January 12th, 1943
Stratford (Connecticut) - Yvon Lagadec: "My aircraft is over there, two hundred meters away, in the middle of a pile of machines waiting to be delivered. While CF de Scitivaux drives me in a jeep to the foot of the plane, he repeats his last instructions to me:
"It's just a handover, understand? You take your marks and ESPECIALLY you do not break the plane!
- Got it, Commander!
An American mechanic is waiting for us, with a small smile on his face, in front of the huge three-bladed propeller: "
G'd morning Sir. Cm'on!"
Surprise! On the fuselage, the US stars have been replaced by tricolored cockades with the with the registration 3-AN (for Aéronautique Navale). The blue-white-red striped rudderis also phased in. A "CC Y. LAGADEC" is written in white under the cockpit, above a string of small Italian, German and Japanese flags. Even better: at the front, on the blue-grey side of the engine hood, there is MY badge, the one I won on the
Lexington - Felix the Round Hat Cat. Laughing at my bewildered face, the mechanic hands me an old magazine, a Life from the time of the
Lady Lex, with a color photo, please, under the title "Lexington's French Ace" - I had forgotten this report... "
And then your file finally arrived," Scitivaux adds. "
They were impressed by your record and wanted to make up for their lukewarm reception. Let's get down to business now.
First of all, the tour of the plane with the mechanic, without whom nothing is done on the Corsair (he is the one who does the preflight - in fact, mostly to help him stir the propeller.
Then, the first real problem: climbing up there, 3 meters above the ground. Left foot in the stirrup, right hand in the grip, right foot on the wing, climbing until I step over the edge of the cockpit and sit down... The mechanic followed me to help me harness and check that I had moved the throttle forward a centimeter. He comes down and places himself well in sight, at the front.
Like yesterday, still a little hesitant, I launch the starting sequence. A thunderous noise - perfectly tuned, the engine runs like clockwork. Without my helmet, I would be deaf for the day!
Brakes released, chocks removed, I move forward a few meters. The mechanic lifts his thumb, and I'm off! I turn left to go back up the flight line at the pace... New left turn on the taxiway... Another left... Alignment on the runway, facing the wind, with the ocean in the distance.
Last operations before takeoff, my fingers are running on the controls and switches... Hood flaps and radiators on manual. Wings blocked and unfolded, 10° to the flaps, trim tabs... Propeller at full low pitch. Locked caster. Harness locked. Canopy locked open.
Green control light.
Throttle up on brakes. 2,000 rpm. 2 200... 2 400... Brakes released. 2,800 rpm, 65 inches at the intake, here I go, I drive, damn, it's hard! I go left, counter with the right foot, rudder almost in stop... 80 knots... Ground roll, the Corsair takes off!
A little brake, gear up, flaps up, slight throttle reduction, canopy closed, phew!
Well, 150 knots on the banter, 2,000 feet per minute on the vario - the ideal climb speed: "
Altitude is a precious good, Mr. Lagadec, don't waste it!" my instructor said in 1939...
After crossing the Strait, I fly over Long Island. Propeller now at full speed, I stabilize at 6,000 feet, cruising at 200 knots and I let the plane take me over the ocean for many minutes. Far in front of me, at the end of the long hood, the propeller seems to cut a path through the sea air.
I try some timid maneuvers to feel the reactions of the controls. Handle slightly forward, backward, right, left... Foot on one side, on the other... The Corsair is just waiting to react, it's wriggling! Seen from the outside, one must have the impression thatthe plane has drunk too much.
A glance at the watch - I've been flying over the ocean for more than a quarter of an hour already, I'm almost there.
I'm about 80 km offshore. Slight dive, rudder down, stick back, turn to the right, turn back to the opposite course... The weatherman tells me that, without looking like it, I am at almost 320 knots! Full speed is over 660 km/h! I understand why Scitivaux spoke of a rare bird, my brave F4F is down! And, what is much better, I can outpace the 109s and Zeros!
In less than ten minutes I am back in sight of land. I set my course to the northwest, parallel to the coast.
It's time to try some more daring maneuvers, not too many! I remember the captain's words: "
Don't break the plane!" Come on, a slight dive at full throttle anyway!
