Thirteenth Corsair Added to Thunder Over Michigan Lineup!!!

Vintage Wings of Canada’s Goodyear-built FG-1D Corsair makes it thirteen, a baker’s dozen of Corsairs which will now be attending the Yankee Air Museum’s Thunder Over Michigan Air Show over the weekend of August 3/4 following news from the air show coordinator, Mike Luther. Could there be more coming? We shall see… but this year’s Thunder Over Michigan show is set to be one of the most memorable aerial events anywhere in some time!

10919447 10155124739550424 4461218983725566932 o 1 — Vintage Wings of Canada’s FG-1D Corsair is marked to represent Royal Navy Corsair Mk.IV KD658 belonging to HMS Formidable’s 1841 Squadron. KD658 is believed to have been the mount of Canadian Robert Hampton Gray on that fateful day, August 9th, 1945, when he pressed home a successful attack off the coast of Japan, sinking the Japanese destroyer Amakusa while his own aircraft was on fire. Sadly for Gray, he did not survive the incident, but for his bravery, he received the posthumous award of the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest award for gallantry in the field of battle. (photo by Richard Mallory Allnutt)

If all of the bentwing fighters are able to make the show, it will be the largest gathering of airworthy Corsairs since the early 1960s! It seems hard to believe that we have the prospect of seeing an entire ‘squadron’ of Corsairs on the ramp and in the air over Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti, Michigan this summer, but that tantalizing prospect is now within reach. Bravo to the Thunder Over Michigan team for all of their efforts on this magnificent endeavor!

FG 1A Corsairs at Goodyear Ohio 1943 — The ramp at Willow Run will resemble this scene this August at the Thunder Over Michigan air show. This shot, circa 1943, shows a row of thirteen freshly-constructed FG-1 Corsairs outside the Goodyear Aircraft factory in Akron, Ohio. (photo via Wikipedia)

The list of Corsair’s scheduled to attend is now as follows…

FG-1D Bu.67089 – Elenville, LLC

FG-1D Bu.88090/NZ5612 – Louis Horschel

FG-1D Bu.92106 – Vintage Wings of Canada

FG-1D Bu.92468 – Commemorative Air Force – Dixie Wing

FG-1D Bu.92471 – Mid America Flight Museum

FG-1D Bu.92508 – Military Aviation Museum

F4U-4 Bu.97143 – Jim Tobul

F4U-4 Bu.97388 – Wings Of The North

F4U-5NL Bu.122179 – Collings Foundation

F4U-5NL Bu.121881 – Lone Star Flight Museum

F4U-5N Bu.123168 – Fighters & Legends

F4U-7 Bu.133710 – John O’Connor

F4U-7 Bu.133722 – Erickson Aircraft Collection

For those who love Corsairs, or simply vintage military aviation, you might like to check out the highly detailed article (written by your editor) about the last surviving Brewster-built Corsair in the most recent issue of Warbird Digest below…

Richard Mallory Allnutt (Chief Editor)

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Richard Mallory Allnutt's aviation passion ignited at the 1974 Farnborough Airshow. Raised in 1970s Britain, he was immersed in WWII aviation lore. Moving to Washington DC, he frequented the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum, meeting aviation legends.

After grad school, Richard worked for Lockheed-Martin but stayed devoted to aviation, volunteering at museums and honing his photography skills. In 2013, he became the founding editor of Warbirds News, now Vintage Aviation News. With around 800 articles written, he focuses on supporting grassroots aviation groups.

Richard values the connections made in the aviation community and is proud to help grow Vintage Aviation News.