F7U Cutlass - The Strangest and Most Dangerous Navy Jet Ever Flown

[@rickprice6312]

F7U Cutlass was replaced by the F8U Crusader (the Cougar was a Grumman product). I was a pilot in VFA-83 and can remember seeing squadron portraits taken during the Cutlass days. Lots of pilots in casts and on crutches in those pictures.

[@garymckee8857]

Outstanding

[@mikeb.5039]

I am glade I was not the only to pick up that gaff and I never saw the F7U or the F8U during my time in the service

[@brianjob3018]

What did you fly in -83, the original Hornet?

[@STRYKER_b14]

F8u, the last gunfighter

[@matthewservice267]

My father flew the "Gutless", and lost his wingman during a dog and pony show for the investors and political sponsors. When they kicked in the afterburner his flamed out and when he ejected he impacted into the harbor pier as it was a low fly-by. Dad had a whole squadron of gaurdian angels watching over him. I still have his original F7U model from the factory made by Topping models in Akron, Ohio. His favorite aircraft to fly was the F6-F Hellcat.

[@TSmith-yy3cc]

Bureaucrat with mysterious brown paper envelope stuffed in his pocket: "Here you go boys! It's a real pain in the ass to set and fly, don't fly it in the rain and the engine is weak and occasionally catches on fire so watch out for that! Anyway; I have a dinner to go to, good luck!"

[@MajorCaliber]

It ain't called the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex fer nuthin'! =:O

[@terrybrown8539]

I gather the airframe and basic characteristics were okay but the engines around which it was designed only generated about half the thrust promised so it was grossly underpowered. It was not practical to re-engine it so it never got to be what it should have been. Lack of power in early jets was common but this was worse than most. It did pioneer lots of useful stuff like very high pressure hydraulics.

[@OffGridInvestor]

The bureaucrat had a little moustache the only covered the area right under his nose.

[@benjaminbrockway5998]

When the Blue Angels could not handle it reliably, you know it was a dud.

[@ScoobyShotU]

Lmao they've literally only been only to fly one jet reliably all these years so is every other plane a dud?

[@Tigershark_3082]

I wonder what the BA would be able to do with the F-8 Crusader...

[@Bababoy6969]

Check our the ikarus plane that thing weird af

[@RLambert80]

@@ScoobyShotU according to whom? They only expressed displeasure with the Tiger, Phantom and Cutlass. The majority of their aircraft were reasonably compatible with display shows.

[@dragonmeddler2152]

@@Tigershark_3082 Always wondered why the Angels didn't give the F-8 a try...

[@Eyes-of-Horus]

This was another of the Revell plastic models I built and had flying by a string on my bedroom ceiling. It looked cool.

[@LuciFeric137]

Same here. That was a cool looking model.

[@bobellingson4025]

I had one as well...I seem to remember it was called the "Chance-Vought Cutlass".

[@jonkomatsu8192]

I remember also hanging model planes from my ceiling as well as a kid. Now I wish I had this craft up there as well. Great memories, thanks! 🤙

[@timnor4803]

My dad still has the family house... my brother and I at Christmas were identifying the ceiling pin holes by aircraft😂😂😂

[@iDEATH]

I don't think I had it on a string, but I distinctly remember this model. I got it because it looked so neat, and then, many years later, I used it's look for inspiration when doodling out trans-atmospheric space fighters. It'll always have a place in my heart.

[@hauntedhouse7827]

A jet that can't get wet, sounds like something they would issue to the navy.

[@scullystie4389]

Hell, we have ships that can't get wet now!

[@hauntedhouse7827]

@@scullystie4389 Honestly i'm a little surprised our ships can handle direct sunlight.

[@TheDiameter]

@@hauntedhouse7827 Stiff breezes are the new challenge I hear!

[@hauntedhouse7827]

@@TheDiameter I understand the Zumwalts will break down if you hurt their feelings.

[@doogleticker5183]

Ha ha...faithful member of the CPP.

[@royalmason1539]

My dad worked as a design engineer on the Cutlass. He also worked on the coolant system for a nuclear powered bomber, and an early missile intercept system. His career and our family finances were based on failed defense projects. That's the industry where everyone losses if the products are used and everyone wins if they aren't.

[@PibrochPonder]

The tax payer loses either way.

[@caribman10]

@@PibrochPonder ..or keeps from having to learn Russian and starving....

[@thisismagacountry1318]

@@PibrochPonder

[@PibrochPonder]

@@thisismagacountry1318 you are any to explain that dumb comment?

[@thisismagacountry1318]

@@PibrochPonder Our national defense budget is larger than many other nations combined FOR A REASON. Nobody's forcing you to live here. Go live where you can save money. Tell your Rabbi you're leaving.

[@barryervin8536]

There's a Cutlass on display at a museum a few miles from me. It's a really interesting airplane. The main problems with it were that the engines it was designed to use were never produced, and the engines used were woefully underpowered, and the long nose gear strut tended to collapse on deck landings, sometimes killing the pilot. The high pressure hydraulic system was a problem too. But the lack of a conventional tail wasn't really an issue, pilots who flew it praised it's inflight handling. It was extremely strong and maneuverable in the air. And the F9F Cougar wasn't a Vought fighter, it was a Grumman.

[@jimstrict-998]

I thought one of the Cutlass prototypes that flew out of Pax River just disappeared, presumably into the Chesapeake Bay. Or am I thinking of a different aircraft?

[@barryervin8536]

@@jimstrict-998 I vaguely remember a case of that happening, but I can't find any reference to it online. Now I'm thinking it may have been a Grumman Bearcat, search for "Bearcat In Chesapeake Bay".

[@jimstrict-998]

OK, it was a Bearcat in 1945.

