F 8 Crusader | The Last American Gunfighter | Supersonic, Air Superiority Jet Aircraft

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ต.ค. 2024

ความคิดเห็น • 78

  • @Dronescapes
    @Dronescapes  ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Click the link to watch more aircraft, heroes and their stories, missions: www.youtube.com/@Dronescapes

  • @warshipsdd-2142
    @warshipsdd-2142 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    The opening shot shows a RF-8P, the photo recon version of the Crusader. Worthy of note about this bird- 1) It was an unarmed aircraft designed for photo missions. 2) It was used by USMC Col John Glenn when he set the trans-continental speed record, and 3) Navy and Marine pilots (from my squadron VMCJ-2) flew them over CUBA in the 1960s to locate Russian Missiles. A little over a year later the RF-4B started replacing the RF-8--we flew both birds for a while after that alond with the EA-5B and the aged EF-10B.

  • @richardparker644
    @richardparker644 ปีที่แล้ว +40

    My dad did 374 combat missions into north Vietnam, in a F-8 Crusader, with 3 confirmed mig kills, air to air. Over 3000 hours in that plane. Last of the " GUN FIGHTERS" and LAST of the True " BADASSES" dad's call sign, "COBRA" DAMN I MISS MY DAD!!!

    • @Dronescapes
      @Dronescapes  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thank you for your dad's service Richard

    • @shawnradcliffe701
      @shawnradcliffe701 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@Dronescapes Thank you for your father's service I s

    • @shenmisheshou7002
      @shenmisheshou7002 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      I doubt that your dad's kills were done with guns. During Vietnam, the F8 only scored two victories using guns. All of the rest were Sidewinder kills. The F8 was not designed to be a "Gunfighter," it was designed to use missiles as the primary armament and as the combat record shows, it only used guns successfully twice, and one of those was a bit of luck, where the pilot happen to find himself behind a MIG that did not realize the F8 was even there. Not to take away from your Dad's record, but the point is that the F8 was not really a gunfighter. It was a modern fighter that happened to have a gun as its secondary weapon.

    • @richardparker644
      @richardparker644 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@shenmisheshou7002 and your dad spent the war in Canada??
      My Dad did 3 combat tours, and was an instructor at TOP GUN.
      So , your hate , cuz you're not proud of your dad, huh, means absolutely nothing to me.
      As for the rest of my family, we made it possible for you to be a Douche Bag. Have a nice fucking day

    • @elbugie345
      @elbugie345 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Brother, I think your dad for his service. And I thank you for Sharing.

  • @grayharker6271
    @grayharker6271 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    In 1980 I had the "Door" position jumping in to Ft Polk with the 82nd abn. When they opened the door of the 141 starlifter I was on, just off our wing tip was a crusader escorting us.The pilot gave me a thumbs up, the green light came on and I jumped!

  • @elijahhodges4405
    @elijahhodges4405 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    F-8 Crusader was unbeatable. We never lost one on the USS Ranger while I was there. They always landed perfectly aboard. They never dipped toward the ocean when launching. I loved the F-8 until I rode in the back seat of an F-14 Tomcat.

    • @christmasisawesome9348
      @christmasisawesome9348 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      F14 is obviously better. The question is... which one is more sexy?

  • @weavethehawk
    @weavethehawk 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    The Crusader F8 is my favourite aircraft to watch.That rising wing is incredible.

  • @joemoore4027
    @joemoore4027 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    We had RF-8's on the USS Constellation back in the 1970's ( VFP-63 ) and our shop was just below the catapult and when they called out "launching RF8 " we would hold onto our coffee cups because when the plane lit it's single stage afterburner it was like a cannon going off. It was a very fast aircraft and once in awhile would do high speed runs past the carrier. it would outrun our F-14's with no trouble. Beautiful aircraft to see flying.

  • @Not_A_Cat
    @Not_A_Cat ปีที่แล้ว +8

    The carrier pilots in 'Nam used to say "when your out of F8s, you're out of fighters."
    It was also "the last gunfighter," as F4 didn't have a gun originally.

  • @Idahoguy10157
    @Idahoguy10157 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Knew a navy pilot who flew the F-8 Crusader. But his favorite was the A-4 Skyhawk. Got the impression he didn’t like flying the F-8

  • @terryboyer1342
    @terryboyer1342 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I've heard many F-8 pilots say that in the air the wing doesn't raise but rather the fuselage is lowered.

