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William D Heier Died : 29 / 10 / 2010

Lieutenant Colonel William D Heier (deceased) Born in Oklahoma City in 1920, Bill Heier joined the RCAF in 1941 and transferred to the US Navy in 1942. He flew both of the Black Sheep combat tours, having joined the squadron on 7 August 1943. During the 21 September 1943 strafing of Kahili, Bills Corsair was damaged and he had to make a water landing off Vella Lavella. He was picked up by a PT boat and returned to the squadron. By the end of his two combat tours he had shot down 4 confirmed enemy aircraft, and 3 probables, during aerial combat over Kahili and Rabaul. He would also fly a third combat tour on Green Island with VMF-211 along with other Black Sheep pilots. William Heier died on 29th October 2010.

Items Signed by Lieutenant Colonel William D Heier (deceased)

	The Black Sheep by Nicolas Trudgian (AP) Price : £210.00	Few fighter units in World War II gained the notoriety of Pappy Boyingtons Marine Corps VMF-214 Black Sheep Squadron. Equipped with the Chance Vought F4U Corsair, under Boyingtons spirited leadership, the Black Sheep pilots were accorded one of only......
	The Black Sheep by Nicolas Trudgian (B) Price : £180.00	Few fighter units in World War II gained the notoriety of Pappy Boyingtons Marine Corps VMF-214 Black Sheep Squadron. Equipped with the Chance Vought F4U Corsair, under Boyingtons spirited leadership, the Black Sheep pilots were accorded one of only......
	The Black Sheep by Nicolas Trudgian (C) Price : £325.00	Few fighter units in World War II gained the notoriety of Pappy Boyingtons Marine Corps VMF-214 Black Sheep Squadron. Equipped with the Chance Vought F4U Corsair, under Boyingtons spirited leadership, the Black Sheep pilots were accorded one of only......
	The Black Sheep by Nicolas Trudgian (D) Price : £525.00	Few fighter units in World War II gained the notoriety of Pappy Boyingtons Marine Corps VMF-214 Black Sheep Squadron. Equipped with the Chance Vought F4U Corsair, under Boyingtons spirited leadership, the Black Sheep pilots were accorded one of only......
	The Black Sheep by Nicolas Trudgian (E) SOLD OUT	Few fighter units in World War II gained the notoriety of Pappy Boyingtons Marine Corps VMF-214 Black Sheep Squadron. Equipped with the Chance Vought F4U Corsair, under Boyingtons spirited leadership, the Black Sheep pilots were accorded one of only......	NOT AVAILABLE

	The Black Sheep by Nicolas Trudgian. (XX) Price : £160.00	Few fighter units in World War II gained the notoriety of Pappy Boyingtons Marine Corps VMF-214 Black Sheep Squadron. Equipped with the Chance Vought F4U Corsair, under Boyingtons spirited leadership, the Black Sheep pilots were accorded one of onl......
	The Black Sheep by Nicolas Trudgian (Y) SOLD OUT	Few fighter units in World War II gained the notoriety of Pappy Boyingtons Marine Corps VMF-214 Black Sheep Squadron. Equipped with the Chance Vought F4U Corsair, under Boyingtons spirited leadership, the Black Sheep pilots were accorded one of only......	NOT AVAILABLE

Packs with at least one item featuring the signature of Lieutenant Colonel William D Heier (deceased)

