F-8 fighter (English: Vought F-8 Crusader[1], nicknamed: Crusader), is a member of theAmerica NavyType I shipboard developedSupersonic fighter。
The F-8 fighter is the first supersonic carrier based aircraft of the US Navy, and the lastCannonA single engine fighter that is the main weapon.The aircraft adopts variable installation angle wings. During takeoff and landing, the hydraulic self-locking actuator on the aircraft can increase the wing installation angle to shorten takeoff and landing distances.
The F-8 fighter began to be designed in May 1953, the prototype flew for the first time in March 1955, and was delivered to the United States Navy in March 1957.Due to its excellent low altitude performance, it has developed on the basis of F-8A-7 attacker[2]。
American Chase Watt Company (later changed to "LTV" of Ling Temco Watt Aerospace Company)the Second World WarIt was a famous military aircraft design and manufacturer in the United States during that periodF-4U fighter(Nickname: "Pirate")Pacific BattlefieldIt is considered to be the most modern and beautiful propeller based fighter in World War II[3]。
Although Chase Watt Company has made remarkable achievements in the propeller eraJet aircraftAfter the era, the company suffered many setbacks in the development of new aircraft.The company's first attempt at jet fighter design was the F6U-1 "Pirate" fighter, which was developed to meet the requirements of the United States Naval Aviation Administration (BuAer).However, the J34-WE-30A engine installed on the F6U-1 aircraft production model can only provide a thrust of 14.0 kN, and the afterburner thrust is only 18.2 kN, which is obviously low power.After the first flight on March 5, 1949, the jet "pirate" began to enter the Navy's operation evaluation squadron for evaluation, and the result was that the aircraft was completely unacceptable.The Naval Aviation Administration wrote in a notice to Water Company: "The F6U-1 has proved to be useless in performance and can never be used for combat purposes." The first effort made by Chase Water Company in the jet era ended in failure[3-4]。
In September 1952, the Navy issued a tender for the requirements of the carrier based supersonic daytime fighter, which basically defined the speed, mobility, reliability and controllability of the aircraft, among which the flight speed at 9144 meters must be at least M1.2.Eight aviation enterprises, including Walter, participated in the bidding of the project.
Due to the poor performance of F6U and F7U, the design team led by J. Russell Clark, the chief designer of Watt Company, opposed the alternative design style of F5U flying pancake and F7U pirate ship, and launched the V-383 scheme which is orderly, but adopts innovative design and the most advanced technology.The biggest highlight of the V-383 scheme is the bold adoption of the concept of variable angle of attack of the wing, which solves the contradiction between high-speed flight performance and low-speed control performance, and gives the pilot a lower landing angle of view.New technologies adopted by V-383 also include J57 turbojet engine with 6800kg thrust, area ratio concept, magnesium alloy and titanium alloy materials, new emergency turbine power generation system, new air conditioning system, etc[5]。
Development history
In May 1953, Volt's V-383 defeated Grumman XF11F-2, MacDonald F3H-G, North American Hainu and other competitors, and won the contract for manufacturing full-size models and wind tunnel models.The development work was very smooth. The Navy ordered two prototype aircraft on June 29 and gave them the official number XF8U-1.During this period, the Air Force's F-100 set a new speed record and became the first practical supersonic aircraft in the world.The F-100 and XF8U-1 also use the J57 engine, but the F-100 weighs about 400 kg more than the XF8U-1, so the XF8U-1 still has some advantages, and for the first time, it overturns the practice that naval carrier aircraft are heavier than air force land-based aircraft in the same period.