[@Blendedwing]

Well said barryerwin. I came here to write just that. Thank you for saving me the trouble.

[@seanbigay1042]

Can anybody tell me why the Cutlass' "avant-garde" nose gear was so tall? The F-14 Tomcat's nose gear wasn't so tall -- certainly not so tall as to make the Tomcat look like a dog sitting on its haunches, the way the Cutlass did. (And did anyone notice how the Cutlass looked like it desperately wanted to be a Tomcat when it grew up?)

[@johnharris6655]

Some where in Germany in 1945. "Hey I know how to get revenge for losing the war, lets make a bunch of crazy airplane designs the US will be sure to try and build"

[@strangetimes3511]

yup... and also a "Moonlanding", manufactured in a TV- Studio

[@josecolon2717]

@@strangetimes3511 don’t, just don’t...

[@johnbockelie3899]

British had a plane called "Sea Vampire" with a tail like that.

[@johnbockelie3899]

I heard the pilots called the plane " The Gutless".

[@johnbockelie3899]

Flying death traps.

[@jimcabezola3051]

The comment made at the end of this film is in error. The F9F Cougar was designed and built by Grumman, not Vought. Grumman also tended to use cat references for naming their Navy aircraft. Vought used the names of various swords to name their Navy aircraft.

[@Pics2FlicksDennis]

Beat me to it.

[@joeylawn36111]

He should have referenced the Vought F8U (F-8) Crusader instead, which was an excellent aircraft.

[@troyhidvegi]

A4 Skyhawk at 32 seconds no mention of that jet in the vid. There are other lazy editing mistakes in this and all there other vids. Should be called Dork Skies.......

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

@@troyhidvegi Well Mr. Spielberg, where's your video?

[@SkyhawkSteve]

@@troyhidvegi as a Skyhawk guy, I do appreciate seeing that gleaming A-4! :-) But video errors are what this channel is built upon. There was a point in the video where it mentions engine troubles, and shows people moving radial engines around. It's almost as if the viewer is supposed to just ignore the video half of the time, and should know which half that is.

[@cahg3871]

I’m still amazed how a plane can depart and land on a carrier.The speed needed to successfully take flight is one thing,but for that same plane to land without crashing or running off that carrier speaks to the balls and training of those pilots.

[@OffGridInvestor]

Do you even know about the steam catapult and capture systems???

[@pedalingthru2719]

The only reason it would run off the flight deck would be if the pilot missed the arresting wire and does not trap. Then they just go around and try it again. A plane does not use brakes when landing on a carrier.

[@pedalingthru2719]

@@michaeloneil2379 they push a button and it dumps a bunch of steam into the cat piston and it throws you off the deck.

[@welshpete12]

@@OffGridInvestor Yep and a British invention , something you never hear talked about these days .

[@diogenes5381]

Maybe thats why carrier aviation pilots call landing on deck “a controlled crash.”

[@fixman88]

8:45 "You picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel...."

[@andrewlanford2378]

"Ensign Eliminator" Pure gold.

[@michaeljoesmith3977]

I thought the F4U Corsair was originally called that because of it was difficult to land on carriers and was handed off to the marines. Later the British figured out how to land the Corsair on carriers and the rest is history .

[@RCAvhstape]

@@michaeljoesmith3977 Yeah some of those derogatory nicknames have been recycled over the years.

[@fawnlliebowitz1772]

With it's low intake we called the Crusader the Ensign Eater.

[@davegeisler7802]

It was a trash jet. From its pathetic Westinghouse engines it goes on and on , I can see a Pilot being impaled by a broken front landing gear strut also , to summarize just a real p.o.s !!!

[@730popper]

My uncle was Whitey Feightner. I am very familiar with the Cutlass stories as he was the project manager for the F7U at Pax River. He acquired that position because everyone senior to him was killed in accidents. After Pax River he was offered CO of the Navy flight demonstration team, later known as the Blue Angels. When he asked what aircraft they were going to use, he was told the F7U he quit on the spot. He told them it was totally unsuitable and asked them if they had not read any of his reports. The Navy wanted to showcase the aircraft for foreign sales, so it was decided that he would fly lead solo and he could chose whoever he wanted for a wingman. He chose Mac McNight. Coming into Glenview in Chicago Mac had the fire, solo as it is a single seat aircraft, and my uncle was directed to O’Hare as he was getting low on fuel, again solo as it was also a single seat aircraft. My uncle was nearly killed several times by that aircraft, but he said it could have been a great fighter aircraft but was ahead of its time. I think he said it had a roll rate of 720 degrees/sec. They flew the F9 -5 Panther for the rest of the team and Butch Voris was recalled as commander. On hitting the trees in a show. What happened was that when the hydraulic flight control system failed it took 11 seconds to reconnect. In the meantime, you were just a passenger. In that show it disconnected as my uncle was climbing out. It continued up and then pitched over and headed for the ground before reaching a safe ejection altitude. Just before impact the system reconnected and he did a very hard pullout but went through some trees. He then proceeded to land. After landing the Admiral asked him if he would complete the show in the spare aircraft. He did. The Blues did not get the F9F-8 until 1955 if my memory serves me correctly. I flew the F9F-8 in advanced training, then later flew the F8 Crusader which I really liked, but also killed a few pilots.

[@dennyliegerot4021]

The F9F-8 cougar you mentioned at the end of the video was a Grumman aircraft... after the Cutlass, Vought redeemed themselves with the outstanding F8U Crusader.

[@g-man7731]

Man I love obscure plan designs it’s very interesting

[@Ammo08]

Pilots said that, "The GE toasters got hotter than the GE engines..."

[@joeylawn36111]

Westinghouse.

[@theFLCLguy]

That's a *cool* fact bro.

