I took quality programs like this for granted, it never occurred to me we’d get pure garbage in its place. Very grateful you posted some here. Thank you.
@@mikesmith-wk7vy I’ve seen a Super Hornet do some insane things many won’t believe but, it won’t replace the love and respect for the Tomcat, they should’ve gone through with the upgrade for at least a dozen or so to keep on hand, relying on one platform always has its weaknesses even if we can’t see them.
All programming now a days is garbage, it’s all sexually geared an forget Netflix, that shit only caters to child sexualization. Gimme classic history channel,and anything military history before the name change.
@@echohunter4199 true , and yes the f18 uses a lift fuselage design as well just not with the variable sweep wings helping as well . so it can do fun stuff too
This was one of my favorite episodes of Wings on Discovery Channel. I loved the F-8 Crusader as a kid, even though it was before my time. It was second only to the mighty F-14 Tomcat.
Memories-beautiful sleek airplane, My first cruise was with VFP-63 Det 38 on the USS Shangri La, CVS 38 with the RF8G. Second cruise with VF-191 on the Oriskany Easy plane to work on. Then transfered to the EA-6B Electronic warefare aircraft for the next 16 years. USN Retired ss S hangri La
A wonderful documentary coverage about F-8 Crusader& super crusader aircrafts of US Airforce during early phase of Vietnam 🇻🇳 conflict 1964 ...video clearly explained all characteristics of that rarely known aircraft....Mike Guardia channel always selecting Excellent documentaries thanks for sharing
I know it's nitpicking, but they really should have a gunship as the thumbnail and not a photo bird. The only thing an RF-8 shoots is pictures. I was a Marine F-8 Plane Captain, 1973-75 before I was transferred to the FMF. I was fresh out of training as an A-4/A-6 Power Plants mechanic and wound up on the active duty staff at the Marine Air Reserve unit at NAS Atlanta (Marietta) on F-8s. Loved every minute of it. One item that doesn't get any press, with the ammo compartments empty (big and deep, right behind cockpit), they could carry right around 20 cases of beer. A favorite cross-country destination was Tinker AFB, OK, which at the time was the furthest east you could get Coors beer, then a cult drink in the east. I worked night crew and returning cross-countries from Friday would roll in Sunday evening with cold Coors on board.
The British tamed the Corsair regarding carrier landings. Passed on the method to the American Navy. I believe “Winkle Brown” was involved in figuring out how to safely land the big fighter.
W I N G S Discovery Channel back in the day wow the best of the best now some girl want's to fix my plumbing and help me plant a tree paint my bathroom or some useless thing that most people can do with there eyes closed thanks Discovery Channel
In fact, for a plane called "the last gunfighter," The F-8 only had two gun kills. All of the rest were Sidewinder kills. The F-105 on the other hand, had 25 gun kills. The F-8 was not designed to use the 20mm cannon as its primary weapon, it was designed to use the AIM-9D. The F-105 on the other hand, was not originally equipped with Sidewinders, and depended on its 20mm Vulcan for dogfighting. If you don't use your gun to fight, I don't think it is fair to call you a gunfighter. The F-105 should really get that credit. It used its gun for almost all of its kills and it had more gun kills than all of the kills done by the F8, which again, only had two gun kills.
@shenmisheshou7002 But the 105 was deployed in more campaigns for longer periods over more active MiG territories than the F8 (God bless it) so there is some selection bias.
The most LBJ I ever head was when he ordered logistical bombers to always leave one route open so that supplies could never be disrupted; apparently not understanding the aim of logistical bombing
Doesn't have flaps is a bit of a misnomer. It did not have dedicated independent flaps, but in the landing configuration the ailerons are re-positioned downward to cause the same effect as deploying flaps.
"When you introduced it"? You? Lmao you say that like the person narrating this television show is the person that uploaded it..slightly odd way to say what you said...🤣
the f8 should have been the primary fighter the Navy used against Migs , it was just a far better dogfighter and it could sill use Aim 9 missiles. and the airforce should have used the f100 and f104 to combat the Migs , using the big multi role f4 and f105 were a bad idea against the Migs especially in the early years
I don't get how the F8U3 could have worked off the carrier when those lower fins are folded , and the F8U2 had already demonstrated a need for fins for cat shots.
