The Airplane Thread

[Llarry]

There were plenty of heroes on all sides during World War II, but here's one that was a Navy fighter pilot with Fighting Squadron 16 on the USS Lexington (CV 16). Lieutenant (junior grade) Alex Vraciu shot down six Japanese planes on June 19, 1944, during a single mission during the battle known by the U.S. aviators as the "Marianas Turkey Shoot". He ended the war with an impressive score.

[Llarry]

The story of the Vought F-8 (originally F8U) Crusader...

In the early 1950s it became apparent that workable supersonic aircraft were possible, and the Navy wanted in on the action. They figured that the combination of supersonic speed and all-weather/night fighter capability was a bridge too far, so specified that the new fighter would be a "day" fighter without a capable radar.

The U.S. Air Force's North American F-100 Super Sabre has first flown in mid 1953 and was on the way to service adoption as the first supersonic fighter. It was powered by the Pratt & Whitney J57 engine with afterburner -- the same engine (less afterburner) that would go on to power the B-52 heavy bomber, the KC-135 tanker and thousands of commercial transports.

The usual competitors vied for the contract for the new Navy/Marine fighter. North American submitted a navalized version of the F-100 and old standby Grumman submitted the F11F.

Vought, having hit the ball clean out of the park on the F4U Corsair of World War II and Korea fame, had not been doing well recently. The radical F5U, the pioneering but disappointing F6U Pirate and the F7U Cutlass had not been well received, although the F7U had entered limited squadron service. Vought needed a winner, and they came up with one with their new V-383 model, which was designed as the F8U Crusader. The F8U was powered by the Air Force's outstanding J57 engine with afterburner and promised good performance.

As usual for Vought, there were some innovative design features. The wing was high-mounted and featured variable-incidence, where for takeoff and landing, the angle of attack could be increased 7 degrees while keeping the fuselage more level and improving pilot vision over the nose for all-important carrier operations. There were also parts of the aircraft made using balsa wood with aluminum cladding for light weight, as well as components using titanium.

The resulting XF8U-1 Crusader first flew in March 1955 and it seemed that Vought had a winner. They did not, however, have the deal sealed; Grumman was a preferred source of Navy fighters and their F11F had flown seven months earlier. The F11F was more compact and did not have the power of the F8U. But the Navy gave Grumman a contract for a couple of hundred F11F-1 (new F-11A) fighters. It turned out that the F11F, though supersonic, was barely so -- advantage Vought.

The F8U test program went well. The Navy gave Vought contracts for 318 F8U-1 (new F-8A) fighters. In August of 1956, the F8U-1 set a new speed record for an operational fighter aircraft: 1,015 mph in level flight, nicely eclipsing the Air Force F-100's record of 822 mph.

The F-8A -- for clarity I will use new designations from now on -- was provided to Navy and Marine Corps fighter squadrons beginning in early 1957, replacing older subsonic fighters. Everything was going smoothly. There were some idiosyncrasies in the carrier landing mode, but those were considered acceptable tradeoffs.

The F-8A's armament consisted of four 20mm cannon and it could carry two of the new Sidewinder infrared-homing missiles. It also had a retractable tray on the belly for unguided rockets. It was equipped with a small ranging radar in the nose that provided only distance to the target.

The F-8A was succeeded in production by the F-8B (old F8U-1E), which had a minimally capable radar in the nose and provided some limited all-weather capability. 130 were built.

The next step was to increase power and speed; the resulting F-8C (old F8U-2) took to the air in 1958 and featured an uprated J57 engine. To enhance stability at high speeds, two ventral strakes were added to the rear fuselage, as were afterburner cooling scoops. Now four Sidewinders could be carried in place of the previous two. 187 were built; Vought production lines were busy and by now every carrier air group had an F-8 squadron, along with a second fighter squadron with subsonic all-weather fighters.

In a process of continuous improvement, Vought next introduced 152 F-8Ds (old F8U-2N) with improved radar. Shortly thereafter, the final U.S. Navy variant, the F-8E started coming off the line and 286 were built. The F-8E had improved radar and, for the first time, had a pair of wing pylons that could carry bombs. The F-8 was rare in that it could never carry external fuel tanks; in fact the first few F-8As had been built without aerial refueling equipment.