	Corsair Naval Fighter Aviation Art Collectors Pack. Pack Price : £530.00 Saving : £400	Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : The Jolly Rogers by Nicolas Trudgian. Angels of Okinawa by Stan Stokes. The Black Sheep by Nicolas Trudgian (B) Valley Forge Fly-By by Ivan Berryman.
	Pack 592. Pack of two Black Sheep squadron aviation prints by Robert Taylor and Nicolas Trudgian. Pack Price : £320.00 Saving : £280	Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : Rabaul - Fly For Your Life by Robert Taylor. The Black Sheep by Nicolas Trudgian (B)
	Pack 593. Pack of two Black Sheep Edition prints by Robert Taylor and Nicolas Trudgian. Pack Price : £385.00 Saving : £130	Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : Rabaul - Fly For Your Life by Robert Taylor. (B) The Black Sheep by Nicolas Trudgian (B)
	WW2 Corsair Naval Aviation Prints by Nicolas Trudgian. Pack Price : £450.00 Saving : £340	Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : The Jolly Rogers by Nicolas Trudgian. The Black Sheep by Nicolas Trudgian (B)
	Corsair Aircraft Prints by Nicolas Trudgian. Pack Price : £215.00 Saving : £125	Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : The Black Sheep by Nicolas Trudgian (B) Kiwi Strike by Nicolas Trudgian.

Vought F-4 Corsair Aviation Art by Nicolas Trudgian. Pack Price : £260.00 Saving : £190

Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : Battle for the Islands by Nicolas Trudgian. The Black Sheep by Nicolas Trudgian (B)

Lieutenant Colonel William D Heier (deceased)

Squadrons for : Lieutenant Colonel William D Heier (deceased)
A list of all squadrons known to have been served with by Lieutenant Colonel William D Heier (deceased). A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name.
Squadron	Info
VMF-211 Country : US Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of VMF-211	VMF-211 Full profile not yet available.
VMF-214 Country : US Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of VMF-214	VMF-214 Full profile not yet available.

Aircraft for : Lieutenant Colonel William D Heier (deceased)
A list of all aircraft associated with Lieutenant Colonel William D Heier (deceased). A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name.
Squadron	Info
Corsair Click the name above to see prints featuring Corsair aircraft. Manufacturer : Chance-Vought Production Began : 1940 Number Built : 12000	Corsair The Chance-Vought F4U Corsair was arguably the finest naval aviation fighter of its era. Work on this design dates to 1938 and was headed-up by Voughts Chief Engineer, Rex Biesel. The initial prototype was powered by an 1800-HP Pratt & Whitney double Wasp radial engine. This was the third Vought aircraft to carry the Corsair name. The graceful and highly recognizable gull-wing design of the F4U permitted the aircraft to utilize a 13-foot, three-blade, Hamilton Standard propeller, while not having to lengthen the landing gear. Because of the rigors of carrier landings, this was a very important design consideration. Folding wings were also required for carrier operations. The F4U was thirty feet long, had a wingspan of 41 feet and an empty weight of approximately 7,500 pounds. Another interesting feature was the way the F4Us gear rotated 90 degrees, so it would lay flush within the wing when in the up position. In 1939 the Navy approved the design, and production commenced. The Corsair utilized a new spot welding process on its all aluminum fuselage, giving the aircraft very low drag. To reduce weight, fabric-covered outer wing sections and control surfaces were fitted. In May of 1940 the F4U made its maiden flight. Although a number of small bugs were discovered during early flight tests, the Corsair had exceptional performance characteristics. In October of 1940 the prototype F4U was clocked at 405-MPH in a speed test. The initial production Corsairs received an upgraded 2,000-HP radial giving the bird a top speed of about 425-MPH. The production models also differed from the prototype in having six, wing-mounted, 0.5 caliber machine guns. Another change was a shift of the cockpit about three feet further back in the fuselage. This latter change unfortunately made naval aviators wary of carrier landings with the F4U, due to its limited forward visibility during landings. Other concerns were expressed regarding a severe port wing drop at landing speeds and a tendency of the aircraft to bounce off a carrier deck. As a result, the F4U was initially limited to land-based USMC squadrons. Vought addressed several of these problems, and the Royal Navy deserves credit for perfecting an appropriate landing strategy for the F4U. They found that if the carrier pilot landed the F4U while making a sweeping left turn with the port wing down, that sufficient visibility was available to make a safe landing. With a kill ratio of 11 -to- 1 in WW 11 combat, the F4U proved superior in the air to almost every opposing aircraft it encountered. More than 12,000 F4Us were built and fortunately a few dozen remain in flyable condition to this date.

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