This skin depicts the second F4U-1A Corsair of Lt. (j.g.) Ira C. Kepford from his first combat tour with VF-17, during January 1944.

This is the first No. 29 flown by Kepford; this one could be seen in some photographs after he crash landed it on Bougainville after sustaining heavy damage in an encounter with a Ki-61 Tony. Kepford would later become the squadron's highest-scoring ace pilot with sixteen confirmed aerial victories.

Fighting 17, also known as the Jolly Rogers or Blackburn's Irregulars, was the first U.S. Navy squadron in WWII to fly the F4U Corsair in combat. The squadron was led by Lt. Cdr. John T. Blackburn and completed two combat tours in the South Pacific during the Solomon Islands campaign. During a period of just 76 days, the squadron shot down 154 Japanese aircraft, producing as many as thirteen aces.

The squadron played an essential role in the early development of the Corsair. Contrary to popular belief, it was not the British Fleet Air Arm, but Fighting 17 that demonstrated the Corsair could be successfully deployed from aircraft carriers. The Jolly Rogers were fully carrier-qualified before their first combat tour began, and during the bombing of Rabaul in November 1943, the squadron landed on the USS Essex and USS Bunker Hill to refuel and rearm. The squadron did not lose a single Corsair to landing accidents during this battle. They also helped develop improved landing gear struts to reduce bounce upon landing, and introduced the stall strip on the right-hand wing to enhance the Corsair’s carrier landing characteristics.

Because of Fighting 17’s legendary combat record and their essential role in proving the Corsair as a capable carrier-based fighter, I decided it would be fitting to create a number of skins portraying their aircraft to honor and remember their legacy. Check out my profile to see more Corsair skins featuring Fighting 17's aircraft!

To install, unzip the download file into the following path: C:\Users\[name]\Saved Games\DCS\Liveries\F4U-1D.
If the folders don't exist you can create them yourself.

I hope you will enjoy this skin. Feel free to leave some feedback if you have any. Good luck splashing some Zekes!