Those aren't flaps ... they're ailerons. As the entire wing morphs for takeoff and landing, they act as a pseudo 'flaperon' ... but with the wing locked down, they are the only ailerons. The trailing edge of the wing, from the hinge point outboard, have no ailerons. ^v^
So your screen shot for "the Last Gun Fighter" is of a RF8 which had no guns or missiles. It did however have the high speed cameras that proved the Russians has nucellar missiles in Cuba
and that is the number one issue with out airforces . the pure fighters are gone , the multirole "jack of all master of none" is a foolish concept . the f22 is the only pure fighter left since the f14 retirement and even its being fazed out
nope both f14 was giving ground attack in its last 8 years and f22 from the start could carry and use bombs the fact is that the fighter becomes useless once you own the air space ( THIS WHY all planes must carry some kind of ground attack role ) not that have have to be great at it but it cost of war as 25,000 almost useless fighters that sweep the sky of aircraft now set on the bench and watch there Fat brothers drop bombs
@@billdavis1483 yea I know you make a point but air to air are their primary role the f14 was not very accurate with bombs and the f22 can only carry 2 and that’s all good enough when you have f15s and f35s that are more bomber than fighter the roles compliment big giving up on the good fighters was a mistake . The f104 also struggled with bombs but was a really good fighter
It's not a foolish concept. It's a concept that, in the era of modern warfare, is probably for the best. Ya see, there's these things called MONEY and MAINTENANCE that has to be taken into account when it comes to military equipment. Multi-role capability is more logistically sound and its cheaper. For Navy and Marine aircraft on carriers, in which sortie-rate is something which is more important than land based Air force aircraft, maintenance requirements and cost matter. Listen, I love the Crusader but the era of dedicated fighters are gone. We have the technology for our aircraft to do everything without really sacrificing much capability. It's much more efficient in all aspects.
Those aren't flaps ... they're ailerons. As the entire wing morphs for takeoff and landing, they act as a pseudo 'flaperon' ... but with the wing locked down, they are the only ailerons. The trailing edge of the wing, from the hinge point outboard, have no ailerons. ^v^
The F-8 made _only two gun kills_ . *All of the rest were Sidewinder kills* . The primary weapon for the F-8 was missiles. It was designed as a missile fighter and the 20mm gun was a secondary weapon. To call it the last gunfighter has the connotation that this is what it was designed to do, and it wasn't. (The 20mm gun was known to be very unreliable, often jamming in higher than 1g maneuvers. ) The F-8 was designed and intended to engage air combatants with Sidewinders and except in two instances, it was missiles that deserve the credit for the kill. One of the credited shoot downs occurred when a US pilot got behind a MIG with the pilot not seeing him. That really isn't much of a dogfight.
No one will ever convince me otherwise. LBJ and the CIA killed Kennedy. Also I like this aircraft. If I was a pilot in Vietnam. I still think I'd want the Phantom. I would want to later model fan with a Canon. They called us aircraft the last of the gunfighters. In reality later models of the Phantom had a Canon. Also every aircraft today is equipped with a Canon.
hush someone might hear ya when you say cia dont cap dont know why they would but LBJ = POS and yes he is just the kind of lowlife azzhole that ends up killing 3 to 6 mil + people not really a whole lot better then hitler made a bunch guys killers and costing us and world tax payers Billons with B
@@damonstewart70 so I see you're just another communist sympathizer who hates American jet fighters! They didn't have Mig 29s or SU-27s back then, dummy!
Not really its similar to a Mig21 in performance. any plane with fly by wire, and modern excessive thrust + unstable aerodynamics design will beat it every time.. its a Gen 3 most Gen 4 and defo all Gen 5 will run circiles around it. Just look at the F14 that replaced it.. the F14 had 3 times the climb rate that the F8 had. Carried a much more reliable gun, obvious better radar and avionics.. and it had much better turn rate at any altitude than the F8 had.