  • @tnesp
    @tnesp ปีที่แล้ว +7

    17:03 The F7U Cutlass had a surprisingly modern profile for the time.

    • @dennyliegerot4021
      @dennyliegerot4021 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      It's a shame the F7U never received the engines it was designed to have.... Not being afraid to try something different was a cool aspect of Vought.

  • @Mysucculentchinesemeal
    @Mysucculentchinesemeal ปีที่แล้ว +8

    That officer in the video described the military in wartime perfectly.

  • @Me2Lancer
    @Me2Lancer 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Early in 1968 I worked at LTV Aerospace, the successor of Chance Vought. While serving in the Navy I worked on electronic measures systems. At the time, LTV had a contract to refurbish F-8 Crusaders. These aircraft had a sizeable number of ECM systems, so I was hired to repair and replace the electronic counter measure systems. The F8 was an amazing and powerful aircraft.

  • @rogerrinkavage
    @rogerrinkavage 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    The f8 was my favorite fighter growing up and i couldn't remember why. Thanks! I'm a big fan of the channel

  • @duartesimoes508
    @duartesimoes508 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    The most beautiful aircraft ever made!
    Now, one question: we all know that there were cases of Crusaders being launched with their wings folded. In every case I know, the pilot managed to maintain the aircraft airborne and identify the situation. What I never found out was what happened later. The wings could not be extended in flight. Were these pilots able to land with wings folded, at an obscene airspeed, or in every case they had to eject? The outcome is never told...

    • @duartesimoes508
      @duartesimoes508 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      ...and I had the privilege of seating on one of them! As student from the French School Charles Lepierre in Lisbon, I visited the French carrier Clemenceau that at the time - 1979 - was equipped with beautiful light grey and white - much later overall dark blue - F-8E (FN) Crusaders, brand new Super Etendard, Etendard IV M, Super Alizée and All III. But the Crusader was by far the largest and most impressive. Apart from his fixed armament she carried a pair of MATRA 530 air to air missiles, where normally the sidewinders would be hung. But the AIM-9 was known to be a better missile.
      In 1981 the Portuguese Air Force started receiving the Vought A-7P Corsair II, also a beautiful, impressive and very effective aircraft that everybody loved. The last were phased out in 1999. The Alpha Jets in 2018. Nowadays we just have a small number of F-16, little more than 20, 20 others were sold to Romania...

  • @CynthiaSchoenbauer
    @CynthiaSchoenbauer ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Is this related to the F86 that my father used to fly out of cadet school in the US Air Force?? I think he was flying in 1955 when my older brother was born. This takes me right back into my personal history!

    • @Dronescapes
      @Dronescapes  ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Dear Kitty, there are many differences. For example: In training sessions the F-86 regularly beat the F-8 Crusader in dogfighting practices. The F-86 was made by North American and the F-8 by Vought, a different manufacturer. the F-8 was supersonic, the F-86 was not. Their first flight was 10 year apart (F-86 was in 1947). There are many, many other differences between the two aircraft. This said, thank you for sharing your memories and thank you for your father's service.

    • @davidkoloc1313
      @davidkoloc1313 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Hi Kitty, The USAF F-86 Saber preceded the F-8 Crusader by several years, having been used very successfully during the Korean War. The Navy flew a carrier based version of the F-86 which it designated the FJ-4 Fury but it’s tenure as a fleet based aircraft was rather short lived. If your dad was learning to fly USAF jets in 1955, It’s likely his primary flight (propeller) training was in some of the last T-6 Texans used and his jet training was in the 2 seat version of Lockheed ‘s F-80 Shooting Star known as the T-33. I’m curious where you were living when your dad was learning to fly jets?

  • @crusader5989
    @crusader5989 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I asked for this. Thanks a lot!👍🏻

  • @garyleibitzke4166
    @garyleibitzke4166 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    We used to jokingly refer to the F-8 as a "Lowrider A-7".

    • @Dronescapes
      @Dronescapes  ปีที่แล้ว +4

      🙂

    • @narusawa74
      @narusawa74 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      So how much of engineering is similar between the corsair 1 and 2 and the crusader? They are made by Vaught, looks the same and use the same rising wing. In your Corsair video I don't remember you mentioning an evolution of it to the Crusader. And the Corsair 2 didn't keep the special wing. So 2 different planes or the A8 is the replacement of the F7?

