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So I've been randomly looking into post-war era aviation, before air to air missiles generally ruined everything for everyone. In one decade the USN fielded a bewildering array of aircraft. I've found references to how the Carrier Air Wing looked in part of the Korea era, 1 to 2 squadrons of Panthers, 2 to 3 of Corsairs, and 1 squadron of Skyraiders. But what about the rest of the decade?
For example of what I mean, here's a non-exhaustive list of 1950s USN aircraft:
F4U-5 Corsair
AU-1 Corsair
AD Skyraider variants for strike
AD Skyraider variants for AEW, EW
F8F-2 Bearcat
TBF Avenger variants for ASW, AEW, COD, etc
F9F-4 Panther
F9F-6 Cougar
F2H Banshee
FJ Fury
F4D Skyray
F3H Demon
F8U Crusader
F11F Tiger
A4D Skyhawk
A3D Skywarrior
AJ Savage
S2F Tracker
WF Tracer
TF-1 Trader
I know I missing a few models, and in particular a sundry of sub-variants of that list. Where the hell do they all fit in? What niche did each model of aircraft fill? What directly replaced what? Why was BurAir so insane back then? Does anyone really know?