Corsair Mk II, Fleet Air Arm, 1834 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Victorious

Corsair Mk II Fleet Air Arm, 1834 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Victorious, British Pacific Fleet markings (two models).
Hobbycraft British Commonwealth Corsair, No. HC1528 (1996) and Chance Vought F4U-1 Corsair, Otaki, No. OT2-27-400 (1976)

1834 Naval Air Squadron officially formed at Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode island, on 15 July 1943, Lt. Cdr A.M. Tritton DSC RNVR in command, with 10 Corsair Mk Is. 1836 Naval Air Squadron officially formed at Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode island, on 18 August 1943, Lt. Cdr (A) C.C. Tomkinson RNVR in command, with 10 Corsair Mk Is on inventory.

US-based training consisted of advance flight training in Corsair Mk Is ('Birdcage') at NAS Quonset Pt, NAS Brunswick, ME and NAS Norfolk (all former duty stations/homes) with carrier landings conducted in Chesapeake Bay aboard USS Charger. By Christmas 1943, FAA pilots traded Mk I Corsairs at Roosevelt Field, NY (now a shopping mall) for Mk IIs which they flew to Norfolk for loading on British Escort carriers for transit to Liverpool and integration onto Royal Navy carriers (HMS Victorious in the case of 1836 and 1834 squadrons). In the UK, 47th Naval Fighter Wing - consisting of 1834 and 1836 Naval Air Squadrons was formed on 17 January 1944 at RNAS Stretton, Wing Leader Lieutenant Commander (A) F.R.A. Turnbull, DSC, RN, 17 January 1944, later Major R.C. Hay, DSC, RM, 14 August 1944.

LT Don Sheppard, RNVR, later Commander, Royal Canadian Navy, is is represented by aircraft 13-7. At age 21, Lt. Sheppard became the only Commonwealth Corsair ace (meaning all his kills were in the Corsair). Commander Sheppard was born in Toronto, Canada in 1924. He retired in 1974, lived in Nova Scotia and passed away in May 2018. He is survived by five children.*

My research of Lt Don Sheppard makes mention of his October 1943 training, but may have been referring to deck landing training from NAS Norfolk to USS Charger in Chesapeake Bay (only).

Aircraft 13-5 is semi-fictional and I created it from spare decals from Hobbycraft and AeroMaster #48-046, 'US Aircraft in Fleet Air Arm Service'. 13-5 is my restoration of a 1990s original build of the Otaki model. The original engine was becoming more offensive to me as my modeling skill and knowledge began to (somewhat) improve. iModeler member Drew Tarter @navairfan described the Otaki engine as "cartoonish", and his article depicts bringing his Otaki model all the way up to Tamiya standards. Not as ambitious as Drew, I just wanted the kit to represent a more accurate version of the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine. Hope you like the photos.

13-7 receive a Quickboost engine and 13-5 got the leftover Hobbycraft engine, which brought a major improvement, IMO.

2,012 Corsairs, or 16% of all Corsair production went to the Royal Navy.

The Royal Navy initially received 95 "birdcage" F4U-1s from Vought which were designated Corsair Mk I in Fleet Air Arm service. Next from Vought came 510 "blown-canopy" F4U-1A/-1Ds, which were designated Corsair Mk II (the final 150 equivalent to the F4U-1D, but not separately designated in British use). The Mk IIs and Mk IVs were the only versions to be used in combat. A total of 2,012 Corsairs were supplied to the United Kingdom. 12,571 F4U Corsairs were manufactured in 16 separate models. Its 1942–1953 production run was the longest of any U.S. piston-engined fighter. (Wikipedia)

*https://www.fleetairarmoa.org/news/commander-don-sheppard

19 additional images. Click to enlarge.