Each Legend took a few minutes at the microphone to reflect on his experiences from the distance of a half-century. Those who had-the veteran pilots-were dispersed throughout the hall, one to a table, to share their stories. He holds a deep regard for the original Black Sheep, perhaps because he has attended many events like this where he has heard the tales the Black Sheep tell.Īt the Gathering of Corsairs and Legends dinner and symposium on Friday night, the eve of the airshow, the tables were filled mostly with those who hadn't been there during the reign of the Corsair. It was not meant to show anything about war." The show lasted only two seasons, its demise due to a combination of economics and, Ginty suspects, influence on the network from those who may have felt the scripts did not do the original heroes justice. (Boyington was never called "Pappy" by his squadron, for example that was an invention that came well after the war.) "It was really meant as a kids' show. Ginty made no attempt to vindicate the television series "I think everybody knew that the show was kind of unrealistic," he said. was the young, somewhat naive flier, always peeling off into a swarm of Zeros while calling out an enthusiastic "I've got 'em, Pappy!" over the radio.
Wylie in the 1976-'77 television series "Black Sheep Squadron," which was based loosely on the memoirs of Major Gregory Boyington, the commander of the legendary Marine VMF-214 Black Sheep squadron. There were only seven of those at the Gathering of Corsairs and Legends reunion at Indianapolis.Īcross from the visitor area, in a large red-and-white-striped tent, were some old men wearing baseball caps adorned with unit identifiers like "VMF-223." These were the Legends, the men who flew the F4U in combat.Īlso prowling the grounds was Robert Ginty, who came all the way from Dublin, Ireland. Today there are fewer than 30 Corsairs left, and only 10 to 15 are flyable in the United States. Between 19, some 12,500 F4Us rolled off the assembly line. Inspired by an event for P-51s in Florida in 1999 (see "Mustang Mania", June/July 1999), last September the Indianapolis Air Show assembled as many flyable examples as possible of the Chance Vought F4U Corsair, a hog-nose, bent-wing, big-ass Mack truck of a fighter that raged across the South Pacific during World War II and later in Korea. It's the Corsairs.įew airplanes-the triple tail Connie, the Staggerwing Beech among them-are as instantly recognizable as the inverted gull winged F4U Corsair. There they are, all gleaming deep blue and jutting propeller blades. WALK OUT ON THE RAMP, PAST THE STATIC DISPLAYS, the remote-controlled-model tent, the Marine recruiting stand, and the car show, on across the drying grass to where the flying exhibits were parked, then around the corner at the tail of a B-25.
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