History paper

[efini_kid]

hey all,

I am taking an pretty cool class this semester. Its a senior level seminer called: History of American aviation in peace and war. Well I have to write either a book review or a research paper on a topic concerning aviation (obviously). Well I am trying to decide wether or not to do my paper on the book "The Jolly Rogers" or do a research paper on the early life of the F4U Corsair; from development, to sea trials, struggles with carrier ops, to the ass kicking VF-17 did in the pacific.

Would anyone on here have any good info or ideas of places to look for research on the f4u? im coming up a lil short. the main thing is the paper cant be a fact sheet about the plane,. it needs to discuss why the plane is historically significant.

anyways, thansk for the help guys

 

[picklesuit]

Read the "Complete Beasley"... way more interesting and informative than any other research out there.

 

[Fog]

Get the book "The Jolly Rogers: The Story of VF-17" . It tells the story of the development of the a/c and its 1st Navy deployment in the South Pacific on the lsland of Odongo near New Guinea. It should help you substantially w/ your project.

 

[efini_kid]

Get the book "The Jolly Rogers: The Story of VF-17" . It tells the story of the development of the a/c and its 1st Navy deployment in the South Pacific on the lsland of Odongo near New Guinea. It should help you substantially w/ your project.

yea i actually already own that book. so i thought it might be a easy topic.

 

[bunk22]

I don't think you're looking hard enough...there are plenty of books out there on the life of the F4U Corsair. Barett Tillman has a great book on it. Don't forget the final air-to-air action of the might F4U Corsair took place during the Soocer War in Central America, 1969. Three air-to-air victories for one Corsair pilot against the P-51 and FG1 Corsair. Good stuff.

 

[jtmedli]

I saw a book called "Semper Fi In The Sky" at the bookstore. Could be a great book for some F4U Corsair knowledge.

 

[Mos]

If you have access to an online journal database, like EBSCO or Proquest, I'd recommend searching for "F4U". If you don't know what I'm talking about, just go to your college library and ask the librarian about it.

I have a few articles on the F4U that you might find useful if you want to PM me an email address.

Though I haven't read it, you might try reading Whistling Death: The Test Pilot’s Story of the F4U Corsair by Guyton Boone. It should have some info on the development history of the F4U.

 

[HeyJoe]

I don't think you're looking hard enough...there are plenty of books out there on the life of the F4U Corsair.

Concur, Google is your friend. There's tons of info out there on the web. Search on F4U Corsair and play around with adding "+ Korea", "+ Blacksheep", "+ Jolly Rogers", "+ Grim Reapers", "+ Guy Bordelon" as well as simply "FG-1 Corsair" and F2G Corsair" (that will reveal the story of the utlimate Goodyear built Super Corsairs with really big motors that are favorites on Reno race circuit).

Barett Tillman has a great book on it. Don't forget the final air-to-air action of the might F4U Corsair took place during the Soocer War in Central America, 1969. Three air-to-air victories for one Corsair pilot against the P-51 and FG1 Corsair. Good stuff.

Barrett is indeed the dean of Naval Aviation writing so that's great advice. he helped me considerably in my early days of writing and remains a close friend. if you want to impress your instructor with real research, I can set you up to interview him. Send me a PM if you're interested.

 

[bunk22]

Barrett is indeed the dean of Naval Aviation writing so that's great advice. he helped me considerably in my early days of writing and remains a close friend. if you want to impress your instructor with real research, I can set you up to interview him. Send me a PM if you're interested.

I had no clue you knew him. Hell, I'd like to meet the man. I have so many of his damn books. He wrote a novel years ago called "Warriors" one my favorites.

 

[CPENgunner]

Get in contact with the research staff at the US Naval Aviation Museum's Emil Buehler Library on NAS Pensacola. The resources that they have in the collection is unbelievable. The staff will go out of their way to assist in finding resources. Below is a link to the library with contact information. Id start there if I was doing a research paper on anything related to Naval Aviation.

http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/ExhibitsAndCollections/Library.aspx

 

[badger16]

Where in the F was that class when I was a History Major?! That is an awesome idea for a class.

 

[HeyJoe]

I had no clue you knew him. Hell, I'd like to meet the man. I have so many of his damn books. He wrote a novel years ago called "Warriors" one my favorites.

When I was editor of Approach, I got to mingle with all the editors, writers and photographers that gathered at Tailhook and gathered nightly in Hook Magazine suite to view each other's work and talk about potential projects. Bob Lawson, editor of Hook, officiated and had special guests like Alex Zuyev, the (late) VVS MiG-29 defector, and other notable individuals. Great noteworking venue that helped me immensely.

As to Barrett, he is son of a prosperous Oregon wheat farmer who rebuilt and flew his own SBD Dauntless. He and his brother have a lifelong love of firearms and own a pair of watercooled .30 cal machine guns. Barrett is arguably the most prolific Naval Aviation author in the business while his brother writes on firearms that he evaluates on the ranges they built on the family property.

Barrett has likely actually interviewed more World War II aviators than anyone on the planet so his writing isn't that of an armchair historian, it's imbued with their stories and perceptions. He was a close friend of the immortal Joe Foss; so close he was by his bed when he died. he also was the chronicler of Marion Carl and is close with the Battle of Coral Sea notable Dauntless pilot turned fighter pilot "Swede" Vejtasa and many others. He didn't constrain himself to World War II only and was a close friend and even collaborator with the irrepressible "Pirate" Nichols, F-8 Crusader pilot and MiG killer with whom he crafted two books.

Regardless, I simply enjoy talking to him in person and on-line as we have stayed in touch for 23 years and counting. Barrett lives most of the year in Mesa, Arizona where he was secretary and publisher for the American Fighter Aces Association before it moved to Texas. It used to be colocated with Doug Champlin's collection of flyable fighter aircraft (it, too, has moved away). When I traveled to Arizona a lot during development of AIM-9X, I'd ply into Phoenix and go by and see Barrett and get a personal tour of the collection. That was impressive in and of itself, but not as much as hearing Barrett's commentary on the history of the Dora 9, or F2G, P-51, P-38, etc.

 

[Pags]

Get in touch with Vought. They have a decent and responsive historical department.

 

[efini_kid]

cant use to many websites. my TA specifically told me to stay away from them.

and ill be honest, i haven't done to much searching. been busy with other classes, my midterms took precedence this week.

also, i wanted to thank everyone for their responses.

 

[Mos]

An electronic database is not really the same as a website. It's just a library of journal articles that are in electronic form. It's a miracle of modern technology that makes learning more accessible. Your TA shouldn't have a problem with that. If he does, then he's a dumbass.