XBradTC

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XBradTC

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The Last of the Gunfighters was a pretty decent bomber.

The Vought F-8 Crusader is famous as the last US Navy fighter designed with guns as its primary armament. It was also famous for eschewing the prevailing notion of the day that future air combat would be missile oriented, and dogfighting would be a thing of the past.*  The earlier models of the F-8 carried…

The Vought F-8 Crusader is famous as the last US Navy fighter designed with guns as its primary armament. It was also famous for eschewing the prevailing notion of the day that future air combat would be missile oriented, and dogfighting would be a thing of the past.* 

The earlier models of the F-8 carried the guns and the Sidewinder. But starting with the F-8E, two wing pylons were added, each with the capability of carrying either a 2000lb Mk84 bomb, or a Multiple Ejector Rack with a variety of ordnance.

It’s easy to see how the adaptability of the F-8 convinced Vought they could design and build an attack plane derived from the F-8 as a replacement for the A-4 Skyhawk, what eventually became the A-7 Corsair II.

 

*The truth is, it’s a little more nuanced than that. ‘sader drivers spent their fair share of time practicing radar intercepts just like their Phantom cousins, and even had their own radar guided missile, the AIM-9C Sidewinder, which was less successful than even the Phantom’s AIM-7D.

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  1. jjak

    The AIM-9C would find success when rebuilt as the AGM-122 Sidearm anti-radar missile.

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  2. Esli

    F8s just look cool. It’s a shame that I tore up my dad’s F8 display model (you know the ones the Navy gives you) when I was a kid. I guess between me and my brothers, we ruined most of those except the Buckeye. That didn’t get played with too much.

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  3. NavyDavy

    Probably a good reason in the video not to mention the built in Rocket Pack. It carried 32 2.75″ FFAR rockets. One set of 16 loaded ahead of another. Scary pulling the trigger on that. It was disabled early on. http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-brief-history-of-f8u-crusader-armament.html

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  4. xbradtc

    IIRC, F-102s had a similar tandem rocket system, though in the launch bay doors.

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