    • @goldenshark3182
      @goldenshark3182 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@narusawa74F-4U Corsair was a carrier prop fighter designed in the 1940’s. F-8 Crusader was a carrier jet fighter designed in the 1950’s. A-7 Corsair II was a carrier attack jet designed in the 1960’s and based off the F-8 Crusader’s design, but was much slower and fatter than the sleeker F-8 which had an afterburner.

  • @JorgeReyGMartinez
    @JorgeReyGMartinez 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    40:27 Looks like one of 35 aircrafts for delivery the to the Philippine Air Force.
    The Philippine government purchased 35 secondhand U.S. Navy F-8Hs that had been stored at Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona.
    25 of them were refurbished by Vought while the remaining ten were used for spare parts
    It was July 1978, when 18 pilots from the PAF 5th fighter wing started their training in Vought Corp Dallas Texas.
    Aircraft deliveries began by 1978 and was completed by 1979.
    The Crusaders were manned by the 7th Tactical Fighter Squadron stationed at Basa Air Base and were mostly employed for intercepting Soviet bombers.
    The F-8H Crusaders was in operation with the PAF for for about 10 years.
    By 1987, its operational/availability rate had plummeted to only twelve (12) airframes, where eight (8) are fully mission capable at any time, and the others are set aside for spare parts.
    By January 1988, the F-8Hs were grounded and then decomisioned after the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo erruption irreparably damaged the remaining operational air frames while in open air storage in a grassy field at Basa Air Force Base.
    Subsequently, some of the airframes were sold and refurbished for use as props in the 2000 movie "Thirteen Days", a dramatization of the Cuban Missile Crisis, to depict the real-life RF-8As involved in the low-level photo reconnaissance missions that obtained photos of Soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba.

  • @AntonioAlentado
    @AntonioAlentado 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Realmente en su tiempo el F-8 fue un caza con muy buenas posibilidades durante el combate aereo, y así lo demostró durante el conflicto en Viet Nam. 👍🛩️

  • @tkskagen
    @tkskagen ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Most beautiful aircraft of the 1960's!
    Too bad that this Aircraft is forgotten/dismissed...

  • @Ratkwad
    @Ratkwad 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    That vet pilot seems like a total badass

  • @Mysucculentchinesemeal
    @Mysucculentchinesemeal ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I didn’t realize these were so huge! That thing looks bigger than a Tomcat.

  • @Jason_The_Man
    @Jason_The_Man ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Great airplane! Great story.

  • @krugmeister7301
    @krugmeister7301 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The F8 cousin A7 CORSAIR was the REAL DEAL..

  • @shenmisheshou7002
    @shenmisheshou7002 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    *The F8 only shot down two planes using guns* . All of the rest of the kills were done with AIM-9 Sidewinders. The plane was always intended to use missiles as the primary weapon and the 20mm cannon a secondary weapon. The 20mm cannon was notorious for jamming at anything over 1g. The F8 wasn't a gunfighter, it was a fighter that was designed for ariel combat using missiles, and all but two of its kills in Vietnam were Sidewinder kills. It had a gun, but that does not make it a "Gunfighter."

  • @tkskagen
    @tkskagen ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Such a "Beautifully Simple" Bada@@ (sensored) Fighter long forgotten by most!

  • @thomasharroun8068
    @thomasharroun8068 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    On November 19, 1964, A black triangle shaped UFO left US fighter jet ‘hopelessly outclassed: Lieutenant Kyle H. Woodbury, spotted the mysterious black triangle in his F8 . He then flew his F-8 Crusader at airspeeds of about 1,200mph in an attempt to intercept. The object then accelerated to more than 4000 mph and outclassed the F8. True Story

    • @Dronescapes
      @Dronescapes  ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Probably some experiment by skunk Works :) The confirmed speed was around 1700 mhp and reports of 3,800 mph were never officially confirmed. It could have been something similar to a Lockheed D-21 drone.