Not really. Aerodynamically, sure. I mean, we have proof of that in the Air Battle of Desert Storm. French Crusaders went up against Iraqi MiG-29s. However, in terms of technology, avionics, engine strength, and stealth, not so much.
I took quality programs like this for granted, it never occurred to me we’d get pure garbage in its place. Very grateful you posted some here. Thank you.
yep the f4 was nothing in comparison against Migs
yes but the f14 made up for it , at least from the navy's view . the hornet and super hornet were a bit disappointing
@@mikesmith-wk7vy I’ve seen a Super Hornet do some insane things many won’t believe but, it won’t replace the love and respect for the Tomcat, they should’ve gone through with the upgrade for at least a dozen or so to keep on hand, relying on one platform always has its weaknesses even if we can’t see them.
All programming now a days is garbage, it’s all sexually geared an forget Netflix, that shit only caters to child sexualization. Gimme classic history channel,and anything military history before the name change.
@@echohunter4199 true , and yes the f18 uses a lift fuselage design as well just not with the variable sweep wings helping as well . so it can do fun stuff too
This was one of my favorite episodes of Wings on Discovery Channel.
I loved the F-8 Crusader as a kid, even though it was before my time. It was second only to the mighty F-14 Tomcat.
We had F4s on the Saratoga in 1972. I heard about the F8s and became a big fan of both birds.
Used to watch all these shows on the Discovery Channel back in the day. Like the intro music.
Memories-beautiful sleek airplane, My first cruise was with VFP-63 Det 38 on the USS
Shangri La, CVS 38 with the RF8G. Second cruise with VF-191 on the Oriskany Easy plane to work on. Then transfered to the EA-6B Electronic warefare aircraft for the next 16 years. USN Retired
ss S hangri La
A wonderful documentary coverage about F-8 Crusader& super crusader aircrafts of US Airforce during early phase of Vietnam 🇻🇳 conflict 1964 ...video clearly explained all characteristics of that rarely known aircraft....Mike Guardia channel always selecting Excellent documentaries thanks for sharing
Man in the late 1950s and 1960s air technology was moving so fast its insane.
Very informative video about the beginning of the Vietnam War and this critical aircraft. Thank you for educating us here.
This! This the stuff I miss from TV channels like Discovery, A&E, and History.
I know it's nitpicking, but they really should have a gunship as the thumbnail and not a photo bird. The only thing an RF-8 shoots is pictures.
I was a Marine F-8 Plane Captain, 1973-75 before I was transferred to the FMF. I was fresh out of training as an A-4/A-6 Power Plants mechanic and wound up on the active duty staff at the Marine Air Reserve unit at NAS Atlanta (Marietta) on F-8s. Loved every minute of it. One item that doesn't get any press, with the ammo compartments empty (big and deep, right behind cockpit), they could carry right around 20 cases of beer. A favorite cross-country destination was Tinker AFB, OK, which at the time was the furthest east you could get Coors beer, then a cult drink in the east. I worked night crew and returning cross-countries from Friday would roll in Sunday evening with cold Coors on board.
It is nit-picking. You probably forgot about the thumbnail immediately after writing a comment complaining about it.
The British tamed the Corsair regarding carrier landings. Passed on the method to the American Navy. I believe “Winkle Brown” was involved in figuring out how to safely land the big fighter.
Loved The Crusader ! It was pure offense , no questions ! --------MJL, 76 y/o
One of my fighters. If I was given the option to fly either the Phantom or Crusader, give me the Crusader.
what squadron?
"Last of the Gunfighters" - Ironically, the thumbnail for this video shows a gunless photo reconnaissance RF-8 Crusader. 😄
W I N G S Discovery Channel back in the day wow the best of the best now some girl want's to fix my plumbing and help me plant a tree paint my bathroom or some useless thing that most people can do with there eyes closed thanks Discovery Channel
F8 was also responsible for the only Air to Ground Sidewinder kill , on a steam locomotive.
