"THE CORSAIR"

Poem by Norman E. DeTray, Naval Aviator, WW2

My love affair with the mighty Corsair,
Started out with a bit of doubt!
Could I fly this big bad awesome thing?
Did I have the guts to find out?

Some called it "Hose Nose" (a loving term) Because of its extra long snout.
To others, it was "Bent Wing Bird"
Or "Birdcage" (I can't see out!!)

To most it was the "F4U,"
With a mind all of its own!
The first few hops, the plane flew you,
A bit of a "twilight-zone!"

Although it's over 50 years,
Since my initial flight,
I won't forget that feeling,
Great excitement--mixed with fright!

"Cleared for take off," said the tower.
Am I finally ready to go?
I locked the tail-wheel--added power,
I really didn't know!

Be still my heart, go back to your place, Why are you up here, so close to my face?
Look straight ahead, can't see a thing,
Look right and left, look at the wing.

At 90 some knots, the tail comes up,
By George there's a runway I see,
I'm now off the ground, the wheels come up, What's wet? Did I take a pee?

The field is dropping away quite fast,
I just pulled up the flaps,
The gauge reads over 2000 feet,
I've got it made--perhaps?

2000 horses working hard,
That purring sound is sweet,
Was on the ground five minutes back,
And now--10,000 feet!

Down wheels and flaps, ease the stick back, Time to practice a landing stall.
Try landing on a fluffy cloud-bank,
Hell, this ain't bad at all.

Let's do that again; go for another stall, Down wheels and flaps, Holy Smoke, no action at all!!
Hydraulic failure. could this be Taps?

My instructor flew up to take a look,
"Try it again, both wheels and flaps."
So I did it just by the book,
"She's busted for sure, you gotta bum rap."

"Pump the Wobble Pump, see if that helps, Jeeze, you gotta pump it harder than that!"
"They're comin', they're comin'" he said with a yelp And brother, I pumped, with nary a gap.

"The wheels are down," I said with a shout, But no flaps for my first landing?
What's this all about?

Well, they cleared NAS JAX for me alone, For a straight-in approach, which I'd never done, But when you're desperate, you grab any bone!
You get pretty inventive when under the gun!

You can't stall her out without any flaps, You fly it in and keep the speed up, I lined her up with a 3 mile gap, To the end of the runway, no if, and, or buts.

My instructor flew wing,
Told me just what to do,
Wheels contacted ground, I felt like a king, And that's my experience with an F4U.