The final F-8E fighter came off the Vought production line in 1964, ending a very successful run of 1,219 aircraft. The French Navy was looking for a replacement for the F4U Corsair carrier fighters and selected the F-8E with some modifications (blown flaps, etc.) for the smaller French carriers and the final F-8E(FN) was delivered in January of 1965.

Until the Vietnam War era (and the F-8E), the F-8 had been strictly tasked with air-to-air missions, but Vietnam prompted the use of the Crusader for ground attack. The cheek-mounted Sidewinder could be replaced with Zuni 5" rockets and the wing pylons could carry a variety of bombs. The Marines in particular used the F-8 for strike missions.

With their improved radars, the F-8D and -8E models replaced older subsonic all-weather fighters and on smaller carriers, the fighter contingent was all F-8s. At about the same time, the newer F-4 Phantom replaced F-8s on the larger carriers.

The F-8 had also become the photographic reconnaissance aircraft of choice for the Navy and Marines. The unarmed RF-8A first flew in 1958 and quickly replaced the subsonic photo aircraft. 144 were built. Each carrier had a detachment of 3 RF-8As.

As the Vietnam War heated up in 1964, the Navy realized that the F-8, along with all of its combat aircraft, were lacking in electronic countermeasures (ECM) capabilities. Driven by wartime requirements, Vought was given contracts for a remanufacturing program to update the F-8s and RF-8s. The F-8A and F-8B were considered to be obsolescent and by now flown only by reserve squadrons, so were updated last.

First up was the RF-8A, which was given ECM capabilities and the rear fuselage strakes of the later F-8s. 73 RF-8Gs were updated in 1965-1970 and saw heavy use in the war.

Next up was the F-8D, which was modified into the F-8H and was followed by the F-8Es which were updated to F-8J configuration. The F-8Cs became F-8Ks with enhancements and finally a few F-8Bs were converted to F-8Ls. The F-8As were not considered combat-ready and were not updated. The fighters were updated quickly during the period 1967-69 and all saw heavy use in Southeast Asia. The Marine Corps went to an all-F-4 force due to the Phantom's better strike capabilities and only Marine Corps Reserve units still flew the F-8. The Marines also replaced their RF-8s with RF-4 photo Phantoms.

In the mid-1970s, the Navy retired its smaller World War II-built aircraft carriers and transitioned to an all-big deck carrier force using F-4 Phantom and the new F-14 Tomcat fighters; this spelled the end for first-line use of the F-8 Crusader as a first-line fighter.

The photo RF-8G continued service in small numbers until the mid-1980s and was the last Crusader variant to fly for the Navy.

As is invariably the case, the crews rarely referred to the F-8 Crusader by the official name. The F-8 had some idiosyncrasies in carrier landing mode: If the pilot found himself a little fast, he would decrease the power and find himself a little too slow -- and vice versa. Accordingly, like the F4U before it, the F-8 found itself called the "Ensign Eliminator" or "Gator" as it was always willing to bite the unwary. But it was also very fondly regarded by the pilots, as the maneuverability and the gun armament were big advantages over the F-4 Phantom.

[Llarry]

As newer F-8s came into squadron service, some of the older ones were re-purposed as "utility" aircraft: Providing target services for fleet exercises, towing gunnery targets, etc. These had some interesting paint jobs.

And now for the story of "The best fighter than the Navy never bought": The F8U-3 Crusader III. The F8U-3 was a Crusader on steroids -- much more powerful J75 engine and larger radar. The F8U-3 flew in 1958 and was in competition with the McDonnell F4H-1 (F-4) Phantom to be the next fleet fighter. The 1958 flight tests revealed the F8U-3 to have superior speed and maneuverability, but the F-4 had a crew of two with a radar intercept officer to reduce pilot workload, and it had two engines to provide some redundancy. Both aircraft had their proponents, but in the end, the F-4 won out. The F-4 was selected as the winner and the F8U-3 was cancelled in December of 1958. Only 5 were manufactured. The F8U-3 never conducted carrier landing trials and of course the F-4 went on to great success with over 5.,000 built for the Navy/Marines, the Air Force and many foreign air arms as well.

Finally, the last F-8s in active service were those of the French Navy. The 42 F-8E(FN)s served well for many years and in the late 1980s a few were updated as the F-8P, serving until 2000. The French pilots were as fond of the Crusader as their American brothers.