[@Ammo08]

@@joeylawn36111 I have no idea where I remember that quote from...obviously it must have been wrong if GE didn't make any engines for the Cutlass. it's still funny. I remember the Navy flying some of them in NAS Millington in 1959 or 1960 and seeing them parked on the aprons. Cool looking planes.

[@shauny2285]

@@Ammo08 At that time, Westinghouse may have also made toasters. I seem to recall my grandparents having a Westinghouse refrigerator.

[@Ammo08]

@@shauny2285 Good point...

[@dragonmeddler2152]

I really like the narrator's delivery technique. Military aviation and related development during the cold war was a serious business, reflected well in his style. My dad owned a 1956 Chevy Bel Air which hood ornament had a stylized Cutlass design.

[@FuttBuckerson]

Same, I prefer a down to business, give it straight delivery. Some of these other channels get too personal.

[@cosmicHalArizona]

@@FuttBuckerson military style: subject, facts, over.

[@johnpaulharmon]

We had an F4U Corsair right next to an F7U Cutlass at Berryman Park War Memorial in Bridgeport Washington when I was growing up. Every 4th of July, they would let us sit in the cockpit of the Corsair... but to this day the Cutlass is always the one that seems ultra-modern in that sci-fi, popular mechanics way of the early 1960's.

[@s.sestric9929]

"129554 - Snohomish County Airport - Paine Field, Everett, Washington. Ex VA-212. Purchased by Len Berryman from Geiger Field, Washington in May 1958 and displayed outside the Berryman War Memorial Park in Bridgeport, Washington from 1958 until 1992. In June 1992 it was sold to Tom Cathcart of Ephrata, Washington. Sold in September 2014, and awaiting transport to Phoenix, Arizona for further restoration to airworthy condition." Airworthy condition? It wasn't airworthy when it was new.

[@j.jasonwentworth723]

@@s.sestric9929 That can be remedied, although I'd prefer that such enthusiasts build a flying replica (as with the Me 262), rather than risk destroying an original Cutlass in a crash. In either event, though, at least there are now sufficiently-powerful afterburning turbojet--and turbofan--engines that would fit in a Cutlass fuselage. (The folks who build the replica Me 262s also did/do this en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_262_Project ; their replica [just for looks] Junkers Jumo 004 engines house General Electric CJ610 [non-afterburning, civilianized J85] turbojet engines.)

[@waazpilot7784]

We had one of the only surviving f7's in one of our corporate hangers back when I worked for an fbo. Pretty cool airplane.

[@joeh4295]

FBO? What is that?

[@jamesmitchell1780]

Fixed Base Operator This is a local operation where aircraft owners store, service or fuel their aircraft.

[@reltney20]

That plane is being restored to FLY....yes!

[@s.sestric9929]

@@reltney20 Yikes.

[@fawnlliebowitz1772]

@@reltney20 Brass balls or really stupid. Truck it to Pensacola.

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

"Our Germans are better than their Germans." -The Right Stuff...

[@tylervanorman492]

Bhhhhhhahahahahaa

[@pylon500]

"Our Germans are better than their Germans." -'Ice Station Zebra'...

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

@@pylon500 Really? I have seen the movie. Who was German?

[@pylon500]

@@WALTERBROADDUS They were talking about the German made cameras being used by both the Russians and Americans, in their spy satellites.

[@TK421-53]

Project Paperclip

[@Wallyworld30]

This planes oversized Bubble Canopy looks like a birds beak.

[@gerry5134]

The landing gear stance is a bit wacky too, Nose up, tail down !

[@lambsaucy69]

@@gerry5134Well its a carrier plane, maybe the carrier wasnt long enough so they raised the nose to raise the angle of attack for the wings to takeoff easily

[@dmutant2635]

@@lambsaucy69 lol The carrier was the right size. The engine was too small. The early F-14's had the old TF-30. Not a bad engine but it was the wrong engine for the Tomcat. All too often the only thing the Navy can say is , "We'll make do."

[@dmutant2635]

@@lambsaucy69 And you probably know Vought addressed the AOA carrier launch/landings by radically raising the main wing on the F-8 Crusader!

[@gerry5134]

@@lambsaucy69 Not so good for landing though without the tail end hitting the deck, as you can see in the video footage !

[@jimmeyer4530]

The F9F-8 Cougar was NOT a Vought fighter, but produced by Grumman. (8:56)

[@olwesdesperado8676]

I can see the F-14 Tomcat learned a bit from this design.

[@cathyjohnson7199]

My first thoughts, This thing was the prototype of the F14.

[@wmfife1]

@@cathyjohnson7199 Ol'Wes Desperado is correct regading general influence, as many designs benefit from lessons learned from previous ones. But "prototype" implies an experimental rollout of a new design by its manufacturer. While not to get too technical, the F-14 was a design by Grumman, former producer of the Blue Angels' F-11 "Tiger". The Cutlass was by Chance-Vought, who went on to build the incomparable F-8 Crusader, the one to which it was said "When you're out of F-8's, you're out of fighters!" I know because I was ground crew on a few of those, aka the "MiG-Master".

[@seanbigay1042]

Yeah, if you squint really, really hard you could see this thing as a proto-Tomcat ... whose maker then chickened out and tried to build it on a shoestring. There's a reason this thing was called "Gutless."

[@rickklean9999]

I remember first learning about this Aircraft when I saw it at the Navy Aviation museum in Pensacola FL. It was the weirdest looking plane I have every seen

[@teamistro5270]

Yeah that’s where I saw it. Really looked like something straight out of a sci fi movie

[@stevenwagner9912]

Do a search for the Carvair. It is an odd looking plane. The F7U made me think of it a bit. Or a 747 with props.

[@thestardusters7640]

All NAVY aircraft are weird looking!