The speed is impressive! Resume on the momentum, I reduce a little and I reverse as fast... Candle ! Almost at a standstill, I spill before stalling... "Don't break... " Back in level flight at reduced speed... 250 knots anyway!
A glance to orient myself - I passed the extreme tip of Long Island. A quick turn around and I try a few rolls. Left, right... One loop, two, a third one that ends in an Immelman... Flat wings (if you can say so, with the Corsair's inverted gull wing!, I catch my breath... New York far ahead !
This zinc is... A beeping sound... A flashing red light! Ouch ! I broke something! A quick glance outside, by reflex - nothing! On the dashboard - nothing but this wolfie who looks at me meanly while blinking... Phew! Oh boy! She just tells me that I'm short on petrol and it's time to get back on the ground.
Alarm off, reorientation...
Turn right over Long Island, cross the sound and start my descent.
Contact the Stratford control which brings me back to the vertical of the field...
Still descending, I enter the circuit... Tailwind, basic step, slowly reducing the speed... 120 knots, 20° flaps, 110... Gear down, canopy open, last turn, upwind, wings flat... 100 knots, full flaps - 50°... 90 knots at threshold, continuous stick pull, all down for the flare...
Boom! I touch down. And damn, I had hoped to make a clean three point, the left wing stalled the first one without warning and the plane bounces like a capri - besides, the shocks are pretty hard! Boom! I touch down a second time and I'm rolling nicely.
Without a strand, it takes about 1,000 meters to stop...
On the left side of the track, a yellow jeep whose passenger makes big signs. His hat pressed on the head tells me that it is for me! At the back of the jeep, a FOLLOW ME sign - so I follow him...
Well, we don't go back to the same parking lot, but to the hangar that we share with the English. A mechanic takes me in charge, it is besides an English sailor. He makes me park at the end of a line of Corsairs.
Brakes locked, chocks in place, wings folded. Engine stop sequence - slowly, don't forget anything...
Master switch on OFF... The silence...!
A mechanic, already on the wing: "
Good flight Commander?
I nod slowly, taking off my helmet. He untangles me, I get out of the cockpit.
Standing on the wing, I look at the other planes - nine, that is ten with mine. The first one, also in French colors, 2-AN on the fuselage and an insignia on the engine cowling, a kind of bird. The others...
- Everyone got their zinc, Commander, and the Angliches too. Brand new, like ours, the paint is barely dry. Ah yes - Master Erwann Dantec, it is me, from now on your aircraft boss, Commander.
"
I'm from Saint-Brieuc, too" he adds, blushing a little (or maybe it's the cold!).
Handshake...
Years later, Dantec will still be there, during my last flight in Corsair, before we pass, him and me, on jet engines".
.........
The aircraft that Lagadec has just discovered are part of the batch of 68 planes produced at Vought in December 1942. Four were delivered to the French, four to the British and two to American pilots of the liaison teams. All are of the F4U-1 Corsair type (Corsair Mk I for the British) with a birdcage canopy. They have already undergone some modifications (correction of hydraulic circuits). The following week, the landing gear shock absorbers (Lagadec was not the only one, nor the first, to notice their hardness!) will be modified by the factory on the ten planes.
The French aircraft, bearing the regulatory insignia of the Aéronavale and registered from 1-AN to 4-AN behind the fuselage cockade, are painted, like the Americans, to the US Navy standard of the time (light blue-gray upper surfaces and flanks, lower surfaces are gull grey). The aircraft intended for the Royal Navy are delivered in the British in the colors of the time (slate grey and dark grey on top, Sky type "S" underneath).
As a gift - courtesy of US Navy and Vought Aircraft - the aircraft are decorated with hood insignia corresponding to the pilots: Winged Fleur de Lys for the 1-AN (Scitivaux), Calao d'Indochine for the 2-AN (Jubelin), Félix le Chat au Chapeau Rond for the 3-AN (Lagadec) and the insignia of the AC2 - a Donald wearing a beret with a red pompon and a blunderbuss - for the 4-AN (Folliot). Except for the 3-AN, these badges were provided to the painters by the French mechanics.
Aéronavale Vought F4U-1 Corsair, CC Lagadec, CV Jean Bart test runs, January 1943