[vreihen16]

NASA and Lockheed Martin formally debuted the agency’s X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft on Friday.....



https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/na...onic-aircraft/


.

[Lady Jane]

In the news today:


"FAA recruiting applicants with 'severe' intellectual, psychiatric disabilities under DEI initiative"

In the towers? Conducting inspections and investigations? Assesments of pilots?

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by Llarry

Lieutenant (junior grade) Alex Vraciu shot down six Japanese planes on June 19, 1944, during a single mission during the battle known by the U.S. aviators as the "Marianas Turkey Shoot". He ended the war with an impressive score.

Good read:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Vraciu

[M-technik-3]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

In the news today:


"FAA recruiting applicants with 'severe' intellectual, psychiatric disabilities under DEI initiative"

In the towers? Conducting inspections and investigations? Assesments of pilots?

Scary state of our country.

[Jbrown7403]

Very interesting plane and history. The Henschel Hs. 123.

Great YouTube channel to follow, btw.

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by Jbrown7403

Very interesting plane and history. The Henschel Hs. 123.

Great YouTube channel to follow, btw.

Henschel 123 bears a striking resemblance to Polikarpov I-15 which was used during the Spanish War by Spanish Republicans.

It's not clear whether either airplane influenced the development of its counterpart.

Hs 123: 265 produced.

I-15: 671 produced.

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by Llarry

The story of the Vought F-8 (originally F8U) Crusader...

In the early 1950s it became apparent that workable supersonic aircraft were possible, and the Navy wanted in on the action. They figured that the combination of supersonic speed and all-weather/night fighter capability was a bridge too far, so specified that the new fighter would be a "day" fighter without a capable radar.

The U.S. Air Force's North American F-100 Super Sabre has first flown in mid 1953 and was on the way to service adoption as the first supersonic fighter. It was powered by the Pratt & Whitney J57 engine with afterburner -- the same engine (less afterburner) that would go on to power the B-52 heavy bomber, the KC-135 tanker and thousands of commercial transports.

The usual competitors vied for the contract for the new Navy/Marine fighter. North American submitted a navalized version of the F-100 and old standby Grumman submitted the F11F.

Vought, having hit the ball clean out of the park on the F4U Corsair of World War II and Korea fame, had not been doing well recently. The radical F5U, the pioneering but disappointing F6U Pirate and the F7U Cutlass had not been well received, although the F7U had entered limited squadron service. Vought needed a winner, and they came up with one with their new V-383 model, which was designed as the F8U Crusader. The F8U was powered by the Air Force's outstanding J57 engine with afterburner and promised good performance.

As usual for Vought, there were some innovative design features. The wing was high-mounted and featured variable-incidence, where for takeoff and landing, the angle of attack could be increased 7 degrees while keeping the fuselage more level and improving pilot vision over the nose for all-important carrier operations. There were also parts of the aircraft made using balsa wood with aluminum cladding for light weight, as well as components using titanium.

The resulting XF8U-1 Crusader first flew in March 1955 and it seemed that Vought had a winner. They did not, however, have the deal sealed; Grumman was a preferred source of Navy fighters and their F11F had flown seven months earlier. The F11F was more compact and did not have the power of the F8U. But the Navy gave Grumman a contract for a couple of hundred F11F-1 (new F-11A) fighters. It turned out that the F11F, though supersonic, was barely so -- advantage Vought.

The F8U test program went well. The Navy gave Vought contracts for 318 F8U-1 (new F-8A) fighters. In August of 1956, the F8U-1 set a new speed record for an operational fighter aircraft: 1,015 mph in level flight, nicely eclipsing the Air Force F-100's record of 822 mph.

The F-8A -- for clarity I will use new designations from now on -- was provided to Navy and Marine Corps fighter squadrons beginning in early 1957, replacing older subsonic fighters. Everything was going smoothly. There were some idiosyncrasies in the carrier landing mode, but those were considered acceptable tradeoffs.

The F-8A's armament consisted of four 20mm cannon and it could carry two of the new Sidewinder infrared-homing missiles. It also had a retractable tray on the belly for unguided rockets. It was equipped with a small ranging radar in the nose that provided only distance to the target.

The F-8A was succeeded in production by the F-8B (old F8U-1E), which had a minimally capable radar in the nose and provided some limited all-weather capability. 130 were built.

