sandiego89 wrote:
Johnb, all of those Navy jets you mention, and others, were largely let down with poor and/or underpowered engines. I do not think it was a looser procurement process, but almost every jet program in the late 1940 to mid 1950's suffered with engines that could not meet thrust requirments, had poor spool up times, and was made worse with planes that got heavier or were overweight. This was especially critical in carrier aviation. .
I appreciate what you say and largely agree with it...it's true the Navy bet a lot on the unsuccessful Westinghouse J-40...the cause of the troubles with the Demon.
But even after fixing it with better engines, it still had a short life.
I'd forgotten about the Tiger...that makes 4 Navy fighters with short lives and even the Fury didn't stick around long by USAF standards.
But another jet of the period, and subject to the same engine "state of the art" limitations as any other jet developed in that period, was the A-4. A plane that was made in huge numbers and for over 20 years.
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