[@spartanx9293]

It looks like a shrunk f-14 from the side

[@nitehawk86]

It's like the fighter version of the 747-SP. It just looks comically proportioned and it is adorable.

[@emaheiwa8174]

F14 Kitten

[@6aNapoleon]

The F9F8 Cougar was NOT built by Vought Aircraft, as this video erroneously claims. The Cougar was designed and built by Long Island's famed Grumman "Iron Works." It was the swept-wing successor to the straight-wing F9F5 Panther, which was also the first jet fighter flown by the Blue Angels.

[@henryschmitt7577]

Wally Schirra called it “THE GUTLESS CUTLASS”!!!!!

[@cmdredstrakerofshado1159]

Very body who flew this trash airplane called it the Gutless Cutlass . The only other Navy plane who was universally hated and was worse than the plane who was replaced was the Curtis Helldriver SB2C aka Son of Bitch 2nd Class.

[@ferrariflat12]

"Vought F9F-8 Cougar" ... now you make me question everything I just heard

[@KapiteinKrentebol]

Yeah, me too.

[@raymondkisner9240]

Yes a another cat that flies!

[@jfan4reva]

Ironically, "Dark Skies" tends to be a little clueless about aircraft sometimes. Notice that he referred to the other pilot in the O'hare landing as a 'copilot' when the correct term is 'wingman'. Single seat aircraft don't have copilots. And the 'Vought' Cougar was just laziness and should have been caught by anyone who knows how to use Google.

[@drivernjax]

Yeah. That should have been the Grumman F9F-8 Cougar.

[@fdmackey3666]

With just a wee bit of artistic license the F7U even had an occasional appearance in a 1960s prime time TV animated program. Thanks to your video I think the F7U could have been a fair fleet air defense, or CAP fighter, if it had been equipped with engines produced in the 1960s.

[@mrdiamonde]

What was the program?

[@fdmackey3666]

@@mrdiamonde Johnny Quest. The plane(s) appeared in at least two episodes as I recall (yeah I'm so old I watched Johnny Quest as a first run, prime time show. If you happen upon the series online or on disk PLEASE bear in mind the "artistic license" I mentioned in my original comment above.

[@northwesttravels7234]

@@fdmackey3666 Or perhaps Roger Ramjet.

[@thomasgerstenberg1632]

I have a design study booklet for this plane when it was designed by Chance Vought Aircraft. My wife's grandfather was involved in the graphic design work. It was initially listed as a Interceptor the Model V-362 which essentially is an F7U-1 with new fuselage to accommodate radar and rockets. I found the booklet with black/white photos attached in basement of her grandparents cleaning out after his passing. Knew it was worth saving.

[@K4rt80y]

Vought really got their act together with jet fighters because the next fighter was the F8 Crusader, the last pure fighter the Navy ever had.

[@1337penguinman]

I would argue the F-14 was also a pure fighter.

[@RCAvhstape]

@@1337penguinman Technically the F-14 was what the USAF would call an "interceptor", designed to get out there really fast and shoot down ,multiple incoming bombers and antiship missiles at long range before they get close to the fleet, but it was good at dogfighting, too, and later they found out it was also not bad at dropping bombs (see "Bombcats"), so it morphed into a multirole fighter, which is what the Phantom and the Hornet had been right from the start. The Crusader was never anything but a purebred fighter jet.

[@ecpgieicg]

Both Phantom and Tomcats are highly maneuverable. Geez. I am not even American and even I dont succumb to such obvious myths.

[@ecpgieicg]

@Craig Williams Ofc F-16 and F-18 have higher turn rate and have better AoA control among other things such as much better flight control since their designs intended them to excel in aspects and they are much later planes. I question what your role was since you proclaim to be an expert. Since when did maneuverability man turn rate and AoA control only? Since when was climb rate, acceleration, top speed, roll rate *not* a part of maneuverability? You proclaim to be an expert. What was the maneuver flap in F-14 for? I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for being at an advanced age.

[@ecpgieicg]

@Craig Williams Well, I would too avoid using "dogfight(er)" to describe Phantom. Some people use it to describe all within visual range a2a combat while some others mean WWI style turning fight. Yet, in full honesty, I really dont think or know of people who say "maneuverability" when they only mean turn rate + AoA control. I think the reason is roughly this: if we restrict to gun fight -- I am only suggesting it because it may be impractical expect to analyze quickly when missile is involved, the ability to maintain energy state should be considered as maneuverability. And that goes beyond turn rate. In a gun fight, Phantom and engage and extend with relative freedom. With altitude, Phantom has options to deny rate fight to Migs. When I say "highly maneuverable", I mean, for example, I don't expect F-105 to be able to come off on top regardless of tactic. As for your contention of whether Phantom's strengths suffice to qualify it as "highly maneuverable" in light of Mig-21. Well, we probably need some wargame analysis don't we? And that can be impractical. Without full analysis, at least in the one instance of Operation Bolo, the planners and pilots didnt see enough issue in F-4's maneuverability to fly Phantom at F-105's lower speed in order to lure Mig 21 to them and subsequently the Migs were not able to use their strengths to defeat and exhaust F-4 flights' sidewinders, ending the engagement with 7 Migs lost.

[@laszlokenyo3168]

"One of those problems: it didn't have a tail." Me after hours of suffering in KSP: Interesting...

[@headshotsongs9465]

Neither does the B2.

[@exgenica]

My father flew in those, among quite a few other combat fighters and bombers. He was retired posthumously as a Commander. I never found out which aircraft he was flying at the time. I still have a manufacturer-produced model he gave me...a primary asset of my childhood arsenal of toys. Also, if I remember it right, his first combat mission near Fiji was in a PBY (can't remember if it was a -5 or -5A).

