Fifteen years before the Vought F4U Corsair cemented its name in history over the Pacific Ocean in World War II, the original Corsair earned its own significant place in the annals of naval aviation over Nicaragua.
Built around the then–newly available Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine, the first Corsair was a two-seat observation biplane equipped with three .30-caliber machine guns, one fixed and two mounted on a flexible Scarff ring. It also had one of the first all–steel tube fuselage structures. Befitting its observation function, the aircraft was extremely versatile, being capable of operating from land, aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, and the open sea. For land and carrier operations, the Corsair had the then-conventional tailwheel undercarriage and tailhook; a central main pontoon and wingtip stabilizer floats were fitted for use at sea from large warships other than carriers.
The Navy had ordered two prototypes in 1926—designated O2U-1—and, apparently appreciative of the Corsair’s utility, quickly followed the next year with an order for another 130. From the first production batch of 33 aircraft, the Marine Corps received six of the first seven built—Bureau Numbers A-7529 to A-7534—and quickly dispatched them with Marine Observation Squadron 7 (VO-7M) to Nicaragua, where they arrived on 17 December 1927. There, VO-7M joined VO-1M with its outdated de Havilland DH-4Bs and DH-4M-1s in ongoing operations during the Second Nicaraguan Intervention from 1927 to 1932. First Lieutenant Christian F. Schilt was one of the pilots assigned to the newly arrived squadron.
The Corsairs quickly took over the various missions flown by the DH-4s. A veteran Marine Corps pilot who flew the Corsair in Nicaragua described it as an “outstanding combat plane; very light, had a lot of power in it . . . When we got that down in Nicaragua, we were very happy to get it because of [its] outstanding performance, ease in handling, quick takeoffs, and landings.”
The United States’ interest in Nicaragua was directly related to U.S. ownership of the Panama Canal. The Central American country had been negotiating with France, Germany, and Japan to revive the notion of a Nicaragua Canal, which would compete militarily and monetarily with the one farther south. In 1914, the United States negotiated the Bryan-Chamorro Treaty with the Nicaraguan government for all canal rights into perpetuity and other concessions for $3 million.
After years of turmoil, including a 1912 U.S. intervention, civil war erupted in 1926 between conservative and liberal factions. President Adolfo Díaz, who had been elected by the Nicaraguan Congress, requested to President Calvin Coolidge that the United States intervene. The first 400 Marines arrived on 24 January 1927 to bolster the conservative leadership, thereby protecting U.S. interests in any proposed canal. A peace deal was brokered in May, which guaranteed elections in 1928. However, a liberal military commander, Augusto César Sandino, and 200 of his followers launched a guerrilla war.
On 30 December 1927, they ambushed two columns of Marines as they moved into the village of Quilali. In the furious battle that followed, numerous Marines were wounded. With his force cut off and seemingly unable to be resupplied or to evacuate its wounded, the U.S. commander sent a message to headquarters in Managua asking for aerial support to break up rebel concentrations and requested “if humanly possible” that a Corsair land at Quilali to remove the wounded. The Marines would attempt to do so, despite it never having been done before.
DH-4s dropped engineering tools amid the fighting Marines. While under fire, they burned and leveled part of the town and expanded its main street into a coarse, rubble-strewn 500-foot-long runway.
Lieutenant Schilt volunteered to transport supplies and evacuate the wounded from Quilali to the Marine Corps base at Ocotal. Seemingly oblivious to the difficulty of flying among low clouds, high surrounding mountains, and rebel fire on takeoff and landing, Schilt flew four round trips on 6 January 1928. Each one-way flight averaged about 30 minutes. The next day, he flew another four, with the final landing at Managua. On the 8th, he flew two more circuits, starting and ending in Managua. Unnoted in his later commendation, he also flew a brief 25-minute reconnaissance mission with Major E. M. Reno of the 5th Marines on the last day. Overall, Schilt hauled in more than 1,400 pounds of medical supplies, a relief commanding officer, and a cook and evacuated 18 Marines.
While his Corsair, Bureau Number A-7529, was equipped with oversized DH-4 main landing gear wheels and tires to counteract the rough landing strip, the plane had no brakes. Marines on the ground had to stop the plane by grabbing and holding on to its wings. Some sources indicate that Schilt flew two aircraft during the missions, but his logbook states otherwise.
For his efforts, the pilot was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Coolidge in a ceremony on the White House lawn on 9 June 1928. Schilt, an enlisted veteran of World War I, had earned his wings and been commissioned a second lieutenant in 1919. After participating in operations in Haiti and Nicaragua, he would serve in World War II and the Korean War. Schilt was promoted to general upon his retirement from the Marine Corps on 1 April 1957. He died on 8 January 1987 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
As for his Corsair, A-7529, it served its entire life in Central America with the Marines. The aircraft was stricken from the Navy List on 31 October 1934, at Coco Solo, Panama, as “Worn out in Service—Obsolete.”
The Vought O2U Corsair remained in production for just two years through four variants. In all, including the two prototypes, 297 were built, with the -1 being the most numerous at 132. The type was superseded in 1930 by the second Corsair, the O3U.
Author’s Note: Sincere thanks to Pam Thomas, research section volunteer, and Bob Thomas, library research volunteer, at the National Naval Aviation Museum and to Dr. Tyler Reed, U.S. Marine Corps History Division, for their invaluable assistance.
