230 Matra T10 151 Research: 2 400 Cost: 4 400 230 FLBC mk.1 Research: 3 100 Cost: 5 600 290 Matra SNEB Research: 3 100 Cost: 5 600 290

Armaments

Offensive armament

The F4U-7 is armed with:

• 4 x 20 mm M3 cannons, wing-mounted (246 rpg = 984 total)

The four cannons are arranged in bundles of two mounted in each wing. Each is armed with the same amount of ammunition, which means that all guns will fire together until empty.

Suspended armament

The F4U-7 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
100 kg No.1 bombs	1	1*†	1	1*†	1				1	1*†	1	1*†	1
250 lb AN-M57 bombs	1	1*†	1	1*†	1				1	1*†	1	1*†	1
500 lb AN-M64A1 bombs			1†		1†				1†		1†
1,000 lb AN-M65A1 bombs						1	1	1
HVAR rockets	1	1*	1	1*	1				1	1*	1	1*	1
SNEB type 23 rockets	19*		19*		19*				19*		19*		19*
T10 140 rockets	1	1*	1	1*	1				1	1*	1	1*	1
T10 151 rockets	1	1*	1	1*	1				1	1*	1	1*	1
Maximum permissible loadout weight: 2,720 kg
* SNEBs on hardpoints 3, 5, 9, 11 cannot be equipped in conjunction with marked ordnance in adjacent hardpoints † Bombs on hardpoints 3, 5, 9, 11 cannot be equipped in conjunction with marked bombs in adjacent hardpoints

Default weapon presets
Without load 10 x HVAR rockets 10 x T10 140 rockets 10 x T10 151 rockets 114 x SNEB type 23 rockets 10 x 100 kg No.1 bombs (1,000 kg total) 10 x 250 lb AN-M57 bombs (2,500 lb total) 4 x 500 lb AN-M64A1 bombs (2,000 lb total) 3 x 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 bombs (3,000 lb total)

Usage in battles

• Play it as a pure fighter, no payload, with the powerful 4 x 20 mm AN/M3 guns there is no need to spray the enemy aircraft with ammunition, just one hit will severely damage the enemy fighter to include a potential loss of control systems, fire or multiple leaks, if you're facing attackers or heavy bombers (especially the He 177 A-5), you must keep your distance because the F4U-7 is a fragile aircraft, engage them from far or attack them par surprise. Use this aircraft as a boom and zoomer.
• Play it as an attacker, use the famous 114 x SNEB rocket payload. This payload is the best for the Enduring Confrontation. There is enough firepower to eliminate all the enemies on the battlefield with careful aim. And a convoy is just a piece of cake. For the tanks, send six rockets, two for howitzer and two to four rockets for a pillbox. When you run out of rockets, you have two choices:
  1. Return to the airfield to reload
  2. Use it as a fighter, but you'll be turning 2.7s slower, select those fighters which have a poorer turning radius.
• Fly the aircraft as a fighter/bomber, take the payload with the 3 x 1,000 lbs bombs and attack the bases. Once you're out of bombs, you can dogfight other planes.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Not controllable	Controllable Auto control available	Controllable Auto control available	Controllable Auto control available	Separate	Controllable 3 gears	Not controllable

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Better high altitude performance than F4U-4B
• Excellent armament when fully upgraded, high ammo count
• 114 x SNEB rockets are devastating against both ground and air targets

Cons:

• Painful to play when stock
• Relatively bad climb rate
• Limited WEP (11 minutes)
• Fragile tail section
• Extremely inaccurate guns when stock
• Performs poorly with added weight from suspended armaments

History

The French Navy (Aéronavale) desperately needed a carrier-born aircraft for their newly acquired carriers from the U.S. and Britain. The U.S. decided to help France by making the F4U-7. The F4U-7 was essentially the AU-1 Corsair and F4U-4 Corsair mixed together. It combined the engine from the F4U-4 and airframe, but it also had the payload capacity of the AU-1 Corsair. This allowed it to be powerful against fighters but also effective against ground targets. The U.S. actually bought the F4U-7s first, then through MAP (Military Assistance Program), France received them.

In 1956, due to the inaccuracy of free-fall bombs and unguided rockets, France experimented with the F4U-7 in its ability to carry SS-11 guided missiles. France couldn't afford sortie after sortie with a shortage of pilots, so the only way to combat that was to make weapons more accurate. Use of the SS.11 on the F4U-7 required intense training as there would be 2 sticks, one to fly the plane and one to guide the missile to its target. This required the pilot to have "2 brains" as you would have to fly while watching the ATGM. France found it to be a success, so they decided to select a squadron to start the process on, but however, they decided to not pursue it. France couldn't take 15 Corsairs at a time to be fitted with ATGMs due to their small fleet of only around 115 F4U-7s. However, the idea did live on with the MD.311 Flamant.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the F4U-7 from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Shooting Range #122 - Pages of History section at 03:50 discusses the fate of the F4U Corsair after WW2.

The bane of tanks discusses the F4U-7 at 4:11 - War Thunder Official Channel

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Devblog] F4U-7: The Corsair under a French Tricolore
• [wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com] Guided missiles on Corsairs