AVSIM's Combat Legends The F-8 Crusader
By David Slavens, AVSIM Online Sr. Reviewer

An RF-8G of VFP-63 Det 4 F-8J of VF-24 USS Hancock Alpha Simulations F-8E of VF-162 USS Oriskany The French Navy used F-8s until 1999 The Alpha Simulations F-8E sitting at the runway in Da Nang loaded with 4 AIM-9 Sidewinders. Some Crusader pilots complained that with 4 Sidewinders the nose of the F-8 became too heavy. The sleek hot rod like appearance of the F-8E An F-8 of VF-191 at Miramar NAS

Aviation: man's dream to fly. Soaring in the air, looking down upon the earth and all its wonders. Flying takes a person to more than just places around the world but to places in the mind. It has an affect all its own that no one feeling can describe. In a perfect world that would be true. But inevitably Orville and Wilbur Wright's machine that would bring nations together and at peace was turned for a more sinister purpose, War. War has been with us for as long as man has walked this earth. As years progressed the weapons became more destructive. More lives were being lost. Since the invention of the aircraft all it takes is one plane and one bomb to extinguish what took hundreds of thousands of soldiers to do 200 years ago. War is something we have to live with though. So why not have the right tool for the job?

With aircraft came air combat. In World War One the first air combats took place with pistols, bricks and even a plane towing a grappling hook. Then came the machine gun, a tool that today is still on combat aircraft. In World War II air combat became of age. The Luftwaffe in 1939-1941 was king of the air. It would have remained that way if it had not been for mismanagement and interference by a one Adolph Hitler. Another factor was that a little island nation chose to “Never surrender.” December 7^th 1941 brought America into the war and with that its full industrial might. Aircraft like the P-51 Mustang, F4U Corsair, A6M2 Zero, FW-190, and the Spitfire are forever etched into the minds and books of history. They defined an era of combat that has never been equaled even today. Every era has its aircraft that helped define it. In Korea the F-86 and the Mig-15 tangled over the skies in Mig Alley. But the combat was different—it was faster, more deadly, the jet age helped that along.

The years following Korea were the golden age of military aviation. Jet power was the new and definitive factor. Everyone wanted to go faster higher and farther. Designers were cranking out aircraft that in a few months were obsolete. Everyone in the aviation industry had to get on the jet bandwagon, or be left behind. The military wanted fighter aircraft that would control the skies just as the P-51 and F-86 did in their eras. Companies scrambled for contracts. There was no shortage of them; Vought, Boeing, Curtiss-Wright, McDonnell Douglas, North American, Grumman and Republic-Fairchild had built solid reputations with the military. Each wanted that lucrative contract building the fighters of the future. Some of the famous fighters to come out was the F-4 Phantom II, the Century series aircraft, F-100, F-101, F-102, F-104, F-105 and the F-106, the little A-4 Skyhawk. These are very well known and famous in the history of military aviation. All served admirably in many conflicts.

But there is one aircraft in my opinion that is not very well known. Some know of it but yet know nothing about it. It served with the US Navy, Marine Corps and the French Navy from the 1950s when it was first developed until 1999. It even did a stint with the Philippine Air Force. It made an appearance in the movie Thirteen Days. It racked up 18 kills in the Vietnam War and was called the Last of the Gunfighters. It was the F-8 Crusader. A sleek lean mean fighting machine built around 4 Browning Mk12 20mm cannons. It could carry 4 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and the Marine version was modified to move lots of mud.

With the invention of the computer and the advent of flight simming it is just about possible to find every type of plane ever made to fly in your virtual world. Alpha Simulations has released a wonderful F-8E Crusader. This cross between reality and virtual reality can give you some insight to how the Crusader flew.

One of the unique things about the F-8 was that it had a variable incidence wing that lifted seven degrees by a hydraulic actuator. The purpose of this was to help the pilot land the plane on the carrier. Vought’s previous fighter attempt the F7U Cutlass had an angle of attack of 20 degrees during landing in which the pilot could not see where he was going to set down. This caused many accidents leading to a nickname of the “Ensign Eliminator.” The variable incidence wing was designed to give a high angle of attack thus reducing approach and take off speed. With the wing up and the fuselage level it was providing the pilot with good landing visibility. Despite this radical design pilots still considered her a handful to land. As some pilots put it she landed “hot” or faster (147 kts) than most other aircraft. Vought added a number of fixes to help slow the plane down further but it was a problem that was never really solved.