[@OleDonKedic]

A late response but did he pass away in an aircraft incident? Sorry, I'm just not sure what you meant by " I never found out which aircraft he was flying at the time." Especially since he retired posthumously as a commander. Either way I hope you're proud of such a hero. Bless your father!

[@exgenica]

@@OleDonKedic Thank you for your kind words, and yes...I am proud of him and those who served with and after him. I don't know details, but I was told his plane went down in the Pacific. I was using "he was retired posthumously" as a euphemistic way of describing it, although now that I think of it I'm wondering exactly what they call the separation status from the military when someone is KIA...or even dies from natural causes. If they aren't "retired from service" or "discharged from service", is there some other formal designation for someone who "left the service" due to death (whatever the cause)?

[@26th_Primarch]

Its design was ahead of its time. Look at the design for the new F36

[@VisibilityFoggy]

In fairness, the F-36 is a plane that does not, and never will, exist.

[@316automotive9]

The F9F was a Grumman design, not Vought as you stated.

[@craigwall9536]

Glad someone else caught that. I didn't want to watch this twice.

[@renecordova6349]

I saw them flying over my small town in Texas in the early '50's. I wondered why they quit flying. They were beautiful! The 'flying wing' also flew over Texas about the same time.

[@diegoviniciomejiaquesada4754]

I wonder if this plane was the inspiration to Shoji Kawamori to create the "VF-9A Cutlass" on the Macross Universe.

[@schrodingersgat4344]

His would have been better conceived.

[@johnassal5838]

It's the first aircraft to show hints of the layout used by the F14, 15 and many more. Of course they all had tails, better engines and no twenty foot beanpole for a nose gear. Nice idea but terrible, awful execution.

[@ChristianMcAngus]

Not really - it seems to be inspired by the Grumman X-29.

[@diegoviniciomejiaquesada4754]

@@ChristianMcAngus Maybe a Mixt of both? A lot of Kawamori's works were inspired by IRL planes... The VF-1 on the F-14, The VF-117 on the VF-17 Nightmare on the F-117 Nighthawk... And so on.

[@xray86delta]

These videos are great! I love forgotten history. Many of these Jets I remember, being a child of the sixties. These secrets about the Jets are fascinating!

[@wmfife1]

2:30 "The Cutlass had an avante-garde nose landing gear strut, that lifted the pilot's seat 14 feet into the air..." ...and a lot higher than that, when the landing was hard enough, sending the strut straight through the fuselage! Pilot fatalities attributed to this were one big reason for its cancellation.

[@SPak-rt2gb]

I read it was a dream to fly when everything worked. There is one being restored to flying condition by Al Casby in Phoenix AZ. the only problem he can't sub the engines the Cutlass was designed around that crappy engine.

[@EnterpriseXI]

Haven’t been able to find any updates on the restoration. Hopefully a more reliable and more powerful engine can be fitted

[@SPak-rt2gb]

@@EnterpriseXI He's stuck with those engine's the Cutlass was designed around those engine's the last I read he has plenty of those crappy engine's for spares everything else will be updated on the Cutlass and your right haven't seen an update in awhile

[@brianhaygood183]

@@SPak-rt2gb I wonder if the engines are actually OK for civilian service. Not flying in the rain would be a major problem still, but if you aren't trying to leap off a carrier or land within 100ft of the mark, you've got a lot more leeway. So, gutless might be OK. Unreliable is never OK.

[@SPak-rt2gb]

@@brianhaygood183 You are correct that's what he pretty much said. Look up Project Cutlass for details press leave a comment and read what he's done so far.

[@SPak-rt2gb]

@@EnterpriseXI Have you looked up Project Cutlass, press leave a comment and read what he's done so far

[@dougcastleman9518]

Was a good video until the very end..."replaced with the Vought (sic) F9F Cougar..." that was a Grumman design, developed from the earlier Panther. I've talked to pilots who flew this F7U, and one who is rebuilding one to fly again now, and they say the biggest problem was the underperforming engines, which was a big problem with most of the first generation jet fighters.

[@tuc-dh4df]

Love to see this guy ordering lunch with that voice!

[@olwesdesperado8676]

I want a double cheese burger with coke combo, no pickles or onions.

[@riproar11]

@@olwesdesperado8676 Who ever eats a burger without pickles or onions ???

[@florbfnarb7099]

@@riproar11 - Criminals and reprobates.

[@billsmith5166]

I'd forgotten all about the Cutlass. Thanks for the vid!

[@nitehawk86]

Cutlass Supreme :)

[@Zuloff]

When I was a kid growing up near Griffith Park in LA circa 1970's I liked the Cutlass left to slowly deteriorate outside at Travel Town. Looked so futuristic. In the 90s somebody finally realized how rare it was and when the City of LA wanted to clear out the 3 planes at Travel Town it was taken by the Navy for restoration. That late model F7U-3M is now in the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola. Reading test pilot accounts of how underpowered it was showed the gulf between airframe and jet engine progress in the early 50s. The F7U was a jet that if you weren't careful you could get behind the power when low and slow in the pattern and full throttle couldn't save you. It also wreaked havoc as an afterburning jet on wooden deck carriers.

[@henryhunt3331]

In 1953 at nas Memphis I was walking to lunch when two f7u’s departed . The lead got off and made a long gentle left turn out of the immediate area and the number 2 made a “high performance” takeoff with a tight turn between the control tower and the air station water tower attempting to join up with number one and stalled, rolled inverted recovered momentarily caught a secondary stall, rolled inverted and impacted the Am school ad building where five minutes previous had been occupied by about nine hundred schools troops being marched to the north side chow hall. The staff remaining in the building were the only victims beside the pilot. excerpt for a woman who survived with bad burns. I got involved trying to help to no avail as the ac tanks were full and the resulting fire was devastating. I was put on report by the JOD for having my sleeves rolled up at the crash seen The poor pilot never had a chance when he lost it low and slow behind the power curve. . We didn’t know at the time how critical high angle of attack high sink rate was .

