Then you can probably enlighten me on something I've been wondering for a while:
What's up with the wings on the F8 ? The entire wing section can tilt. Why ? Does it help improve lift during take off ? And act as Airbrake during landing ?
That method of moving the wing up and down was called the "variable-incidence wing," and allowed the wing to pivot up and down vertically by up to 7° on takeoff and landing. What this did for you was to increase the aircraft's angle of attack...and it did so without causing any loss of visibility, because the fuselage remained level. The increased angle of attack resulted in greater lift while taking off and landing. Gave a pilot some flexibility with respect to air speed, angle of attack, and options while landing and taking off.
When I was aboard the USS Hancock (CVA-19) in '74 & '75 we had Crusaders. VF-24 & VF-211. the '75 WESTPAC was the last deployment before those squadrons transitioned to Tomcats.
[video=youtube;URaw5KfFaVI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URaw5KfFaVI[/video]
As is said in the new kid's movie, Croods...
"
I LOVE IT!"
Here's some tidbits of info about the Crusader:
The first F-8 crusaders went into service in 1957. The last active duty F-8E Crusaders were retired from VF-191 and VF-194 aboard USS Oriskany in 1976 after 19 years of service as a front line fighter for the US NAvy, which set a first in terms of longevity to that time for a US Navy fighter.
The US photo reconnaissance variant continued to serve 11 more years, until 1987, with VFP-63, flying RF-8Gs and with the Naval Reserve flying their RF-8s with VFP-306 until 1984 and with VFP-206 until 29 March 1987 when the last operational Crusader was taken out of service by the US. That's 30 years of active duty in the US Military for the aircraft.
The F-8 Crusader is the only aircraft to have used the AIM-9C Sidewinder which was the only radar-guided version of the Sidewinder (which most people are not aware that there even was a radar-guided version of the Sidewinder). When the Crusader retired from US Navy fighter service in 1976, these missiles were converted to the AGM-122 Sidearm anti-radiation missiles that were then used by United States Army attack helicopters to target and destroy enemy radar systems.
But, with its retirement in 1987 from the US, the Crusader's service life was not done yet, and extended on another 13 years.
IN 1964-1965, the French acquired 42 aircraft (the final F-8s produced) for stationing on their two aircraft carriers, the Clemceau and Foch.
The French Navy continuously used and upgraded them from 1964 to the year 2000 as a fighter aircraft off of those carriers. When they were finally taken out of service, they had served the French Navy for 36 years, and a total service life of 43 years! This is, to this day, the longest service life for any naval fighter aircraft in history.
By comparison, the first F-18 Hornet (and we are not including the Superhornet here, which are new build aircraft) went into service in 1983 and has served a LONG time. They have just reached the 30 year mark this year in US Navy service, which makes them the longest serving US Navy fighter aircraft in history. But, in terms of world-wide use, the F-18s need to serve another 14 years to beat the Crusader...which is not going to happen for the US version, but may happen for either the Australian birds (which are now planned to be taken out of service in 2020) or the Finnish or Spanish aircraft which are planned to serve until 2025. If the do, and if they extend much beyond that, the F-18 may take the F-8s place as the longest serving, world-wide, naval fighter aircraft in history.
