NATC F7U Cutlass

[Mark Allen M]

More shots of '415' F7U-1 BuNo 124415.

Below (L to R) William Bosworth (Vought Field Rep), JJ Hospers (AGM), Ed Scott (Vought Rep), John Zimmerman (AD1, NATC), Rich Slack (AD2, Pax)



Below Vought Rep William Bosworth looks on as JJ Hospers (AGM) checks out the XF7U-1 cockpit.

[Mark Allen M]

And a few more ...


Vought Rep William Bosworth on the ladder, AGM Hospers in the cockpit.

[Mark Allen M]

Here's a few of F7U-1 124422

[Mark Allen M]

F7U-3M cockpit November of 1954


F7U cockpit 129700

[Mark Allen M]

I believe this is the USS Midway date unknown.

[JohnB]

I happened across this 1949 magazine cover on a vintage Jeep website. Nice color shot of an early F7U.
Yes, I have cropped the cover to enlarge the main photo.

Attachments

[lucky52]

That is one cool looking jet.

[quemerford]

Lovely shots as ever Mark And that cover shot is very nostalgic: it's difficult to appreciate what the Cutlass must have looked like to your average Joe back in the day.

[quemerford]

I believe this is the USS Midway date unknown.

If it is the Midway then the date is between 11 and 15 August 1952. However though those are the dates of XFJ-2 carrier suitability tests (with the carrier positioned off Norfolk, Virginia) and included similar evaluations with F7U-3, F9F-6 and F2H-3 Banshee, supposedly only a single XFJ-2 was involved.

Both XFJ-2s did their carrier qualification trials aboard the USS Coral Sea in December 1952 and I suspect this is what is depicted.

EDIT: It's the Midway, CV-41. By the time of the December trials, both XFJ-2s had wide white lines painted fore-to-aft.

[Cvairwerks]

What's up the Avengers in the photos? TBM-3????

[sandiego89]

EDIT: It's the Midway, CV-41. By the time of the December trials, both XFJ-2s had wide white lines painted fore-to-aft.

Portion of the large number "1" on the ships funnel also good confirmation as Midway.

Huge salute to anyone operating early jets on a straight deck carrier.

Larry thanks so much for the start procedures. Was curious as the J-46 always seemed a bit complex and different than some other engines, with the RPM, electric controls and early afterburner.

As for the Avengers, there is a surprising number of variants post war from electronic, patrol, test, radar, ASW, COD, etc....without the WWII rear turret. Interesting to see who can ID the precise variant.

[Larry Kraus]

This is from the June 1954 issue of Naval Aviation News which is available here:

https://www.history.navy.mil/content/da ... /jun54.pdf

I originally posted this in a smaller size, but this should be easier to read even if you need to pan a bit.

D0B58716-CE55-4D77-8E18-6C91B5B641A4 by tanker622001, on Flickr

2FCBBC50-6298-459A-A7D1-29FEEBAFF4EE by tanker622001, on Flickr

C4A7F9AD-1CD7-4B04-8485-F32AC34F6DE5 by tanker622001, on Flickr

8838DD9E-9855-4AE2-A5CC-CD71E5D9E4C2 by tanker622001, on Flickr

F75F30E1-C283-495D-AEBB-346C2E0DEE83 by tanker622001, on Flickr

Last edited by Larry Kraus on Thu Jan 05, 2023 9:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[mike furline]

What's up the Avengers in the photos? TBM-3????

TBM-3R, COD, Carrier on board delivery. The Navy Converted a number of Avengers to be used as transport of people and supplies to the fleet. Carrying up to six passengers, and cargo or stretchers in the bomb bay
https://imodeler.com/2020/11/tbm-3r-ave ... war-build/
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/6663968

[Chris Brame]

I recently had the great honor of hosting a retired Admiral and former Cutlass pilot (including one of my F7U parts-aircraft) at my hangar a couple days ago

Hi Al, did he fly BuNo 129622 when it was at NAS Glenview? Did he get to see it moved to the Oak Lane Elementary School playground?

[Cutlass]

I recently had the great honor of hosting a retired Admiral and former Cutlass pilot (including one of my F7U parts-aircraft) at my hangar a couple days ago

Hi Al, did he fly BuNo 129622 when it was at NAS Glenview? Did he get to see it moved to the Oak Lane Elementary School playground?

Chris: Yes, he flew my 129622, but at Cecil Field with VA-34. It later was transferred to Cecil-based VA-12 before finally being flown to the NARTU at Glenview. So he no longer was involved with that airframe by that time, having transitioned to the A4B and deployed aboard Saratoga when the Cutlass was stricken and moved to Oaklane.