In fact, for a plane called "the last gunfighter," The F-8 only had two gun kills. All of the rest were Sidewinder kills. The F-105 on the other hand, had 25 gun kills. The F-8 was not designed to use the 20mm cannon as its primary weapon, it was designed to use the AIM-9D. The F-105 on the other hand, was not originally equipped with Sidewinders, and depended on its 20mm Vulcan for dogfighting. If you don't use your gun to fight, I don't think it is fair to call you a gunfighter. The F-105 should really get that credit. It used its gun for almost all of its kills and it had more gun kills than all of the kills done by the F8, which again, only had two gun kills.
@shenmisheshou7002 But the 105 was deployed in more campaigns for longer periods over more active MiG territories than the F8 (God bless it) so there is some selection bias.
VFP-63 was on the nimitz and the name on the plane was " Soup Camblel"
the F8 was a tits machine ! And those flying it were some of the best and boisterous pilots post Vietnam
French navy.
Lyndon Johnson...talked like a tough Texan...but handcuffed our troops with his restraint rules just like a good little Pinko.
The most LBJ I ever head was when he ordered logistical bombers to always leave one route open so that supplies could never be disrupted; apparently not understanding the aim of logistical bombing
Cool plane! ✈️👍
Doesn't have flaps is a bit of a misnomer. It did not have dedicated independent flaps, but in the landing configuration the ailerons are re-positioned downward to cause the same effect as deploying flaps.
Flaperons.
17:15 I lol'd when you introduced the F7U "Gutless". I never heard of it. Thanks.
Gutless Cutlass is a very well known nickname , its in any book that mentions the F7U
"When you introduced it"? You? Lmao you say that like the person narrating this television show is the person that uploaded it..slightly odd way to say what you said...🤣
They should have went on to.produce the Crusader F-8 III! That aircraft would have the best out there even better than the F-4
Sure hope Johnson and mcnamara brought sun screen for hell. Gulf of Tonkin was a lie never happened.
the f8 should have been the primary fighter the Navy used against Migs , it was just a far better dogfighter and it could sill use Aim 9 missiles. and the airforce should have used the f100 and f104 to combat the Migs , using the big multi role f4 and f105 were a bad idea against the Migs especially in the early years
I don't get how the F8U3 could have worked off the carrier when those lower fins are folded , and the F8U2 had already demonstrated a need for fins for cat shots.
Rf8 g photo crusader ....boy can they climb out fast we flew them until they switched out to tomcat f14 photopods
"This a/c has no flaps!". Movie shows Wing rising, flap dropping and even slats...
Those aren't flaps ... they're ailerons. As the entire wing morphs for takeoff and landing, they act as a pseudo 'flaperon' ... but with the wing locked down, they are the only ailerons. The trailing edge of the wing, from the hinge point outboard, have no ailerons. ^v^
So your screen shot for "the Last Gun Fighter" is of a RF8 which had no guns or missiles. It did however have the high speed cameras that proved the Russians has nucellar missiles in Cuba
Unarmed, and unafraid!
Loved the odd look of this beast. The f4is my absolute favorite but the look of this jet always intrigued me.
the navy took the ground in the rivalry but by that time the f104 was out and it was even faster than the f8
Just speed -
The F-104 is literally the definition of dedicated interceptor. It is fast but that thing is a brick. It doesn't turn well at all.
@@taiwandxt6493 it was an unstable aircraft so if you knew how to it could be very agile . i think 1/4 flaps would let it turn hard
what U2 was lost over cuba???