After 21 months of intense work, the first XF8U-1 was manufactured and transported from the Dallas factory to Edwards Air Force Base by C-124 transport aircraft in March 1955.On March 25, John W. Konrad, the chief test pilot of the company, successfully flew the XF8U-1 for the first time.The first flight of the XF8U-1 lasted 52 minutes and broke through the sound barrier (quite dangerous practice, which shows that the Navy is trying to catch up with the air force), becoming the first supersonic carrier based fighter in the world.Koland described XF8U-1 as "stable, comfortable and fast" when it broke through the sound barrier.The Navy was very satisfied with the XF8U-1 and named it Crusader.Subsequent flight tests were also exceptionally smooth. The XF8U-1 prototype flew more than 100 times, during which it was found that there was yaw during high altitude flight, so the F8U-2 began to install double ventral fins under the tail.
On September 20, 1955, the first production aircraft, F8U-1, was delivered for test flight.At the end of 1955, Watt Company obtained an order of 200 million dollars, and will produce 318 F8U-1 for the United States Navy.On April 4, 1956, F8U-1 successfully took off and landed on the aircraft carrier "Forrest" (CVA-59).On November 28, the first F8U-1 was officially delivered to the US Navy Air Force VX-3 Test Squadron.VX-3 Squadron once participated in the experiments of early shipborne fighters such as the North American FJ series, Douglas F4D, MacDonald F3H, and Bob Does, then the squadron leader, praised the F8U-1 for its "most exciting performance"[5-7]。
A total of 1261 F-8 fighters were produced[8]。F-8 fighter once exportedFrance[9]。
Structural sectional view of F-8 fighter[10]
Technical characteristics
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overall design
The F-8 has a slender fuselage, and an obvious wasp waist design in the middle. The main materials arealuminium alloy1/4 of the skin is made of lightweight aluminum magnesium alloy. The main load-bearing components and the engine combustion chamber were also used in 1948titanium alloy。In addition to avionics equipmentcockpit, weapon cabin and landing gear, air inlet, engine and fuel tank occupy most of the space inside the aircraft.The internal fuel volume of F8U-1 reaches 5300 liters, which can be left empty for 3 hours during patrol.If refueling is accepted in the air, the range of the F-8 will be greatly improved. The bulge on the left side of the fuselage is the fairing of the fuel receiving device.It also has an emergency ram turbine motor on the right side of the fuselage, which can provide power and hydraulic pressure in case of emergency.Two large speed brakes are also set at the belly[11]。
F-8 adopts the front three-point landing gear, and each landing gear is a single wheel type.In order to increase the angle of attack for takeoff, the main landing gear is shorter than the nose landing gear, and the aircraft seems to be "squatting" on the ground, so it has got a rather vivid nickname - "alligator".
The wing design of F-8 is also very simple and lively. The wing sweeps backward 42 degrees, reverses downward 5 degrees, and has a wing area of 32.4 square meters. The outer wing segment can be folded up by hydraulic pressure. A serration is formed between the inner and outer wing segments. The leading edge flap is divided into two segments at the serration. The flap aileron and flap are both set at the trailing edge of the inner wing.The wing is hinged on the fuselage, and can be lifted up to 7 degrees. During takeoff and landing, the wing lift and maneuverability can be improved, and the aircraft does not need to lift too much.In the flight manual, the limit overload of F-8 is -3.0g to+6.4g, but the limit overload obtained from static test is -4.5g to+9.6g[5][10]。
F-8 three view[11]
airborne weapons
Airborne gun
The F-8 is the last aircraft designed by the United States to use machine guns as the main weapon, so F-8 pilots often call themselves "The Last of the Gunfighters".The main weapon of the F-8 is four 20 mm Colt Mk-12 rotary tube machine guns, each of which has 144 rounds of ammunition, and is aimed by the AN/APG-30 ranging radar in the nose radome.In the early F-8, there was no under wing pylon, only two rattlesnake short range air-to-air missile pylons on both sides of the fuselage. In addition, there were 30 70mm giant mouse rockets in the stowage rocket launcher under the belly.This is all the weapons of the crusaders. Compared with the dazzling array of plug-ins of modern fighters, it is particularly simple and plain.