The next step was to increase power and speed; the resulting F-8C (old F8U-2) took to the air in 1958 and featured an uprated J57 engine. To enhance stability at high speeds, two ventral strakes were added to the rear fuselage, as were afterburner cooling scoops. Now four Sidewinders could be carried in place of the previous two. 187 were built; Vought production lines were busy and by now every carrier air group had an F-8 squadron, along with a second fighter squadron with subsonic all-weather fighters.

In a process of continuous improvement, Vought next introduced 152 F-8Ds (old F8U-2N) with improved radar. Shortly thereafter, the final U.S. Navy variant, the F-8E started coming off the line and 286 were built. The F-8E had improved radar and, for the first time, had a pair of wing pylons that could carry bombs. The F-8 was rare in that it could never carry external fuel tanks; in fact the first few F-8As had been built without aerial refueling equipment.

The final F-8E fighter came off the Vought production line in 1964, ending a very successful run of 1,219 aircraft. The French Navy was looking for a replacement for the F4U Corsair carrier fighters and selected the F-8E with some modifications (blown flaps, etc.) for the smaller French carriers and the final F-8E(FN) was delivered in January of 1965.

Until the Vietnam War era (and the F-8E), the F-8 had been strictly tasked with air-to-air missions, but Vietnam prompted the use of the Crusader for ground attack. The cheek-mounted Sidewinder could be replaced with Zuni 5" rockets and the wing pylons could carry a variety of bombs. The Marines in particular used the F-8 for strike missions.

With their improved radars, the F-8D and -8E models replaced older subsonic all-weather fighters and on smaller carriers, the fighter contingent was all F-8s. At about the same time, the newer F-4 Phantom replaced F-8s on the larger carriers.

The F-8 had also become the photographic reconnaissance aircraft of choice for the Navy and Marines. The unarmed RF-8A first flew in 1958 and quickly replaced the subsonic photo aircraft. 144 were built. Each carrier had a detachment of 3 RF-8As.

As the Vietnam War heated up in 1964, the Navy realized that the F-8, along with all of its combat aircraft, were lacking in electronic countermeasures (ECM) capabilities. Driven by wartime requirements, Vought was given contracts for a remanufacturing program to update the F-8s and RF-8s. The F-8A and F-8B were considered to be obsolescent and by now flown only by reserve squadrons, so were updated last.

First up was the RF-8A, which was given ECM capabilities and the rear fuselage strakes of the later F-8s. 73 RF-8Gs were updated in 1965-1970 and saw heavy use in the war.

Next up was the F-8D, which was modified into the F-8H and was followed by the F-8Es which were updated to F-8J configuration. The F-8Cs became F-8Ks with enhancements and finally a few F-8Bs were converted to F-8Ls. The F-8As were not considered combat-ready and were not updated. The fighters were updated quickly during the period 1967-69 and all saw heavy use in Southeast Asia. The Marine Corps went to an all-F-4 force due to the Phantom's better strike capabilities and only Marine Corps Reserve units still flew the F-8. The Marines also replaced their RF-8s with RF-4 photo Phantoms.

In the mid-1970s, the Navy retired its smaller World War II-built aircraft carriers and transitioned to an all-big deck carrier force using F-4 Phantom and the new F-14 Tomcat fighters; this spelled the end for first-line use of the F-8 Crusader as a first-line fighter.

The photo RF-8G continued service in small numbers until the mid-1980s and was the last Crusader variant to fly for the Navy.

As is invariably the case, the crews rarely referred to the F-8 Crusader by the official name. The F-8 had some idiosyncrasies in carrier landing mode: If the pilot found himself a little fast, he would decrease the power and find himself a little too slow -- and vice versa. Accordingly, like the F4U before it, the F-8 found itself called the "Ensign Eliminator" or "Gator" as it was always willing to bite the unwary. But it was also very fondly regarded by the pilots, as the maneuverability and the gun armament were big advantages over the F-4 Phantom.

For those within driving distance of San Diego, visiting USS Midway would be a great day trip. Many aircraft are in display including F-8 Crusader.

https://www.midway.org/exhibits-acti.../f-8-crusader/

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

Good read:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Vraciu

The Wiki omits one job that Cdr Vraciu had later in his career: CO of All-weather Fighter Squadron THREE, which I believe at the time was the largest fighter squadron in the U.S. Navy. VF(AW)-3 had a unique mission for a Navy squadron; they were an interceptor squadron for the N. American Air Defense Command -- reporting to an Air Force general and responsible for air defense in the Southwest U.S. The only Navy squadron in NORAD.

