Which, they did a fine job of it, but never liked it. The most common attack employment of the Vought F-8 Crusader in attack was as flak suppression for Alpha Strikes over North Vietnam. But the preferred mission for Crusader drivers was always and ever hunting MiGs. I’ll admit I never knew about the Shrike…
Which, they did a fine job of it, but never liked it. The most common attack employment of the Vought F-8 Crusader in attack was as flak suppression for Alpha Strikes over North Vietnam. But the preferred mission for Crusader drivers was always and ever hunting MiGs.
I’ll admit I never knew about the Shrike tests. And I can guess that the ‘sader guys were quite happy they never got tasked for the Iron Hand mission.
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Very cool.
How is it that they can take a crusader, designed as a fighter, and make it a bomb truck with no problems with separation interference; yet the SH, designed for the attack role, has to have those canted pylons?
I’ll admit aerodynamics are beyond me. It just sometimes seems the old aircraft did as much with less thrust and complexity.
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The ‘Sader wasn’t even area ruled!
That pic of the “every damn store” kind of shows that it was a development shot. Operationally they never carried anything on the inboard station of the triple ejector rack.
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It just sometimes seems the old aircraft did as much with less thrust and complexity.
…Aannnnd with less capability and reliability. Check out the accident and availability rates for 2nd and 3rd generation fighters compared to modern designs.
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Nice. I have never seen a video of the F8 firing it’s Rocket Pack, pictures of it only. Ours were bolted shut.
“The rockets proved to be not only not effective except as an area suppression weapon due to inaccuracy but also downright dangerous. To maximize the number carried versus the frontal area of the pack, one set of 16 was loaded ahead of another. If a rocket in the forward set did not fire, the one behind it, when fired, might stay in the pack, still burning. Rockets occasionally did not clear the pack, which meant that it could not be retracted and could potentially keep one of the nose gear doors from opening, which meant the nose gear would not extend.”
From http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-brief-history-of-f8u-crusader-armament.html
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Right, we mounted the 5in Zunis on the side rails (Sidewinder mounts). The ones in the Rocket Pack were 2.75in FFAR 32 ea.
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XBradTC 
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