[Llarry]

I believe I have made reference previously to the airplane that I think rates as the best-looking of all time. It's time I paid tribute to the Vought F8U (late F-8) Crusader. The Crusader was the first Navy/Marine fighter to exceed 1000-mph in level flight and was a workhorse of the Cold War and the Vietnam war. It incorporated a number of innovative features, chief of which was the variable-incidence wing.

The variable-incidence wing moved the wing to a higher angle-of-attack during takeoff and landing, allowing improved lower-speed operations -- critical for a carrier aircraft -- and improving pilot vision over the nose.

The F8U was one of the Navy airplanes that used the Air Force-developed Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet engine, one of the key factors in its excellent performance. That said, the Crusader also had a reputation as having several undesirable handling characteristics, leading to its nickname as the "Ensign Eliminator" for its tricky handling in some situations.

The F8U entered service in 1956 and was rapidly adopted by Navy and Marine Corps day fighter squadrons. (In those days, each carrier air group had one all-weather {radar-equipped} fighter squadron and one day fighter squadron.) Initially the armament consisted of four 20mm cannon and a retractable tray on the belly with folding-fin rockets. It was soon realized that the rockets were not an effective weapon and, at about the same time, the Sidewinder infrared-homing air-to-air missile became operational; the F8U was adapted for the Sidewinder by adding pylons on both sides of the fuselage. The rocket tray was deleted from later variants. Ultimately, later variants of the F8U had Y-shaped pylons that allowed the aircraft to carry four Sidewinders.

The initial F8U variants were soon succeeded by improved versions and an unarmed photo-recon version also was put into service. Late variants had a capable radar system and the division between day fighters and all-weather fighters was abandoned. After the F-4 Phantom entered service in the early 1960s, the F8Us (by now redesignated F-8s) were relegated to the smaller former Essex class carriers of the Navy.

The ultimate F8U was the XF8U-3 variant, which competed with the McDonnell F4H Phantom for selection as the next-generation Navy/Marine fighter in 1958. The F8U-3 lost and the F4H (F-4) Phantom went on to glory in Vietnam and was used by a large number of Air Forces around the world. The F8U-3 was described by one Navy official as "the best fighter we never bought" and was in some ways a superior performer to the F-4, but the Navy wanted a twin-engine/two-seat fighter with a Radar Intercept Officer in the back seat

As is typical, the F-8 (redesignated in 1962) served out its days in reserve and utility squadrons, relinquishing its front-line fighter role by 1976. The photo-recon Crusaders lasted longest of all in an improved RF-8G version.

While the F-4 Phantom found favor with many air forces, the F-8 was used by only two other nations: The French Navy flew the F-8E(FN) and improved F-8P for many years and the Philippine Air Force flew reconditioned F-8Hs (confusingly also designated F-8P) for several years.