F4U Corsair

The F4U Corsair was the main US fighter plane after the Hellcat, which it replaced. It first flew in 1942 and entered service in January, 1943 and flew first on Guadalcanal with the Cactus Air Force (Cactus was the codename of the air force on the island). It took place in all the major battles in WWII after Guadalcanal and flew in Korea as a night fighter and low level bomber. It was the fastest piston-engine fighter of the war due to its engine and gull-winged design. It was armed with 6 .50 cal machine guns, 3 in each wing, and had a lot of armor around the engine and the cockpit. It could take a lot of punishment before it would go down and was one of the most succesfull fighters of the war next to the P51 Mustang.