Later developed by Walter CompanyA-7The Pirate II attack aircraft is based on the F-8 design. This "shrunken version" of the crusader was used until 1991Persian Gulf Warin the future[5]。
Four line of sight of F-8 fighter[11]
Airborne missile
The F-8 has a pylon on each side of the fuselage that can be used to launch the "Sidewinder" air-to-air missile. In addition, there are four 20mm "Colt" MK-12 machine guns, each with 144 rounds of ammunition, and two on both sides of the fuselage.The aircraft is equipped with AN/APG-30 gun sight and range radar in the head fairing to help the pilot aim the gun at the target."Crusader" has no wing hanger, but there is a retractable launcher equipped with 32 70mm "giant mouse" unguided foldable projectile wing rockets in the belly of the fuselage.From the perspective of weapon configuration, "Crusader" is a design focusing on close air combat. The main attack weapon is aerial gun, and "Sidewinder" missile is more used as an auxiliary weapon.[4]
Airborne avionics
F-8 fighter is equipped with theAutopilot, APQ-97 Search andFire control radar；AN/ASS-15 infrared scanner, with“Rattlesnake”Use of air-to-air missiles[5]。
F-8E US Navy VF-211 "Combat General" Squadron
performance data
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F-8 fighter reference data
Basic parameters
crew
1 person
length
16.61m
wingspan
10.72m
height
4.80m
Wing area
32.50 square meters
Aspect ratio
three point five three
Main track width
2.94m
Front main track width
5.51m
Empty weight
8170kg
Maximum takeoff weight
15420 kg[19]
Fuel carrying capacity
6300 liters (refueling in the air)
dynamic system
1 × J57-P-20A afterburner engine
thrust
Maximum thrust: 47.6 kN;Afterburner thrust: 80.1kN
Maximum flight speed
1.7 Mach (1810 km/h)
Practical ceiling
17000m
voyage
2250km
Operational radius
370-800km
Climb rate
130 m/s
Wing load
474.5 kg/m2
Push weight ratio
zero point five three[1-2][12]
Derivative model
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F-8A
The original number of the F-8A aircraft is F8U-1, which is the first mass production model of the F-8 series. A total of 218 aircraft are produced.Because the test flight process of the prototype XF8U-1 was quite smooth, the first F-8A and the second XF-8U prototype flew on the same day in September 1955[2][13]。
RF-8A
RF-8A is an unarmed reconnaissance aircraft modified from F-8A, originally numbered F8U-1P.The RF-8A is equipped with five cameras under the belly, and the orientation of the fuselage is slightly protruding with the change of appearance and area ratio.All the armed forces and fire control radars on the aircraft were removed, leaving only the flares installed inside the fuselage for night photography.The first reconnaissance aircraft flew for the first time in December 1956, and was officially submitted to VFP-61 squadron for service on the Midway Island in September of the next year.The total production is 144[2][13-14]。
CW aircraft model F-8E Crusader French Navy painting
F-8B
The original number of F-8B aircraft is F8U-1E, and it is equipped with AN/APG-67 radar. It has some all-weather combat capabilities, and others are the same as F-8A.The first one flew in September 1958, with a total of 130 produced[2][13]。
F-8C
The original number of F-8C aircraft is F8U-2. The biggest change is to replace the J57-P-16 engine with a higher thrust. The maximum military thrust is 10700 pounds, the maximum afterburning thrust is 16900 pounds, the sea level climb rate is 25000 feet/minute, and the maximum flight speed is 1.7 Mach.For this reason, the fuselage has also been slightly modified.In addition, two stabilizers are added under the belly to improve the directional stability at high altitude, but many pilots also have comments on the flight control after installation.In addition, the Sidewinder missile pylons on both sides of the fuselage were increased to two on one side, improving the combat capability of the F-8C.The first F-8C has been delivered to the US Navy for use since January 1959, with a total of 187 produced[2][13]。
