During ww2, the fastest corsair was the F4U-4, which had a top speed of 446mph. The 2,100hp powerplant was slightly more powerful than most Corsairs of ww2, but with a water/alcohol mixture injected into the cylinders, horsepower shot up to 2,450, taking the Corsair to speeds faster than the P-51 Mustang, a fighter acclaimed for its speed.
The most common variants of the Corsair, and the ones that saw the most action were the F4U-1A, with a top speed of 417mph. This is the variant Navy and Marine Corps aviators cut their teeth on at the height of the march across the pacific. Eventually, the F4U-1D entered service. Water-injection boosted the top speed of the D to 425mph.
Fun fact: the A6M Zero could out-turn any US aircraft, but that was at slow speeds. If the Corsair pilots stayed fast, it could actually out-turn the Zero. Yup, it’s true. The reason was, Zero’s has not power boost for their controls. At high speed the Zero’s controls became too heavy to turn the airplane very well. Not so with the Corsair. Across the battles in the Solomons, Corsair pilots succeeded by using their speed advantage.
F4U-1A Corsair. “Whistling Death”
The F4U-4, while being the fastest of the wartime Corsairs, only saw the last 6 months of it. The F4U-5 just missed the war, but was still faster, topping out at 470mph.
One of the coolest looking Corsairs was the F2G, with a bubbletop canopy. It came equipped with a gigantic 3,000hp R-4360 engine. The idea was to make the fastest Corsair yet, but it didn’t work out that way because of the engine’s single-stage supercharger. Still, it topped out at 431mph. But the idea of the F2G was as a low-level kamikaze interceptor. I think it would have done well, because it’s top speed at sea level was 399mph. In the thick air at sea level, that was damned fast! To compare, the Mustang speed at sea level was 368mph.
And here’s an F2G: Admit it, that’s badass looking.