Best prestrike .strike and post strike photo birds especially shooting oblique angle pictures
holy 2003 batman
and that is the number one issue with out airforces . the pure fighters are gone , the multirole "jack of all master of none" is a foolish concept . the f22 is the only pure fighter left since the f14 retirement and even its being fazed out
nope both f14 was giving ground attack in its last 8 years and f22 from the start could carry and use bombs the fact is that the fighter becomes useless once you own the air space ( THIS WHY all planes must carry some kind of ground attack role ) not that have have to be great at it but it cost of war as 25,000 almost useless fighters that sweep the sky of aircraft now set on the bench and watch there Fat brothers drop bombs
@@billdavis1483 yea I know you make a point but air to air are their primary role the f14 was not very accurate with bombs and the f22 can only carry 2 and that’s all good enough when you have f15s and f35s that are more bomber than fighter the roles compliment big giving up on the good fighters was a mistake . The f104 also struggled with bombs but was a really good fighter
It's not a foolish concept. It's a concept that, in the era of modern warfare, is probably for the best. Ya see, there's these things called MONEY and MAINTENANCE that has to be taken into account when it comes to military equipment. Multi-role capability is more logistically sound and its cheaper. For Navy and Marine aircraft on carriers, in which sortie-rate is something which is more important than land based Air force aircraft, maintenance requirements and cost matter.
Listen, I love the Crusader but the era of dedicated fighters are gone. We have the technology for our aircraft to do everything without really sacrificing much capability. It's much more efficient in all aspects.
@6.15 'this wing has no flaps' cuts to a shot of it lowering flaps
Those aren't flaps ... they're ailerons. As the entire wing morphs for takeoff and landing, they act as a pseudo 'flaperon' ... but with the wing locked down, they are the only ailerons. The trailing edge of the wing, from the hinge point outboard, have no ailerons. ^v^
👍👍👍👊👊
Theo Việt Nam gọi là đầu cá chép F8U
The F-8 made _only two gun kills_ . *All of the rest were Sidewinder kills* . The primary weapon for the F-8 was missiles. It was designed as a missile fighter and the 20mm gun was a secondary weapon. To call it the last gunfighter has the connotation that this is what it was designed to do, and it wasn't. (The 20mm gun was known to be very unreliable, often jamming in higher than 1g maneuvers. ) The F-8 was designed and intended to engage air combatants with Sidewinders and except in two instances, it was missiles that deserve the credit for the kill. One of the credited shoot downs occurred when a US pilot got behind a MIG with the pilot not seeing him. That really isn't much of a dogfight.
No one will ever convince me otherwise. LBJ and the CIA killed Kennedy. Also I like this aircraft. If I was a pilot in Vietnam. I still think I'd want the Phantom. I would want to later model fan with a Canon. They called us aircraft the last of the gunfighters. In reality later models of the Phantom had a Canon. Also every aircraft today is equipped with a Canon.
I learned to spell CANNON & a bunch of other 2 syllable words in grammar school. Guess you were absent the day they taught spelling; correct?
Cannon - explosive ammunition !
@@dareisnogod5711 it might be a photo recon ? lmao
hush someone might hear ya when you say cia dont cap dont know why they would but LBJ = POS and yes he is just the kind of lowlife azzhole that ends up killing 3 to 6 mil + people not really a whole lot better then hitler made a bunch guys killers and costing us and world tax payers Billons with B
Lol @@billdavis1483
major Generals DONT land on carriers
Yes they do if their a marine pilot enough said
That plane would be competitive, even today.
Not to sure.
Not against a mig-29 or su-27
@@damonstewart70 so I see you're just another communist sympathizer who hates American jet fighters! They didn't have Mig 29s or SU-27s back then, dummy!
Not really its similar to a Mig21 in performance. any plane with fly by wire, and modern excessive thrust + unstable aerodynamics design will beat it every time.. its a Gen 3 most Gen 4 and defo all Gen 5 will run circiles around it.
Just look at the F14 that replaced it.. the F14 had 3 times the climb rate that the F8 had.
Carried a much more reliable gun, obvious better radar and avionics.. and it had much better turn rate at any altitude than the F8 had.
Not really. Aerodynamically, sure. I mean, we have proof of that in the Air Battle of Desert Storm. French Crusaders went up against Iraqi MiG-29s. However, in terms of technology, avionics, engine strength, and stealth, not so much.
I'll take the pilots word about quality and reliability, but the Crusader had to be the ugliest fighter the US has ever built....
IMO anyway...
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, ig.
Ugliest? Are you serious? It's a beauty with a exceptionnal flight line, and the music of the J57 ...
Rf8g j 57 rummblers