F-8C fighter side view[15]
F-8D
The original number of the F-8D is F8U-2N. Similar to the F-8C, the F-8D also has limited all-weather flight capability. At the design stage, the concept is to prepare it for use as a night fighter.The differences from the previous model include the J57-P-20 engine with higher thrust, the maximum afterburning thrust of 18000 pounds, and the installation of landing speed control system and new automatic flight system.The armed forces still maintain 4 machine guns and 4 rattlesnake missiles, but remove the rocket capsule originally installed on the deceleration surface and replace it with a fuel tank to increase the fuel carrying space in the aircraft.The first F-8D flew in February 1960, with a total of 152 produced[2][13]。
F-8D fighter is on the aircraft carrier deck[13]
F-8E
Air to ground attack function is added to F-8E aircraft, which is also the beginning of the use of Crusader series fighters by the US Marine Corps.In addition, France also purchased F-8E (FN), which was improved on the basis of F-8E, as the carrier based air superiority fighter of the two aircraft carriers Fuxi and Clermonso at that time. The improvement was that it adopted a new flap system and was able to launch the legal "Matra" R550 air-to-air missile[2][13][20]。
F-8E fighter side view
Service dynamics
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Early service
In the autumn of 1962, the "crusaders" welcomed their first combat flight mission.At that time, the United States was using Lockheed U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft to monitor the operations of the Soviet military assistance mission in Cuba.In mid October, a U-2 photograph showed that the Soviets seemed to be deploying medium range tactics that could threaten the US mainlandballistic missile（IRBM）。
RF-8A carried out the reconnaissance mission of monitoring the demolition operation.Each aircraft participating in the action drew a dead chicken every time it completed a task to record the number of tasks.This sign is rightCastroIt is an insult because when he visited New York City in the 1960s, he insisted on killing live chickens and cooking in front of him for fear of someone poisoning him.It was not until the 1970s that data showed that Castro's fears were not groundless:CIA(CIA) has planned several plans to assassinate or humiliate Castro in public.
RF-8A also paints a line of signs "Smile, You're On Candid Camera" in front of the photo window of "Base Station 1".The overflight operation over Cuba lasted for six weeks and a total of 160000 photos were taken.The 12 naval pilots and 4 marines who took part in the operation all won "flying merit"cross(Distinguished Flying Cross), and VFP-62 squadron won the Navy Unit Commendation.
The flight over Cuba can be said to be a battle rehearsal. The "crusaders" do not have to face actual threats, and naturally they do not have to talk about losses.However, the next battle will be the test of blood and fire[15]。
Participate in Vietnam War
On May 21, 1964, Captain Charles▪The RF-8A driven by F ▪ Krusman was hit by ground gunfire and severely damaged.But Krassman managed to fly the plane back to the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk.But in a mission on June 6, Krugman was again hit by anti-aircraft fire, and this time the Lucky Goddess no longer cared for him.The hit plane crashed out of control, Krusman successfully ejected and escaped, and was captured by the armed forces of Batliao (Lao Communist Party).After being held as a prisoner of war for three weeks, Krusman successfully escaped from prison and was rescued.
At that time, the destroyers of the US Navy often patrolled and monitored the coastline of North Vietnam, and supported the operations of the South Vietnamese commandos into North Vietnam.These destroyers are“Ticonderoga”The No. 1 aircraft carrier provides air cover. It is a World War II "Essex" class wooden deck aircraft carrier that has been modernized.
