In February 1938, the United States Navy opened a competition for a new
fighter. His maximum speed and operational ceiling were to exceed all
the machines that the American aviation had at the time. Among others,
the Chance Vought company entered the competition. The Corsair was
designed by a team of engineers led by Rex Beisel, the company's chief
constructor. The prototype XF4U-1 was flown on May 29, 1940. The Corsair
was powered by an eighteen-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp.
That was the largest and the most powerful radial engine ever installed
in a single-seat front fighter