On Wednesday 25th
March, 2015 the Museum of Flight held a celebration for the 60th
anniversary of the first flight of the mighty Vought F8U Crusader at the
museum’s restoration center in Everett, Washington. They publicly unveiled
their XF8U-1 prototype for the first time following a decades-long restoration
effort.
The museum’s
XF8U-1 is Bu.No.138899, the very aircraft which made the type’s first
flight six decades ago with pilot John Konrad at the helm. This inaugural
flight saw the aircraft break the sound barrier, something never before
attempted successfully on a jet’s maiden mission.
The type had a
relatively trouble-free development, with the second prototype XF8U-1 and the
production prototype F8U-1 first flying on the same day in September, 1955. The
Crusader was already in carrier trials by early April, 1956 aboard the USS
Forrestal, and operational the following year. From first flight to first fleet
use in just two years seems incredible in today’s climate, where modern combat
aircraft take well over a decade to become operational.
The Crusader
received the moniker “Last of the Gunfighters” when introduced due to
its internal cannon armament at a time when all other types
were moving exclusively to air-to-air missiles. The Crusader was a
versatile aircraft though, and got stacked with all sorts of offensive weaponry during
its time in the Vietnam War. It was also a highly effective tactical
reconnaissance platform, and this was the role it was perhaps most famous for
due to the remarkably dangerous but vitally
important photo-recon missions flown low and fast over Cuba during
the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-news/xf8u-1-crusader-rollout-museum-flight-march-25th.html
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