In February 1938, the United States Navy opened a competition for a new
fighter. Its maximum speed and operational ceiling were to exceed all
the machines that 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.