Vought Sikorsky production in December 1940

Navy LCDR C.S. Alexander photographed a series of production scenes at the Vought-Sikorsky Stratford Connecticut factory in December 1940. 

At the time OS2U Kingfishers and SB2U Vindicators were being produced. The XF4U-1 Corsair had first flown only 7 months before these photos were taken and had yet to enter production.

80-CF-515817-31 OS2U-2 Engine Run Up LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401206

 In these photos workers are attaching fabric coverings to SB2U outer wing panels and control surfaces.

80-CF-515817-24 Vought Plant Stratford CT Lt Cdr C S Alexander USN 19401205

80-CF-515817-25 Covering elevator control surfaces LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401206

Illustrated below are the construction of wing leading edges for a SB2U along with a couple of images of wing main beam construction.

80-CF-515817-30 SB2U wing assembly LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401207

80-CF-515817-21 Wing main beam milling LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401205

80-CF-515817-22 Finish milling on wing main beam LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401205

In this photo a gentleman is working on a main landing gear assembly for a SB2U Vindicator.

80-CF-515817-23 Oleo strut retraction test  LCDR C. S. Alexander USN 19401205

Fitting of cockpit cabin enclosures is taking place at this work station for Kingfishers.

80-CF-515817-29 Fitting cockpit cabin enclosures LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401206

Finally three shots of this series show various scenes of final assembly work tasks.

80-CF-515817-27 Fuselage final assembly LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401207

80-CF-515817-26 Overhead view of a OS2U-2 Kingfisher from a crane LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401206

80-CF-515817-28 Overhead view of OS2U-2 LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401206

All the images in this series are from the US National Archives USN photo series 80-CF

A-7K

The A-7K was a two seat version of the A-7D for use by the Air National Guard. The first flight of an A-7K was October 29, 1980. The final delivery was in September 1983.

The vast majority of the A-7Ks were operated by the 162TFTG Arizona Air National Guard at Tucson, AZ for pilot training. In addition to the Arizona aircraft, each ANG A-7D squadron had at least one A-7K assigned after the production run had finished. 
Assigned serial numbers were: 79-0460/0471, 80-0284/0295, 81-0072/0077

Here are a few of the Air National Guard A-7K aircraft I shot over the years.

YA-7H 156801 Test Flight Photos

A-7C 156801 was converted into the YA-7H the first of the two seat version of the A-7 Corsair II. These photos were taken early in the testing of the aircraft at NAS Dallas.

Two seat versions of the F-8 Crusader and A-7 Corsair II on the Vought flight line.

Only one F-8 was converted where a number of A-7s were converted or new built in the case of the A-7K.

01-0154-01-0007-72-YA-7H-156801-Landing-with-Drag-Chute-Gold-Tail-[Vought]

01-0154-01-0006-72-YA-7H-156801-Right-Side-Gold-Tail-Taxi-[Vought]

Chance Vought V-369 High Speed Target

Developed under Chance Vought Project number V-369 was a high speed target for the US Navy known first as X-27A and later as the production version X-28A. It was designed to be operated at speeds approaching 450 mph. 

CV-25391-X-27A-General-Arrangement-Starboard-View-19470121

 

CV-25393-X-27A-General-Arrangement-Port-View-19470121

NOTE: I am still researching the program so all that follows may turn out to not be factually correct. 

At least 35 examples were built with the first being designated X-27A and is illustrated in these contract photos from NARA 72AC files. 

CV-25394-X-27A-General-Arrangement-Front-View-19470121

I have found a part number drawing for the X-27 and all the production drawings started with the prefix CV5-. I also found one drawing for the X-28A that in configuration is the same "V" tailed design as the X-27A photos.

The construction of the fuselage of the target was fairly simple as this interior shot illustrates.

CV-25412-X-27A Upper-Shell-Assembly-Interior-View-19470121

If you happen to have any more details about the V-369/X-27/28 I would like to hear from you.

V-507 The F-14 That Wasn't Part Three

     After the visitors had passed the various information panels the pathway eventually led to the main event, the full size mock up. The mock up was placed in an open, well lit area for viewing and showing off the designs features.

     With the V-507, space was given to show the wing sweep design for it's aerodynamic and ship board handling qualities. The mock up also allows a full size representation of height of the aircraft along with the presentation of where the major components are housed in the airframe. 

     With the AN/AWG-9 Phoenix weapons system being central to the future F-14, the V-507 mock up was able to show the antenna installation along with the ease of access to the avionics boxes used for the system.

All photos courtesy VAHF

V-507 The F-14 That Wasn't Part Two

The V-507 Mock Up is Born

As was common practice in the industry since the 1930's, an Operations Specification, Request for Proposal or other documents were submitted to industry and brochures, reports were generated on the company's proposal. The proposals were evaluated and the top one or top two were selected to go further into the development stage with more detailed engineering being accomplished and a mock up built.The V-507 is was selected to continue on to the mock up phase. 

The visitor to the V-507 mock up was treated to a series of informational panels along the way to the actual mock up. These panels helped to tell the story of the V-507 and why it was the right choice for the US Navy. Although incomplete, the photos do give signifigant insight into the development of the V-507.

A configuration display was presented with models showing the evolution from the F8U-3 to the V-484, V-505 and eventually the final V-507 configuration.

The threat that needed to be countered was illustrated. This showed that the engineering team understood the challenges facing the new design.

The technical alliance of Vought, Dassault, and Lockheed shown with the contributions of each highlighted.

Vought

• Navy Fighter Design
• Movable Wing Technology

Dassault

• Inlet Design
• TF-30 Operational Experience (Mirage F2, Mirage G)
• Swing Wing Experience

Lockheed

• Air Force Fighter Design
• Titanium Manufacturing Technology

To further illustrate the technical alliance a display of the inlet design was presented along with the metals used in the manufacture of the aircraft along with what components were using titanium.

Finally in the photos that were uncovered for this post are the spotting diagrams. As this was an aircraft for the US Navy the ability to move and store the design aboard ship is critical to the success.

The display shows different spotting arrangements and compares the V-507 to the F-4 that was the current shipboard fighter. It also shows the V-507 in the hangar with the various other types then on board ship.

That concludes this walk through of the V-507 information boards. As can bee seen in the photos there are other panels and places where the confidential information has been covered over. These were the only photos uncovered thus far of this display, which is amazing that they still exist!  

In the next installment of this series the mock up will be revealed.

V-507 The F-14 That Wasn't

The V-507 was Vought's entry into the VFX competition to replace the unsuccessful F-111B aircraft. Unfortunately, the V-507 lost out to the Grumman 303 design that was designated F-14 Tomcat and went into US Navy and Iranian service.

The design featured swing wings, twin engines with a single vertical tail along with a tandem seating arrangement for the crew. Missile load for the V-507 included the AIM-7 Sparrow, AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-54 Phoenix and M61 cannon.

In addition to the AWG-9 fire control system the V-507 also had a provision for a retractable IRST/TV under the nose of the aircraft.

Unfortunately, there was not a fly off and nothing more than a mock up was ever built.

 Drawings from the VAHF Archives.