XF8U-1 Crusader at 60 Part I

     2015 marks the 60th anniversary of the first flight of the XF8U-1 Crusader 138899 or Dash One as she was nicknamed a little later in life.

Overhead view of the first XF8U-1 nearing shop completion. Work is taking place on the ejection seat rails, emergency generator and other finish up tasks. CVPR-319 Photo. VAHF Archive

     XF8U-1 was marked "shop complete" and delivered to the Structures Test Lab at 7:42 am on February 19, 1955. A few items needed to be completed but essentially the aircraft was 98% complete.  Hydraulic system tests began shortly after arrival in the Lab and continued until February 25th.

     The hydraulic system tests were not completely problem free. The problems encountered were a freezing of the wing incidence cylinder with the wing in the down position and interference between center and outer panel wing skins and droops. It was also discovered the wheel brake cylinders were not flight worthy. The vibration tests of the lab work commenced after completion of the hydraulic testing and was completed the next day on February 26, 1955.

     This is the first in a series of posts leading up to the first flight of the XF8U-1 to help celebrate the 60th anniversary of that event.

V-519 The Great White Whale Part II

     An addition to the V-519 White Whale posts are these images of 156801. These are some scans of some older negatives that were not in the best shape of the V-519. These appear to be taken prior to the first flight. A couple of items of interest: the designation is still A-7E and most visibly the gold stripe is not painted on the vertical fin.

A nice image of the nose with the canopy open. VAHF Archives

 Side view of the V-519 after being towed from the hangar.  The gold fin stripe has not been added yet. VAHF Archive

Close up of the tail markings on 156801. VAHF Archives

A little better image of the aircraft with the A-7E designation painted on the fuselage above the Bureau number. VAHF Archives.

The White Whale, a fixture around the Vought plant for many, many years, was used in a number of test programs. Further posts will illustrate more of the different paint schemes carried by the aircraft over it's service life with Vought.

V-519 The Great White Whale

Artists concept of the the V-519 modified from A-7E 156801. VAHF Archives

     With each of the aircraft that Vought sold the US Navy since the F4U Corsair there has been an offering for a two seat trainer version. The first that nearly achieved production conversion status was the F4U, A mock-up was build from a surplus F4U-1 and money was actually budgeted at one time. Sadly the project was killed by a number of things, the main reason being budget cuts.

Vought also developed "paper planes" of a two seat F6U Pirate and a two seat F7U Cutlass. The F8U came close to having a production conversion line for the F8U-1T, but once again it did not happen. 

With the successful introduction of the A-7 into the fleet, once again Vought proposed a training version of the A-7A the TA-7A without gaining much traction towards a contract. Keeping with the tradition Vought proposed the V-519 two seat version of the A-7E.

Early photo of the White Whale while the test probe was fitted to the nose. VAHF Archive

The Navy and Vought agreed upon a project to take an A-7E and convert it into a two seat configuration.

The aircraft bailed to Vought was A-7E 156801 (VAC No 68). The aircraft was to be fitted with equipment to support the flight test program developed for the program. 

The conversion consisted of adding a 16-inch extension and a second cockpit to the forward fuselage section along with an 18-inch extension between the mid and aft fuselage sections.
The refueling probe and M-61A1 gun system were removed along with the ECM system. The rest of the A-7E avionics suite was retained. The TF41-A-2 engine remained unchanged. 

The last major change was the addition of a single side opening canopy that utilized a "through the glass" ejection system. 

Head on image of 156801 shows the side hinging canopy to advantage. VAHF Archive

The forward cockpit basically stayed the same as the A-7E from which it was derived. The rear cockpit had primary flight controls and a limited set of instruments fitted. Vought bestowed the company designation of V-519 on the modified aircraft.

Taxi shot of the White Whale during the early testing program. VAHF Archive

The first flight was made on August 29, 1972 by John Konrad and the aircraft flew for one hour. The White Whale went on to perform many test and demonstration functions with Vought along with having a number of designation changes during its life. More later.......................

Here is a later image of 156801 after the test probe was removed but the aircraft still retains the gold fin band. This view also shows the large speed brake in the extended position. VAHF Archive

More XC-142A

Some additional great images to add to the post about the 50th anniversary of the first flights of the XC-142A.  More on this interesting aircraft and the CARA version in posts to come.

XC-142A Configuration Description, courtesy VAHF Archives

Cutaway view of XC-142A, courtesy VAHF Archives

Giving some idea of the complexity of the XC-142, here is an illustration of the drive system for all five of the propellers, courtesy VAHF Archives.

Rigging model in the low speed wind tunnel, courtesy VAHF Archives

General Electric T-64 Engine with gearbox and propeller assembly, courtesy VAHF Archives.

 The number two XC-142A moving down the taxi way with the wing in the forward flight position, courtesy VAHF Archives.

 Another image of the number two XC-142A on the taxi way with the wing tilted up in the vertical flight position, courtesy VAHF Archives.

50th Anniversary of XC-142A First Conventional Flight and First Transitional Flight

     Born in a Joint Services requirement for a V/STOL transport. A winning bid was submitted by a combined  Vought-Hiller-Ryan team with Vought being the prime contractor. the VHR-447 design which became the XC-142A. The award was for five aircraft serial numbers 62-5921 to 62-5925.

Artists Concept of the Joint Services V/STOL Transport. Photo courtesy Vought Aircraft Heritage Foundation (VAHF).

Nice image of the XC-142A mockup with the landing gear retracted and the wing in conventional flight setting. Photo courtesy VAHF.

Another great image, this time the first XC-142 62-5921 on the engine test stand at the Grand Prairie Vought plant. Photo courtesy VAHF

The XC-142A first flew on Sept. 29, 1964. The flight was accomplished with conventional take-off and landing. On Jan. 11, 1965 the XC-142A completed its first transitional flight taking off vertically, transitioning to conventional flight and returning to land vertically. 

Here is an image of the survivng XC-142A 62-5924 during drop testing at NAPF El Centro California. Photo courtesy of  VAHF.

The XC-142A aircraft were extensively tested by the military services. At one time three of the five aircraft were participating in testing in California at the same time. There is a video link at the end of this post that leads to a digitized film of the XC-142 testing.

Painted up for it's 1967 visit to the Paris Air Show is 62-5924 on approach for a STOL landing. Photo courtesy of VAHF.

During it's time it was the largest and fastest V/STOL aircraft. Capable of a 400 mph forward speed and a reverse speed of 35 mph. Unfortunately technical problems, accidents and changing needs spelled the end of the program. Of the five XC-142As built, only one aircraft survives today. 62-5924 went on to serve with NASA as NASA 522 and is currently on display in the National Museum of the US Air Force.

Here are some links for additional information about the XC-142A.

Vought Aircraft Heritage XC-142 webpage

NMUSAF XC-142A Factsheet

My photos of NASA 522

Here are links to several videos of the XC-142A:

XC-142A Operational Suitability Testing

XC-142 VTOL Terminal Area Flight Program 1970 NASA Langley Research Center

Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) XC-142