The Vought SBU-1 Corsair was a two-seat, all-metal

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...

dive bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact through ...

built by Vought Aircraft Company of Dallas, Texas for the US Navy. Its design was based upon the F3U-1 two-seat fighter that was abandoned when the Navy decided not to obtain any more two-seat fighters.

Design and development

The

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or by using the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in ...

was equipped with a closed

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls that e ...

, had fixed

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Mart ...

, and was powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1535 radial air-cooled

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

as had the F3U-1, but also included a controllable pitch

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

and a new NACA cowl with adjustable

cowling A cowling is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings are a cove ...

gills on the trailing edge of the cowl. The adjustable cowling gills permitted better control of cooling airflow over the engine. The SBU-1 completed flight tests in 1934 and went into production under a contract awarded in January 1935. The Corsair was the first aircraft of its type, a scout bomber, to fly faster than 200 mph. The last SBU Corsairs were retired from active service in 1941, being reassigned as trainers.Johnson 2008, p. 306. The name "Corsair" was used several times by Vought's planes; the O2U/O3U, SBU,

F4U The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contra ...

, and the

A-7 Corsair II The LTV A-7 Corsair II is an American carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV). The A-7 was developed during the early 1960s as replacement for the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Its design w ...

Operators

; *

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with th ...

; *

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Variants

; XF3U-1 : Two-seat fighter prototype with a 700 hp R-1535-64 engine.Andrade 1979, p. 192 ;XSBU-1 : The XF3U-1 converted to scout bomber prototype with a 700 hp R-1535-96 engine, later used as an engine test bed. ;SBU-1 : Original production order; 84 aircraft with 750 hp R-1535-82 engine. ;SBU-2 : Follow-on order; 40 aircraft with R-1535-98 engines.Andrade 1979, p. 222 ;Model V.142A :Export version for Argentina.

Specifications (SBU-1)

Notes

Bibliography

* * *Swanborough, Gordon and Bowers, Peter M. ''United States Navy Aircraft since 1911''. London:Putnam, 1976. .

External links

{{USN scout aircraft SB01U 1930s United States attack aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Carrier-based aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1933