/2
Best known for its F4U Corsair, Chance Vought Aircraft ventured into the postwar jet age with less stellar designs such as the F6U Pirate and F7U Cutlass. The aircraft which become the F8U Crusader emerged from the U.S. Navy’s Day Fighter Program, initiated during the height of the Korean War in 1952. Vought’s innovative swept-wing design, powered by the excellent new Pratt & Whitney J57 engine, was selected in May 1953.
After a challenging development, the first Crusader was completed at the Vought factory near Dallas and underwent initial ground tests in the spring of 1955. The prototype was then flown in a Douglas C-124 Globemaster to Edwards Air Force Base, where it made its first flight on March 25, 1955. Test pilot John Konrad took the airplane supersonic on this flight, the first time it had ever been done with any fighter on its maiden flight.
In the years following, the Crusader would win the 1956 Collier Trophy for the year’s greatest achievement in aviation, become the first fighter to fly over 1,000 miles-per-hour (1,600 km/h), and set the cross-country speed record with young Marine aviator John Glenn Jr. as pilot. With a mix of AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles and 20mm cannons, the F-8U series was highly effective as a fighter aircraft, earning the nickname “MiG Master” in the skies over North Vietnam. The last Navy Crusader fighters were retired in 1976, but the reconnaissance versions soldiered on until 1987. A version for the French Navy served until 1999.
Perhaps the Crusader’s most interesting feature was its high-mounted, variable-incidence wing. For takeoff and landing, the entire wing would pivot seven degrees at the leading edge. Combined with conventional leading and trailing edge devices, this feature simultaneously allowed for reduced takeoff and landing speeds, better pilot visibility from a low-profile canopy, and shorter landing gear.
The Museum’s Crusader is the prototype aircraft. ‘899’ made 509 flights during five years of flight testing, including two flights by John Glenn, after which it was donated to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in 1960. After being stored at the Silver Hill, Maryland restoration facility for a number of years, and a few other intermediate stops, the airplane was restored during the 1990s at the Museum’s Restoration Center and Reserve Collection in Everett, Washington.
Best known for its F4U Corsair, Chance Vought Aircraft ventured into the postwar jet age with less stellar designs such as the F6U Pirate and F7U Cutlass. The aircraft which become the F8U Crusader emerged from the U.S. Navy’s Day Fighter Program, initiated during the height of the Korean War in 1952. Vought’s innovative swept-wing design, powered by the excellent new Pratt & Whitney J57 engine, was selected in May 1953.
After a challenging development, the first Crusader was completed at the Vought factory near Dallas and underwent initial ground tests in the spring of 1955. The prototype was then flown in a Douglas C-124 Globemaster to Edwards Air Force Base, where it made its first flight on March 25, 1955. Test pilot John Konrad took the airplane supersonic on this flight, the first time it had ever been done with any fighter on its maiden flight.
In the years following, the Crusader would win the 1956 Collier Trophy for the year’s greatest achievement in aviation, become the first fighter to fly over 1,000 miles-per-hour (1,600 km/h), and set the cross-country speed record with young Marine aviator John Glenn Jr. as pilot. With a mix of AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles and 20mm cannons, the F-8U series was highly effective as a fighter aircraft, earning the nickname “MiG Master” in the skies over North Vietnam. The last Navy Crusader fighters were retired in 1976, but the reconnaissance versions soldiered on until 1987. A version for the French Navy served until 1999.
Perhaps the Crusader’s most interesting feature was its high-mounted, variable-incidence wing. For takeoff and landing, the entire wing would pivot seven degrees at the leading edge. Combined with conventional leading and trailing edge devices, this feature simultaneously allowed for reduced takeoff and landing speeds, better pilot visibility from a low-profile canopy, and shorter landing gear.
The Museum’s Crusader is the prototype aircraft. ‘899’ made 509 flights during five years of flight testing, including two flights by John Glenn, after which it was donated to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in 1960. After being stored at the Silver Hill, Maryland restoration facility for a number of years, and a few other intermediate stops, the airplane was restored during the 1990s at the Museum’s Restoration Center and Reserve Collection in Everett, Washington.