[@donaldsalkovick396]

Your videos are always interesting. Thanks for taking the time to research and share

[@TheSirianKnight]

How this wee Beastie ever got into production as a CARRIER FIGHTER is totally beyond me! It was a moment of UTTER MADNESS in the history of Aircraft design!

[@bf3and4highlights83]

It looked good on paper.

[@toddforstmann5046]

It was good on paper. The shitty Westinghouse engines weren't. This guys channel is full of shit.

[@Gorilla_Jones]

It didn't look good, ever.

[@einautofan6685]

It looked good, but the engines were shit and not powerful enough, back then...

[@florbfnarb7099]

6:40 - Wait, how did he have a copilot? The F7U was a single-seat plane. If you mean there were two pilots flying planes, say so; the other guy in another plane isn't the first guy's copilot.

[@rEdf196]

I bet the F7U Cutlass was the inspiration for the Viper fighters in the sci fi epic Batllestar Galactica.

[@bigbob1699]

I remember this jet being on the cover of my father's Naval Proceeding magazine and many others .

[@alonespirit9923]

Ahh, Proceedings of the US Naval Institute; Dad subscribed to that while he was in Navy during cold war. Fascinating reading. Great photography.

[@SpeckleKen]

1:13: _”Vought... They were the first company to develop a carrier-capable aircraft.”_ The Vought VE-7 wasn’t ready for delivery to the US Navy until 1920. Doesn’t this put Vought around 3 years behind (e.g.) the British skid-undercarriage Sopwith Pup and the Beardmore W.B.III?

[@miketanner7943]

I really appreciate that you read aloud the captions in your videos. I am partially sighted and have difficulty reading them, but I LOVE all the videos on all your "Dark" channels.

[@nicksyrmis5964]

God you need balls of steel to fly that piece of 💩💩💩

[@sw8741]

@@nicksyrmis5964 I love youtube for the clowns. Whats your next trick?

[@aon10003]

This is very close to some ideas of future fighters.

[@darrellcook8253]

Bigger intakes with bigger engines and mor reasonable landing gear might have helped this to become a classic instead of a klutz...might make a good rc model though.

[@BlueAngelPhantoms]

Great summary of the Blue Angels’ experience with this jet during the first half of their 1952 season.

[@rapperc18]

I helped escort one of these down to Williams gateway airport in Arizona. The buyer is an air force pilot and he is restoring it so he can hopefully fly it around the country in a year or two!

[@thestrangegreenman]

Good heavens, after watching this video, I hope he's a careful and skilled pilot!

[@emmachamberlain7587]

He don,t expect to have a long life span then ! surely theres better ways to commit suicide than rebuilding that thing.

[@rapperc18]

His military resume is damn good. He knows the risk flying this plane and he knows he is crazy for doing it.

[@joeylawn36111]

Later, Vought came out with the F8U, which was an excellent fighter.

[@cunn9305]

#MigMaster :D

[@charleswilson7371]

The "Mig Master" it was called. Outdid any jet in the Vietnam war.

[@jerryroberts9672]

I lived in Honolulu when I was a kid. I thought there were the coolest thing flying. My dad that was a Airforce pilot told me they weren't to popular. I was heart broken.

[@davidnewcomb9306]

@@jerryroberts9672 F8U pilots LOVED the Crusader. it had an excellent record in Vietnam and would have done even better but the North Vietnamese began to avoid it bc it was so lethal.

[@jerryroberts9672]

@@davidnewcomb9306 I was a kid watching them fly over Pearl Harbor and thought they were the coolest thing on earth. I was heart broken with the news from the old man. To this day I too think it was an excellent design but with so many things that are not conventional, they are finished. I always watched them flying over the house and this is more than likely one of the reasons I have spent thirty years in aviation. I'm thank full of your response. JR

[@raymondwilliams2609]

This is an aircraft only a Mother could love.

[@DrOlds7298]

My late Mother actually was one of the workers who built this turkey!! Worked at Chance-Vaught (Later LTV,then General Dynamics,then Martin-Marietta. Plant now closed.) in Grand Prairie,Tx 1951-55(?) adjoining the old NAS Dallas. (aka Hensley Field,also now closed) There is actually one of these planes that went down in Mountain Creek Lake just south of the two (Takeoff/Landing sometimes was over this lake) that is a 'navigation hazard' for boaters/skiers. It's a bit south of the Mountain Creek toll bridge (built 1966?) that connects Dallas & Grand Prairie. For years,when the water level was low enough,the tail was visible,and the plane could be seen just below the surface of the water. Believe the tail finally rotted away in the last few years? Also IIRC an A-4 Skyhawk and a couple of prop trainers down in the lake,too? (and rumors of 'maybe' a Corsair?)

[@DinoNucci]

I can't believe, every week I learn about ANOTHER plane I had no idea existed

[@mickvonbornemann3824]

With that wing configuration I think the Cutlass could’ve done with a pair of canard foreplanes added to the front. The added lift at the may have ment it would not have needed such a high angle of attack during take off. Meaning a hopefully safer more conventional landing gear & thus safer landings. It really isn’t rocket science.

[@robertwarner5963]

Canards did not become practical until SAAB started manufacturing their Viggen during the 1960s. Viggen was the first canard to enter production and service. Viggens served the Swedish Air Force well for many years. Viggen had a unique double delta wing that was copied by the current India HAL Tejas. Tejas is one of the few flying wings or deltas to complete carrier trials.

[@alouiciousjackson5812]

So a good design ruined by bad execution and even worse engines... just like the F-14.