The attached photo shows two of VF(AW)-3's F4D-1 Skyrays really loaded for bear: Two Sidewinders, two external fuel tanks and two 7-shot rocket pods (plus internal 20mm cannon, I'm sure). And the paint jobs were not bad, either.

As I think I've posted before, the F4D was not a big winner. Limited fuel supply, which is why they are always carrying external fuel tanks. They had the same afterburning J57 engine as the F-100 and F-8 but were not supersonic due to a thick wing with too much drag. Plus, hanging the external fuel tanks on them didn't help with speed. But with all that wing, they could climb like crazy -- in that sense, good for an interceptor. With their (modified) delta wing, they were not a great fighter for carrier duty, either. But the Navy bought 400+ of them as they were better performers than the F2H and had a radar, so were considered an all-weather fighter.

[Llarry]

Speaking of the F4D -- informally dubbed the "Ford" in the fleet -- it had its antecedents in the 1940s. Douglas recognized the limitations of the design -- too little fuel capacity and wings that were too thick for speed -- and tried to fix them with the Douglas F5D Skylancer. The F5D had the same J57 engine but was stretched and got thinner wings, which made it supersonic, though barely so. It still had the undesirable low speed/stall characteristics that were problematic in carrier operations, though, and was outclassed by the forthcoming F8U (F-8) Crusader. Plus Douglas already had plenty of Navy business with the A3D (A-3) Skywarrior and the forthcoming A4D (A-4) Skyhawk. Only 4 F5D-1s were purchased; they ended up flying for a number of years for NASA.

[Lady Jane]

Fifteen years ago today:

Famous departing words after the kangaroo court tried to hang them for their heroism.

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

Fifteen years ago today:

Famous departing words after the kangaroo court tried to hang them for their heroism.


Attachment 3365681

My favorite part of the movie is when Sully FINALLY asked the NTSB spokes-mouth how many times they ran the simulation before the plane successfully made it back. I was sitting there during the investigation scenes SCREAMING in my head for him to ask that question!

When I was at SLC, FAA evaluators were coming to evaluate our operation. It was drilled into me (I was a rookie at the time) that they (and ANYONE from the NTSB) were not our friends and were looking for fault, whether there was any or not. We got to the interview part and the evaluator asked me what my career plans were. I said I would be bidding (and since the L.A. TRACON was always short-staffed) L.A. TRACON and he asked me "did I ever bet on the "come" (betting that separation wouldn't be lost)? Remembering that they weren't my friends, I said NO, even though I did every day! He then told me that I would never make it at L.A. if I didn't! He was right about betting on the "come." We used to turn airplanes at each other in the clouds, knowing that the follower would see the followee (is that a word?) before we lost separation. I wouldn't trust today's controllers to make that work!

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by Llarry

As readers of the airplane thread know, I've covered a lot of U.S. Navy and Marine Corps airplane history. Here's one I don't think I've covered except tangentially: The electronic warfare (EW) aircraft.

Electronic warfare is tied inexorably to radar. There was quite the "wizard war", as it was called by some, in the European theatre in World War II as both the UK and Germany had advanced technology systems using radio/radar. The Pacific theatre, where the U.S. Navy concentrated their efforts, was quite different as the Japanese developed radar somewhat later.

Early Navy EW was very much a shoestring operation; the first detection of Japanese air search radar was in the Aleutians by Navy EW gear installed on an Army Air Forces B-17 bomber, if memory serves. Once it was confirmed that the Japanese were using radar, the effort became a bit more serious.

The first EW aircraft were rather homemade affairs and used the ever-versatile torpedo bomber: The Grumman TBF or Eastern TBM. The TBF/TBM was large enough to accommodate an extra crew member and a small amount of EW equipment. Late in the war, the configuration was formalized as the TBM-3Q; the Q stood for EW or electronic countermeasures (ECM). A TBM-3Q could only be externally distinguished from the garden variety TBM by a few antennas and I'm unable to find a decent photo: The attached TBM-3E photo is very close in appearance.

