[MOC] Vought F-8E Crusader II

[Juliusz D]

The F-8 Crusader has a legendary status among both pilots and aviation fans, gaining the reputation of a “MiG killer” over Vietnam. With a 19:3 kill ratio it was the most successful US type of war, and its retirement was the end of an era, as it was the last US-made jet fighter designed with guns as primary weapons, earning it a nickname of “the last gunfighter”.

 

About the aircraft

 

The F-8, or F8U Crusader, was designed in 1952, as an answer to the Navy’s search for a supersonic carrier-based fighter. The conflicting requirements of high performance and low-speed carrier approach capability led to rather unorthodox construction, including the use of a unique variable-incidence wing feature, which allowed for lowering of the approach speed without compromising the visibility of a pilot. The first flight of the Crusader took place on 25 March 1955, and the F-8A (F8U-1) type became operational in 1957, becoming the mainstay of the US Navy of late 50’. Designed as a rather simple and unsophisticated fighter, over the years, the Crusader started to become an increasingly effective system, with the introduction of radar(F-8B/F8U-1E), AIM-9 Sidewinder (F-8C/F8U-2), more powerful engine (F-8D/F8U-2N), and limited air-to-ground capability (F-8E/F8U-2NE). However, in the early 1960s everything indicated that the Crusader’s career will not be a particularly long one, with the superior F-4 Phantom II already becoming the Navy’s preferred type. And then the Vietnam War began. As USA was rushing its carrier assets, the Essex-class carriers, scheduled for a replacement, were given a second life, and the only supersonic fighter capable to operate from their relatively small desks was the Crusader. As a result, most of the remaining Crusader fleet underwent a modification program, leading to the development of F-8H (upgraded F-8D), F-8J (upgraded F-8E), F-8K (upgraded F-8C), and F-8L (upgraded F-8B) variants. As a consequence, the fighter versions of Crusaders served until 1976, nearly a decade later than originally planned.

 

About the building process

 

I have always liked Crusader, even though it was never one of my absolute favorites. But a few months ago I came across an excellent F-8 model by kh.bricks (https://www.instagram.com/p/CXFSIf1r357/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==) >, and I just loved the appearance of the thing. I started to play around with the front section and was so pleased with the results that I decided to give it a try. The build was quite a challenge, as despite the seemingly simple shape, the F-8 Crusader is far from a simple plane. The tapering of the fuselage was an absolute headache, the wings with their 47 degree angle took me a few weeks to figure out, the landing gear took forever to make it strong enough to support the weight of the plane, and the variable incidence wing mechanism was a real nightmare to sort out. And after I was almost done, I found out that I made a mistake in my calculations and the whole thing is one plate too high...Fortunately, it wasn’t a dealbreaker and after some additional work the model was finished.

 

About the plane

The model represents Vought F-8E Crusader II in a 1/33 scale. The camouflage represents the BuNo 150349 NF 205 aircraft from the VF-53 “Iron Angels”. This particular plane, with LCDR Guy Cane behind the stick, was responsible for the 16^th Crusader’s kill in the Vietnam War, shooting down MiG-17 with AIM-9D on July 27^th 1968. Here, it is presented with 2 AIM-9D missiles and a full load of 12 Mk.82 bombs. The model has a number of features, including detailed and openable cockpit, working landing gear, deployable air brake, working flaps, as well as vertical and horizontal tail surfaces, and last but not least, a fully working variable incidence, foldable wing (the access to the mechanism is through the airbrake hatch).  

For more photos check my Flickr gallery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ParmBrick]

Nice jet! Very detailed. How you manage to build the wings block lifting mechanism?

[Juliusz D]

The variable incidence mechanism is quite simple - the wings are attached at the rear end by a simple hinge, while the front part of the wing has a technic gear worm screw (#4716) rigidly attached. In the fuselage, another screw is locked vertically, but this one can rotate - both screws are next to each other, so the rotation of the fuselage one is translated to the wing one. When you want to raise the wing, you just have to rotate the end of the fuselage screw (accessible through the airbrake hatch on the bottom), and the same goes for lowering, you just rotate in the opposite direction. The main issue was to optimize the spacing between both screws, so they remain in contact with both the lowered and raised wing.   

[Feuer Zug]

Great work on this Cold War aircraft. The attention to detail for the airframe, weapons, and decals is perfect. Is the tailhook on a hinge?

[Juliusz D]

Yes, the tailhook is on hinge. I almost forgot about it as in Crusader it is not nearly as massive as in Phantom or Tomcat.