The Alpha Simulation version has got this modeled very well. I have done a number of carrier landings and with the best technology available to the designer of the air file you can get an idea of that the “hot” landing was. You will also notice that it also has the variable incidence wing modeled as well. Michael Davies explained that with the limitation of FSDS that it is actually 2 wings but the animation was done so well you cannot tell.

On the flip side of things the variable incidence wing made the catapult shot much easier. The inexperienced pilot though learned that when the wing was lowered it has tendency to make the plane “porpoise” or move up and down. Navy pilots loved the F8; it was a fighter through and through. It climbed like a bat with its pants on fire and could turn with the best of them. Despite its shortcomings pilots wanted to fly it. Just after all the little annoyances were conquered and pilots tamed their wild beast, it was thrust into action. In a little place called Vietnam.

Mr. Crusader Goes to War

The Crusader filled a variety of roles such as escort, MIGCAP, and even strike with Zuni rockets and bombs in Vietnam. The latter being mostly used by the Marine Corps to move mud around. In the air-to-air role it was the F8 that excelled. In 1965 Mig-17s and Mig-19s began flying against the US over South East Asia. Crusader pilots were chomping at the bit to take on a Mig. After all, that is what they were there for. Finally on 12 Jun 1966 Commander Harold L. Marr shot down a Mig-17 with a Sidewinder missile. Some days later on 21 Jun 1966 an F-8 had a run in with Migs while they were providing search and rescue for an RF-8A pilot who was shot down earlier in the day. On this mission a F-8 was shot down by a Mig-17 and its pilot Lt Commander Cole Black had to hit the silk. During the engagement Lt JG Phil Vampatella’s Crusader had been damaged by AAA. Despite this fact he was still engaging Migs. A Mig-17 had gotten on his tail and he used the F-8’s superior speed to get away. Low on fuel he turned back after the Mig-17 and shot it down with a Sidewinder. Both Cdr Black and the RF-8A pilot were never found by the rescue copter and became POWs. Only 3 F-8s were lost to enemy aircraft during Vietnam. The rest were either hit by AAA, SAMs or were lost in operational accidents.

Building a few missions with CFS2. I put the F-8 up against Alpha Simulations Mig-17 and Mig-21. The F-8 moved really well through sky and I was able to use its speed to take care of anyone on my tail. I couldn’t turn as tight as the Mig-17 but that is expected, the Mig-17 was very maneuverable. The Mig-21 was fast but less maneuverable. It made a great challenge. Also the fact that CFS2 doesn’t model guided missiles meant that I had guns only. This isn’t really a problem to me as a sign of a good fighter pilot is the ability to gun your opponent down. That is my opinion though.

By the time Vietnam ended the F-8 Crusader was responsible for 18 Mig kills and 2 probables. The final tally was 166 F-8s lost, 143 Navy and 23 Marine Corps out of a production run of 1261 airframes.

The Many Faces of the Crusader

The Crusader served aboard many aircraft carrier and land based units. There was a Recon version the RF-8A and the RF-8G. The RF-8A was used extensively in the Cuban Missile Crisis and racked up and impressive number of Photo Sorties. The RF-8G made a name for itself in the skies over Vietnam. Its role in the Air war is a whole other story in itself. Each had a unique set of markings, colors and designs. The Alpha Simulation F-8E is of VF-162 of the USS Oriskany. The textures job is done quite well. In the photos I have collected you will also notice I have included some of the French Navy F-8E (FN)s. The French flew the Crusader until 1999. That is a testament to the ruggedness and durability of an aircraft that first flew in the 1950s. Also are some shots of the Alpha Sim F-8. It has very elegant lines and is an accurate representation of this fine aircraft. You can get this F-8E for only $8.00 at Alpha Simulations and it is worth it.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank following for the photos used for this article:

John P. Stewart and Philippe Noret of Airliners.net. Great photos guys. Check out their endless photo galleries at airliners.net.

Jerry Nolan and all his F-8 pilot buddies for helping with information about how it was done in an F-8

I would also like to thank Air Vectors for their in-depth knowledge of the F-8 Crusader. Without their information this would have been a dull article.