    • @davidkoloc1313
      @davidkoloc1313 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Doesn’t surprise me one bit. Especially given NAVY/USMC new alerts and directives around such phenomena. They’ve obviously known about such craft for about a century now.
      My dad, Cdr. Bohumil Koloc was a career Naval aviator (30 years/3 wars). He, two other Naval Officers and 5 Marines witnessed/experienced an UFO during an impromptu cross country jaunt between NAS Quonset Point and NAS Twin Cities. It was 1964 and I remember it being this exact time of year as one of the reasons for the jaunt was to bring back several tins of live lobster for Thanksgiving dinners. They were in a (7E) Lockheed P2V Neptune, at night, about 4,000 feet above Lake Michigan when the encounter occurred. Their radio went dead as did their radar and all navigational and surveillance gear aboard. The object maintained a static distance directly above them, perpendicularly relative to the horizontal plane of the Neptunes’s wing regardless of the (slow, meandering, overt) maneuvers, changes in attitude or flight path which were executed to better determine the craft’s identity, capabilities or intent. The whole while, brilliant light emitted from the object obscured it’s shape. This continued for several minutes until the craft disappeared instantly 90 degrees to the north and over the horizon. My dad and his co-pilot both had mild ‘sunburns’ on exposed areas of skin from the light this craft projected into the Lockheed’s cockpit. This despite being cast through the inch and a half thick, green, (essentially welding grade) protective glass of the convex, overhead observation ports above each ‘place’ in the cockpit. It created quite a buzz around the base for a time but all involved were simply instructed to avoid discussing the event publicly.

  • @donf3877
    @donf3877 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    The politicians did not learn their lesson in Korea. The politicians did not learn their lesson in Vietnam. And, after another 20 fricking year long "conflict", they STILL have not learned their lesson. The "lesson" being... it is IMPOSSIBLE to win a LIMITED war. So... EVERY soldier, sailor, airman, and marine; that has died in combat since World War II... has been for NOTHING. Either give them twice the personnel they need, and three times the equipment they need, to go ALL IN AND WIN... or keep them the hell HOME. Signed... ten year vet of the Air Force.

    • @Dronescapes
      @Dronescapes  ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Wow. Thanks for your service Don

  • @signorpippistrello
    @signorpippistrello ปีที่แล้ว +2

    2:45 Hey, there’s John McCaine!

  • @michaeldenesyk3195
    @michaeldenesyk3195 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Ironically, the majority of its MiG kills were made with its sidewinder missiles, this was because the ammunition feed mechanism for the 20 mm guns would break.

    • @taiwandxt6493
      @taiwandxt6493 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

      the guns were susceptible to high g maneuvers which dominated the dogfights over Vietnam, hence the tendency of jamming.

  • @researcher4good
    @researcher4good ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you for making this video. :)

  • @oldmike7239
    @oldmike7239 ปีที่แล้ว

    When I was in, way back when, this plane was known as an “Ensign Eater”; very difficult to land on a rolling deck. But then, anyone trying to land on a rolling deck would find it difficult.

  • @MililaniJag
    @MililaniJag ปีที่แล้ว +1

    @02:45 Sen. John McCain lower right. Cheers!

  • @tkskagen
    @tkskagen ปีที่แล้ว

    I'd like to see a video of the Skyhawk and Avenger within the "constraints" of the Vietnam Conflict...

  • @mikeybrant6305
    @mikeybrant6305 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    The french had these on her carriers

  • @krugmeister7301
    @krugmeister7301 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I DON'T KNOW WHY The NAVY didn't Install A Canon on the PHANTOM...Just like the F8 had..

    • @taiwandxt6493
      @taiwandxt6493 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      The F8 was the last fighter that was designed with guns as the primary weapon. The F-4's development came after the F-8 was already beginning its service, and aircraft designers believed that guns would be obsolete as more reliable AAMs began to roll off the assembly line. So they left out a cannon to save on weight. McDonnell Douglass did end up making Phantoms with an internal cannon after they realized that guns still had their place in aerial combat.

  • @krugmeister7301
    @krugmeister7301 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The F8 LOOKS like A Great White SHARK...Large And A Mouth to suck it UP!!🤯🤯🤗🤗

  • @umadbro4886
    @umadbro4886 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    looks like john mccaine at @2:44

  • @gort8203
    @gort8203 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I get a kick out of everyone parroting that last gunfighter slogan. The Navy got one fighter without a gun (the F-4), so the F-8 was certainly not the last one with a gun. This was just a catchy slogan the F-8 fighter guys employed to needle the F-4 guys, because there is always strong rivalry in the military, especially within the Navy. And since then generations of fanboys have repeated this slogan as if it has real meaning.
    BTW, most of the F-8 MiG kills in Vietnam were with the AIM-9 missile. I think only one was with its guns, which tended to jam at high G loads. The F-105 bomber had more MiG kills than the F-8, and almost all F-105 kills were with the gun. It killed more MiGs with the gun than any other aircraft of the war.
    Not saying the F-8 was a bad airplane, just saying this slogan is meaningless.