[@Thejoshrandall]

WTH!? the tomcat dominated air supremecy for 3 decades

[@dannycolwell8028]

Yeah wasn’t the f14 in service for a long fuckin time? Did they fix the issues ?

[@johnscanlon7757]

@@dannycolwell8028 shit they are still in the air for the Iranian Air Force

[@robozstarrr8930]

..... owned a '71 Cutlass . . . was also Gutless! Cheers

[@sd906238]

I talked to an old navy pilot and he told me of all of the different planes that he flew. I asked which plane he disliked and liked the most? He said the F7U was the one he disliked the most and the FJ-1 Fury was the one he liked the most.

[@billgund4532]

I wonder how the F-7U would be with today's power plants & fly by wire technology?

[@ordikaskirita5234]

Would be an interesting exercise first flight would have to be drone setting.

[@walterward8019]

My father retired in 59. PAX was his last station. Master chief USNA. His thoughts cannot be repeated here. I was 6. he passed away 2002. He joined in 1939. God rest his soul and bless him for all the HELL he must have witnessed yet still came out a God-fearing man and a great father. let us not forget 99 percent of Navy piolets during WW 2 never came home. During that war. I found that stat. at different site. 🤔

[@georgebarnes8163]

I think the Starfighter owns the title of the most dangerous jet ever flown.

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

Actually, there are worse.

[@joemichaels6735]

The Canadian Avro Arrow was an excellent jet fighter and way ahead of it's time.

[@paoloviti6156]

Very interesting video on the F7U Cutlass as I never seen the footage about this futuristic airplane but I believe that it was much rushed the whole project and it's production in order to precede the competition with new designs already being developed. I sniggered that Vaught denied that there was no connection with nazi aerodynamic design and projects when virtually all the aereo industries was based on their research including hiring German engineers and designers! That said I didn't know how dangerous the F7U actually was despite having very advanced features but was also underpowered suffering flame outs...

[@OffGridInvestor]

"Hiring german engineers and designers". They kinda didn't have a choice if they were part of operation paperclip.

[@alonespirit9923]

A Cutlass with a copilot? Now that is a _really_ special Cutlass ... "06:27 In a strange turn of events, a Vought F7U Cutlass was the first aircraft to land on a new runway 06:32 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. 06:34 While traveling to a show at Glenview Air Station in Chicago, Blue Angels 06:38 pilot Lieutenant Hardin MacKnight was flying a Cutlass when he experienced an engine flameout. 06:43 Thankfully, Lieutenant Feightner was his copilot, and he was no stranger to Cutlass difficulties."

[@dispostu1]

I think Whitey Feightner was his wingman.

[@NavyCWO]

Really neat looking aircraft. Unfortunately seriously underpowered. I knew a couple of Naval Aviators who flew it and they referred to it as the "Gutless Cutlass".

[@lawrencemarocco8197]

Supposedly, pilots said the Westinghouse engines put out less heat than their toasters. And it was reported that they flamed out in the rain.

[@buddymack9606]

slow the video down in order for the narration to sound normal

[@chrisambrose8838]

My first control line flying model was this airplane! It was also a great flying airplane because of the big wing! It had a .049 engine on it.

[@jpslayermayor9293]

With the tailless designsNavy/Vought got ahead of the technological abilities of aircraft of the day , its not that this is a wholly inappropriate design but it is inherently unstable and requires computer control to prevent instability from quickly leading to spins and stalls. Tailless military aircraft are common today and examples of some our best designs with outstanding performance including: Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, Grumman B-2 (Stealth)bomber, Grumman B-58 Hustler, North American XB-70 Valkyrie, Delta Dagger and many other Delta winged aircraft)

[@Theogenerang]

Vought had a pretty rough early run with jets when you add this to the Vought Pirate but to be fair both needed better engines. They made amends with the A7 and the F8.

[@tarmaque]

I always thought the F8 and its smaller brother the A7 were strangely beautiful aircraft, in a kind of brutal way. Particularly the A7 which is the definition of simple but effective. With a modern engine and avionics, I suspect it would be a competitive ground support aircraft even today. The canceled prototype supersonic YA-7F with a more powerful engine was even putting some fear into the F-16. (Which is probably why the program was canceled.) The Air Force wanted it to replace the A-10 which was/is considered too slow.

[@Theogenerang]

@@tarmaque I always thought the YA-7F would have been an export success with that performance. Makes you wonder what the Cutlass would be like if the airframe was tweaked and fitted with modern engines, hydraulics and avionics.

[@tarmaque]

@@Theogenerang There's a couple problems with the Cutlass aside from the underperforming engines and hydraulic systems. Primarily the thing could use some canards, and the landing gear was atrocious. That tall front wheel for instance was to compensate for the lack of a tail to bring the nose up on takeoff, which decent canards would have solved a lot better in addition to giving it better handling. It was a design from a time when tailless aircraft were not well understood, combined with still rather primitive jet engines.

[@david39348]

I remember as a child a F7U Cutlas was parked on static display at Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale Florida. I spent a lot of time climbing and playing on the thing.

[@lucifermorningstar4548]

Love this plane.

[@superskullmaster]

One of my favorites as well.

[@neves5083]

Everyone loves

[@26th_Primarch]

I love this jet

[@mikhielthorsson6033]

I like the looks, except when it's on the ground. You can tell the nose is way too high for safe carrier landings.

[@John-bz2rp]

As a youngster, I had a small model of a Cutlass. It was maybe 2 or 3 inches long and came in one piece. (sort of like a matchbox car) There were several other types in the set, but the Cutlass is the only one I remember because it was so different.

[@edgarcook9607]

That was the Hawk Company's Identification set. F84F, F7U, F9F, XF-92A, and a straight wing F-84 were included. 1954. Exceedingly rare item now. Of course my set is next to my laptop.