The versatile Douglas AD Skyraider that entered the fleet shortly after the end of World War II was soon recognized to be roomy enough for other than strictly attack purposes. Though originally a single seat aircraft, two EW operators were soon squeezed into a compartment behind and below the pilot. There was a small door on the right side of the fuselage and a window on the left. A whole series of EW-configured ADs ensued. An AD-3Q is pictured.

In the early 1950s, Douglas Aircraft, in recognition of the various uses that their AD was being used for, developed a wide-body version of the AD that could better accommodate multiple crew members. The AD-5Q (EA-1F after 1962) was the Navy/Marine EW aircraft of choice for a number of years, despite the advent of the jet age with its higher speeds and altitudes.

During the Vietnam War, the brass finally had to concede that the time of prop aircraft in combat or combat support was ending. The Marines made their move first, buying a small number of EW-dedicated Grumman A-6 Intruder jets: The EA-6A "Electric Intruder." (Pictured in Navy Reserve markings.)

The Navy liked what they saw but decided to up the ante with a more radical A-6 redesign, which became the EA-6B Prowler (with pilot and three Electronic Warfare Officers) and the Navy and Marines finally had a state-of-the-art EW aircraft with excellent passive and active (tactical radar and communications jamming) skills. In the mid-1980s, the EA-6B was further upgraded with the capability to fire AGM-88 HARM radar-homing missiles.

As an interim measure while the EA-6B was under development, the Navy converted a number of redundant Douglas A-3 Skywarrior heavy attack aircraft to an EW and tanker version, the EKA-3B. The problem with the EKA-3B was that it was very large and took up a lot of space on crowded carrier decks. After a few years, the EA-6B replaced the ancient EA-1Fs and the big EKA-3Bs and the problem was solved.

The EA-6B served admirably for many years, but technology was marching along, and the carrier air wings were changing; the F-18E and F-18F Super Hornet strike fighters became the central combat power of the carrier as a mixed fighter/attack force became essentially all fighters before the turn of the century. The two-place F-18F became the basis for an EA-6B replacement as the supersonic EA-18G Growler, better able to accompany high-performance strike fighters to the target and better able to defend themselves in a high-threat environment.

The Marines were going to an all-STOVL fighter force with the F-35 and elected to not replace their EA-6Bs; like the Air Force, the Marine Corps now depends on EW pods or the Navy for EW support.

I recall the Skyraider supporting us at times in Vietnam. In close, loiter forever, tons of ordnance. We loved those guys!

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

I recall the Skyraider supporting us at times in Vietnam. In close, loiter forever, tons of ordnance. We loved those guys!

Here's a couple of photos of Vietnam-style ordnance loadouts on Air Force A-1s. I remember reading an article on Navy A-1s that talked about their endurance: The jets would take off, go somewhere and be back in two hours; the Skyraiders would be airborne for 8 hours.

[Llarry]

The black-painted area on the A-1E in the last post reminds me of the issue of lead in aviation gasoline. The more powerful piston engines during the 1940s-1970s used high concentrations of tetraethyl lead (TEL) to obtain high octane equivalency. The A-1 Skyraider always strikes me as the poster child for exhaust/lead staining -- see the attached photo for an example. (By the way, you can imagine that the poor junior enlisted man tasked to clean the exhaust staining off the aircraft was exposed to lots of lead contamination.)

In World War I, aviation gasoline had an octane rating of 50 or less. During the 1920s and 1930s, the available fuel octane rating increased to about 70. In 1931, some Pratt & Whitney engine tests demonstrated that power could be doubled by adding TEL to the gasoline and running higher manifold pressures.

In 1939, at the start of World War II, the UK's Royal Air Force was using 87 octane aviation gasoline. By the time of the Battle of Britain, the U.S. had supplied the UK with 100 octane gas. Late in the war, the RAF used 150 octane gas for special situations, such as intercepting German V-1 cruise missiles.

During WWII, the U.S. developed 100/130 gasoline using TEL as an additive, which enabled more power. The amount of TEL was further increased to make 115/145 aviation gasoline late in the war and that was the standard for high-output military and civil engines from the mid-1940s to the 1970s. My recollection from the 1960s was that naval air stations would have both 100/130 and 115/145 avgas trucks clearly labeled.