  • @welshparamedic
    @welshparamedic ปีที่แล้ว

    At 14:50 the narrator states that the WW2 US navy Corsairs had diificulties landing, so much so that it was relegated to operating from Land bases untill the Kamikaze attacks by diving Japanease aircraft made ithe US undertake another attempt at carrier ops as nothing else could catch these kamikazes!
    Not strictly true. Yes it's true that the US navy/marines did not operate corsairs initially from carriers as that corsair long nose meant visability was very poor when approaching the carrier. The solution to the corsairs landing problems originated from the Brits, they had smaller carriers then the US but were desperate for a true navy fighter, the spitfire although legendary as a fighter was far to frail to take the vigours of a carrier aircraft so when the opportunity came for the Brits to aquire Corsairs via lend lease, the Brits Jumped at the chance. They pioneered a method of landing the corsair which involved a turning (Banking) descent towards the carrier which with carefull timing would be straightened up at the last moment before 'dropping' onto the deck! This offered near full visabilty all the way to the carrier and that proved very successful for the corsaiir operating as the carrier aircraft it was always meant to be.... some Brit flyers demonstrated it to the US who wholehartedly adopted it as the new way to land corsairs it was NOT the result of Kamikaze attacks meaning the US had another attempt at landing corsairs as the above documentary suggests!

  • @krugmeister7301
    @krugmeister7301 ปีที่แล้ว

    With ALL RESPECT to the U.S.Navy...I still Say that the Phantom was the REAL Mig Killer...I Find the F-8 LARGE and Cumbersome...Like MASSIVE CADILLAC...

  • @AlirezaKarfarma-gd4hu
    @AlirezaKarfarma-gd4hu ปีที่แล้ว

    ❤❤❤

  • @billballbuster7186
    @billballbuster7186 ปีที่แล้ว

    Great looking aircraft but a little unfair to compare the Crusader to the Canberra bomber flying at high level, different generations. The early Crusaders were designed as day fighters and even with the later improved radar it was no match for the all-weather capabilities of the F-4 Phantom. Add to this the multi-role capabilities and twin-engine safety, it was the future.

  • @krugmeister7301
    @krugmeister7301 ปีที่แล้ว

    If Anything the F14 Is THE TOP DOG FIGHTER..BAR NONE!!💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼✊🏻✊🏻✊🏻😑

  • @lawrencewilliams2911
    @lawrencewilliams2911 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    NO MISSION'S NO WAR GOT THAT

  • @krugmeister7301
    @krugmeister7301 ปีที่แล้ว

    TO me the F4 RULES.!😑😑✊🏻✊🏻

  • @subkommander9007
    @subkommander9007 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I think its ugly..but somehow sexy at the same..

  • @cristinaenache9648
    @cristinaenache9648 ปีที่แล้ว

    Garantat, nu_mi trebuia stea pe frunte sau căcat de alama pe ceafa. Și nici miez de.., prin genunchi

  • @bestamerica
    @bestamerica ปีที่แล้ว +1

    '
    come on american company...
    american company can make many more better F-8 to YF-23 airplane fighters

  • @flyingsword135
    @flyingsword135 ปีที่แล้ว

    Tokin Gulf was a lie

  • @reubendobbs8011
    @reubendobbs8011 ปีที่แล้ว

    I really enjoyed that

  • @peasoup2980
    @peasoup2980 ปีที่แล้ว

    “Has no flaps”.
    Two seconds later video footage of flaps AND slats.

    • @tpobrienjr
      @tpobrienjr ปีที่แล้ว

      I have a cockpit checklist made in 1968 - lights up red. LAND 1 WHEELS 2 INCIDENCE 3 HOOK 4 SPEED BK 5 HARNESS. From an F-8.

  • @Impedancenetwork
    @Impedancenetwork ปีที่แล้ว

    That is an absolutely ugly looking aircraft.

    • @jameseast7966
      @jameseast7966 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      It was not made to win a beauty contest. It was made to shoot down soviet and other aircraft, it did pretty good at it.