Vought F-8 Crusader

The Vought F-8 Crusader was a single-seat, carrier-borne fighter aircraft, which was in service with the United States Navy during the Cold War. In the armed conflict in Southeast Asia, it was the perfect match to engage and defeat the Soviet-made, North Vietnamese Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 in a dogfight. The Crusader shot down nineteen MiGs with Sidewinders air-to-air missiles and four with its 20-mm Mk 12 cannons. Nevertheless, this naval combat plane was also used in the ground-attack role to provide US Marines with fire support. This supersonic naval fighter was a reliable and very maneuverable aircraft, which American pilots liked very much. Many innovations were introduced with the Crusader in order to meet the specification demands, such as the hydraulically-operated variable incidence wing.

Originally known as the F8U, the F-8 Crusader performed its maiden flight on March 25, 1955. It was the prototype XF8U-1, which exceeded Mach-1 during this 52-minute flight. It was quite an achievement at that time, proving thereby that it was the first shipboard fighter aircraft capable of flying faster than the speed of sound in level flight. This prototype was powered by one Pratt & Whitney J57-P-11 turbojet engine, which delivered 9,700 pounds of thrust, and 14,800 pounds using afterburning. During the flight tests, it became the first aircraft to span the United States faster than the speed of sound. It would finally be introduced into service with the US Navy on March 17, 1957. More than 1,200 Crusaders would be produced by Vought in different versions, of which the F-8D and F-8E variants were the most widely used. The French Navy acquired forty F-8Es, which would be in service until 1999, when they were finally withdrawn.

Technical Description

The Vought F-8 Crusader was a single-seat, single-engine, supersonic monoplane of all-metal construction. The fuselage was built of steel and magnesium alloy. However, the portion around the afterburner and a large part of the central structure were made of titanium. The aircraft was fitted with cropped, swept-back, high-wing. For take-off and landing, the wing was raised by 7° by a hydraulic self-locking actuator, which gave the wing a high angle of incidence and thereby reducing the approach speed but keeping the fuselage in a near horizontal position, thus providing excellent visibility to the pilot. The wing unit was of multi-spar structure and formed an integral fuel tank, with exception of the wing outer panel.

The wing itself had a sweepback of 42° at one-quarter chordline and an anhedral angle of 5° to improve lateral stability. The outer wing panels were hydraulically folded up for carrier stowage. Below the wing, in mid portion of fuselage, there were the bays for the main landing gear, which retracted hydraulically forward. The steerable nose wheel retracted rearward. The rear portion of fuselage contained the engine and afterburner and the tail assembly, with a very large vertical fin and the all-flying swept-back tail plane. The electronic components, such as the radar, were located in the nose. The engine air intake was situated on belly of aircraft under the nose.

Specifications (F-8E)

Type: carrier-based fighter

Length: 16.61 m (54 feet, 6 inches)

Wing Span: 10.87 m (35 feet, 8 inches)

Wing Area: 32.52 m2 (350 square feet)

Height: 4.80 m (15 feet, 9 inches)

Power Plant: one 18,000-lb, Pratt & Whitney J57-P-20A turbojet engine with afterburner.

Maximum Speed: 1,802 km/h (1,120 mph)

Range: 1,660 km (1,031 miles)

Service Ceiling: 17,983 m (59,000 feet)

Avionics: Magnavox AN/APQ-84

Armament: four 20-mm Colt Mk 12 cannons; four AIM-9 Sidewinders air-to-air missiles; eight 227-kg (500-lb) bombs or two AGM-12B Bullpup air-to-ground missiles.