On the afternoon of August 2, 1964, the US Navy destroyer "Mados" was too close to the coast of North Vietnam during its missionTorpedo boatMove towards it quickly.The "Mados" quickly escaped without being hurt, but for the purpose of revenge, four F-8E aircraft guns and "Zuni" served as air coverrocketThese torpedo boats were attacked, and the torpedo boats fought back.During the battle, a "crusader" was hit and made an emergency landing at Danang Air Base in South Vietnam,North VietnamOne of the torpedo boats was sunk.This is“Beibu Gulf Incident”(also called“Tokyo Bay Incident”）。
On August 5, 1964, a large number of aircraft carrying out revenge missions from“Ticonderoga”No. and Constellation took off to attack the North Vietnamese torpedo boat.F-8 "Crusader", A-4 "Air Eagle" and A-1 "Air Raider" participated in thisAir strikeRF-8A is responsible for providing reconnaissance support.In the battle, a "Eagle in the Air" was shot down and the pilot was captured;An "air raider" was destroyed and the pilot was killed[4][15]。
F-8 fighter shot down several multi type MiG fighters in the Vietnam air battle[16]。
French equipment
TF-8A showed outstanding performance at the Paris Air Show in 1962. French naval aviation decided to purchase 42 F-8Es (FN) for 65 million dollars as their new aircraft carrier, Clemenceau class carrier fighters.To be used on a smaller French aircraft carrier, the crusaders had to go through some improvements before emigrating, including changing the flaps and ailerons to the double slit form, reducing the lower dihedral angle of the wings by 2 degrees, slightly increasing the tail wings, and adding a blowing flap device that uses the high pressure air flow of the engine to blow off the flap boundary layer, greatly improving the low-speed performance of the aircraft,The radar system has also been changed to AN/APQ-104 (APQ-94 with enlarged antenna size).These improvements were tested on an F-8D, which unfortunately crashed two months after the modification.In July 1954, the first F-8E (FN) flew successfully, and the remaining test items were completed.
On October 5, 1964, the first F-8E (FN) was delivered to CNOOC France, and since then 41 have been delivered successively, equipped with aircraft carriers Clemenceau and Fuxi.F-8E (FN) uses domestic Matra R530/R550 missiles.Before the entry into service of the new Rafale fighter, France planned to order F/A-18 to replace the old F-8E (FN), but this was not implemented due to unanimous domestic opposition, so at the end of 1994, 17 F-8E (FN) were upgraded and their life was extended. The measures include: strengthening the structure, reforming the control hydraulic circuit, replacing the new ejection seat, replacing the Sherloc of Thomson CSFRadar warning receiver, installation of gyroscopic navigation equipment of Phantom F1, modification of cockpit instrument layout, etc.The modified aircraft also got the F-8P number. They were the oldest crusaders until 1999[17]。
"Crusader" French Navy Shark Mouth in 1999
Overall evaluation
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The F-8 fighter is the first generation supersonic carrier based fighter developed to meet the requirements of the US Navy, which uses air guns as the main combat weapon. The aircraft has been recognized by the US Navy for its outstanding performance, and has made outstanding achievements in the subsequent Vietnam War, thus earning the nickname of "Mig Killer" and "Air Gun Terminator".However, the F-8 gradually faded out of the battlefield after the US military equipped the F-4 fighter[18]。
American pilots have a good evaluation of the F-8 fighter, believing that it is a fighter with fast speed, strong climb and good maneuverability.The ground crew also had a good impression of the F-8 because it was simple and maintainable.The F-8 is also the last fighter aircraft of the US Navy that uses machine guns as its main weapon. It will not be helpless against the MiG aircraft under its nose like the early F-4. The Sidewinder missile has given it a longer attack range. Although its performance is unsatisfactory, it is still better than the Sparrow missile at that time. Most of the F-8 achievements were shot down by missiles.
Everything has two sides, and the F-8 is not perfect.For example, the failure rate of F-8 artillery is particularly high, resulting in the loss of "cooked ducks" for many times, which has a great impact on the results of the war;For the Essex class aircraft carrier built during World War II, the aircraft is still a bit too big and too fast, and it is easy to miss the blocking rope or fall on the deck if the approach speed is not mastered properly;Moreover, because the landing gear is very short, the engine wake often sweeps across the flight deck, and the personnel on the deck will be blown over if they are not careful.In addition, the engine, landing gear and hydraulic system of the crusaders are quite unreliable. Their accident rate is 2 to 3 times that of the F-4 and 4 times that of the F-14. Twenty five of France's 42 F-8 aircraft were accidentally damaged[17]。（Comment on Famous Machines, Sina Online Review）