[@Bellthorian]

I always wondered if it had a proper engine developing 8,000 pounds of thrust would the cutlass be remembered differently.

[@mahbriggs]

Probably not if the hydraulics and landing gear problems were not addressed. I remember reading several different biographies of Navy pilots and test pilots who had experiences with the Cutless, none of them good.

[@Sarge714]

Both the F7U and F4D were tailless in an attempt to solve pitch stability issues at high transonic speeds aircraft of the time were experiencing. This was solved by the Bell X-1 by fixing the elevators in place and using the entire horizontal stabilizer for pitch control (aka Flying Tail). This is why the F-86 could out turn a MiG-15 at high speed (Flying tail vs Elevators). Of course, at lower speeds the lighter MiG-15 could out turn/climb the F-86. Looking forward to the F4D video. Once they implemented the new aft fuselage design it was pretty amazing. I think at the time it was the only aircraft that could reach a B-57 at the high altitudes it flew at. :-)

[@jfan4reva]

I've read that the MIG-15 didn't have boosted controls like the F-86, so Ivan had to pull REALLY hard on the stick, while Joe America could just flip the stick around.

[@Sarge714]

@@jfan4reva Every F-86 Pilot I talked to says flying the F-86 is like pure sex. :-)

[@mrb.5610]

Amateurs ! The contemporary Brit Sea Vixen had an accident loss rate of *38%* ....

[@prowlus]

And the Scimitar at least 80%

[@Iamtherealjerkfreak]

Ben Foong 51% for the scimitar! 39 out of 76!

[@mrb.5610]

@@Iamtherealjerkfreak That's not good .... !

[@samcostanza]

The F9F-8 was a Grumman aircraft. The next Vought naval aircraft would be the F8U Crusader, The Last Gunfighter.

[@earlw9172]

Willow grove NAS had one in their collection .I have my picture as kid standing in front of it when it was outside on display many years ago .

[@TheMaximus2111]

I was by there recently, they still have it! I grew up around the NAS (when they still flew the Cessna Tweets (Dragonflys) out of there, before the A-10s came in).

[@TheBullethead]

The F9F was Grumman, not Vought. The way pre-unification USN naval aircraft designations worked, the 1st 1 or 2 letters was the job (in this case, F for Fighter), the number following was the sequential design of that type from the company building it (after the 1st--there was no 1 in this system, only 2+), and the last letter was a code for that company. "U" was the company designation for Vought, so the F7U was the 7th naval fighter design by Vought. "F" was the company designation for Grumman, so the F9F was the 9th naval fighter from Grumman.

[@paulberkebile5562]

One correction to your closing comments. The F9F-8 Cougar was made by Grumman; I think you meant the Vought F8U Crusader.

[@bobw7066]

I think that the main reason that it was a dud because it was that the fuselage was to short with the back trying to overtake the front, this is also why quad bikes and short wheelbase 4x4's handle like pigs.

[@fazole]

In the early days of jet aviation, tech was moving so fast that a lot of aircraft were obsolete in 2-3 years.

[@sarjim4381]

This was not an issue with the aircraft being obsolete. It entered squadron service in 1954 and was pulled out of service in 1959. No other Navy jet fighter had a service life that short, and it was because so many planes had crashed and pilots had been killed the the plane was considered positively unsafe for any further service.

[@mutantplants1]

Don't speed up the audio! I tried watching but couldn't get past the first 30 seconds.

[@KapiteinKrentebol]

Aka F7U Guttless, Ensign Eliminator, Lead Sled, etc. Still, I like to have a model of this plane.

[@TheDkeeler]

Mistake at the end says the F7U Cutlass was replace by the Vought Cougar with footage showing the Cougar . The Cougar is a Grumman aircraft. The Cutlass was replaced by the Vought F-8 Crusader a highly successful naval aircraft for Vought.

[@pauld6967]

It is a shame to hear about these operational problems as I have always liked the look of the plane. Clearly too far ahead of its time. I bet if you put modern avionics, engines and mechanicals into the airframe it would definitely meet the original requirements.

[@kwhp1507]

That lonely tire rolling away from the plane just made my day!

[@emmachamberlain7587]

Even the tyre knew it was time to bail out of that crazy thing !

[@PenzancePete]

The original Westinghouse powered F3 Demon was also an underpowered turkey that killed too many pilots.

[@BeechSportBill]

There was a Cutlass parked in a hanger at the Ephrata Airport in the late ‘90s.

[@rodgerhecht3623]

These fly awesome as a RC model, too bad the full scale had so many issues.

[@alphakky]

And from the ashes of the F7U, the following fighter from Vought was the F8U Crusader.

[@bitcoiler5477]

Love this jet, I made a model of it.

[@pauliedweasel]

There used to be a F7U on static display in a park next to Travel Town in Los Angeles but it was irreparably damaged when a large tree fell over in a heavy rain storm and tore one of the wings off.

[@edwordwhy9491]

Vought's next aircraft after the F7U Cutlass was the F-8 Crusader, Grumman made the F9F.

[@jerryshepherd9132]

What is not mentioned is how highly maneuverable the F7U was. It could outfly most anything else in the sky.

[@seanbigay1042]

... assuming it could actually get into the sky. Or stay there.

[@stetsongray5355]

Seems like the plane was good, just needed better engines

[@KapiteinKrentebol]

The engines weren't its only problem, it's hydraulics were unreliable, it was structurally flawed, it had control issues with it's no tail design to mention a few.

[@barryervin8536]

It needed more powerful and reliable engines and quite a few other improvements. The basic airframe was sound though and the tailless design wasn't really a problem.

[@SSO_Zacharia]

Is Dark Skies and Dark Footage the same?