Aviation was not immune to the move to less hazardous fuels of modern times. The current standard is 100LL, which still contains smaller amounts of lead. I believe research continues on fuel additives to replace lead in aviation fuels.

https://en.wikipedia/org/wiki/Avgas

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by Llarry

The story of the Vought F-8 (originally F8U) Crusader...

In the early 1950s it became apparent that workable supersonic aircraft were possible, and the Navy wanted in on the action. They figured that the combination of supersonic speed and all-weather/night fighter capability was a bridge too far, so specified that the new fighter would be a "day" fighter without a capable radar.

The U.S. Air Force's North American F-100 Super Sabre has first flown in mid 1953 and was on the way to service adoption as the first supersonic fighter. It was powered by the Pratt & Whitney J57 engine with afterburner -- the same engine (less afterburner) that would go on to power the B-52 heavy bomber, the KC-135 tanker and thousands of commercial transports.

The usual competitors vied for the contract for the new Navy/Marine fighter. North American submitted a navalized version of the F-100 and old standby Grumman submitted the F11F.

Vought, having hit the ball clean out of the park on the F4U Corsair of World War II and Korea fame, had not been doing well recently. The radical F5U, the pioneering but disappointing F6U Pirate and the F7U Cutlass had not been well received, although the F7U had entered limited squadron service. Vought needed a winner, and they came up with one with their new V-383 model, which was designed as the F8U Crusader. The F8U was powered by the Air Force's outstanding J57 engine with afterburner and promised good performance.

As usual for Vought, there were some innovative design features. The wing was high-mounted and featured variable-incidence, where for takeoff and landing, the angle of attack could be increased 7 degrees while keeping the fuselage more level and improving pilot vision over the nose for all-important carrier operations. There were also parts of the aircraft made using balsa wood with aluminum cladding for light weight, as well as components using titanium.

The resulting XF8U-1 Crusader first flew in March 1955 and it seemed that Vought had a winner. They did not, however, have the deal sealed; Grumman was a preferred source of Navy fighters and their F11F had flown seven months earlier. The F11F was more compact and did not have the power of the F8U. But the Navy gave Grumman a contract for a couple of hundred F11F-1 (new F-11A) fighters. It turned out that the F11F, though supersonic, was barely so -- advantage Vought.

The F8U test program went well. The Navy gave Vought contracts for 318 F8U-1 (new F-8A) fighters. In August of 1956, the F8U-1 set a new speed record for an operational fighter aircraft: 1,015 mph in level flight, nicely eclipsing the Air Force F-100's record of 822 mph.

The F-8A -- for clarity I will use new designations from now on -- was provided to Navy and Marine Corps fighter squadrons beginning in early 1957, replacing older subsonic fighters. Everything was going smoothly. There were some idiosyncrasies in the carrier landing mode, but those were considered acceptable tradeoffs.

The F-8A's armament consisted of four 20mm cannon and it could carry two of the new Sidewinder infrared-homing missiles. It also had a retractable tray on the belly for unguided rockets. It was equipped with a small ranging radar in the nose that provided only distance to the target.

The F-8A was succeeded in production by the F-8B (old F8U-1E), which had a minimally capable radar in the nose and provided some limited all-weather capability. 130 were built.

The next step was to increase power and speed; the resulting F-8C (old F8U-2) took to the air in 1958 and featured an uprated J57 engine. To enhance stability at high speeds, two ventral strakes were added to the rear fuselage, as were afterburner cooling scoops. Now four Sidewinders could be carried in place of the previous two. 187 were built; Vought production lines were busy and by now every carrier air group had an F-8 squadron, along with a second fighter squadron with subsonic all-weather fighters.

In a process of continuous improvement, Vought next introduced 152 F-8Ds (old F8U-2N) with improved radar. Shortly thereafter, the final U.S. Navy variant, the F-8E started coming off the line and 286 were built. The F-8E had improved radar and, for the first time, had a pair of wing pylons that could carry bombs. The F-8 was rare in that it could never carry external fuel tanks; in fact the first few F-8As had been built without aerial refueling equipment.

The final F-8E fighter came off the Vought production line in 1964, ending a very successful run of 1,219 aircraft. The French Navy was looking for a replacement for the F4U Corsair carrier fighters and selected the F-8E with some modifications (blown flaps, etc.) for the smaller French carriers and the final F-8E(FN) was delivered in January of 1965.

Until the Vietnam War era (and the F-8E), the F-8 had been strictly tasked with air-to-air missions, but Vietnam prompted the use of the Crusader for ground attack. The cheek-mounted Sidewinder could be replaced with Zuni 5" rockets and the wing pylons could carry a variety of bombs. The Marines in particular used the F-8 for strike missions.

With their improved radars, the F-8D and -8E models replaced older subsonic all-weather fighters and on smaller carriers, the fighter contingent was all F-8s. At about the same time, the newer F-4 Phantom replaced F-8s on the larger carriers.

The F-8 had also become the photographic reconnaissance aircraft of choice for the Navy and Marines. The unarmed RF-8A first flew in 1958 and quickly replaced the subsonic photo aircraft. 144 were built. Each carrier had a detachment of 3 RF-8As.

As the Vietnam War heated up in 1964, the Navy realized that the F-8, along with all of its combat aircraft, were lacking in electronic countermeasures (ECM) capabilities. Driven by wartime requirements, Vought was given contracts for a remanufacturing program to update the F-8s and RF-8s. The F-8A and F-8B were considered to be obsolescent and by now flown only by reserve squadrons, so were updated last.

First up was the RF-8A, which was given ECM capabilities and the rear fuselage strakes of the later F-8s. 73 RF-8Gs were updated in 1965-1970 and saw heavy use in the war.

Next up was the F-8D, which was modified into the F-8H and was followed by the F-8Es which were updated to F-8J configuration. The F-8Cs became F-8Ks with enhancements and finally a few F-8Bs were converted to F-8Ls. The F-8As were not considered combat-ready and were not updated. The fighters were updated quickly during the period 1967-69 and all saw heavy use in Southeast Asia. The Marine Corps went to an all-F-4 force due to the Phantom's better strike capabilities and only Marine Corps Reserve units still flew the F-8. The Marines also replaced their RF-8s with RF-4 photo Phantoms.

In the mid-1970s, the Navy retired its smaller World War II-built aircraft carriers and transitioned to an all-big deck carrier force using F-4 Phantom and the new F-14 Tomcat fighters; this spelled the end for first-line use of the F-8 Crusader as a first-line fighter.

The photo RF-8G continued service in small numbers until the mid-1980s and was the last Crusader variant to fly for the Navy.

As is invariably the case, the crews rarely referred to the F-8 Crusader by the official name. The F-8 had some idiosyncrasies in carrier landing mode: If the pilot found himself a little fast, he would decrease the power and find himself a little too slow -- and vice versa. Accordingly, like the F4U before it, the F-8 found itself called the "Ensign Eliminator" or "Gator" as it was always willing to bite the unwary. But it was also very fondly regarded by the pilots, as the maneuverability and the gun armament were big advantages over the F-4 Phantom.

Two Crusaders landed at our small, local airport when I was a kid. Both were low on fuel, so took a chance on the short runway. The first one left two strips in the grass just short of the approach end of the runway and managed to stop before rolling off the runway. The second Crusader wasn't quite as lucky. He touched down okay but blew a tire during the roll out, causing the airplane to drift off the runway and into the mud.

Navy crews arrived within hours (probably from Lemoore) where they inspected and refueled both aircraft. They flew out the next day. The mud airplane didn't retract his landing gear as he flew off. Lots of very cool noise for a youngster to hear.

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by Llarry

Here's a couple of photos of Vietnam-style ordnance loadouts on Air Force A-1s. I remember reading an article on Navy A-1s that talked about their endurance: The jets would take off, go somewhere and be back in two hours; the Skyraiders would be airborne for 8 hours.

The sound of that big radial engine (R-3350?) was very reassuring to us. Brute power. The other radial engine airplane that entertained us was the AC-47 gun ship - another good friend. They supported us at night. Lights out, of course. Well, no light until the mini-guns lit off.

[flybigjet]

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[Llarry]

In my post of January 12th (#2349 in this thread) I said that the retirement of the U-2S fleet had been proposed. A few days ago, one of the four TU-2S two-seat trainer models was retired. It looks like the retirement of the U-2 may actually happen. Presumably the trainers are no longer required to train new U-2 pilots.

I can't imagine that this move will not be fiercely opposed by the users of the U-2's intelligence product. It may be that there is some new unmanned air vehicle or satellite that can replace the U-2. While I'm skeptical, we'll just have to see.

[Llarry]

Tomcat Thursday!