Crusader Finale
Memories of the RF-8 Crusader

Photo Courtesy Lee Schalon

Webmasters message: It's no surprise to me that the Chance Vought RF-8 Crusader has captured the admiration of aviation fans all over the world. Decades after it's retirement from service, the Crusader continues to generate interest. It was a great pleasure for those of us who flew and maintained this marvelous machine.

• Ray Dunkin, my OINC, took some small arms fire in the wheel well area. The nose gear comes down, and one main mount. Rather then take him in the barrier, the boat elects to send him to Chu Lai, where the Marines had recently gone ashore, and were using the MOREST and field based catapult while they were pouring concrete. He makes a normal arrested landing, with minor damage to the outer wing panel. He gets out of the cockpit, and talking to the Marines - waiting for the cherry picker to come and get the aircraft out of the gear. He then notices the Marines are putting a cable around the tail of the aircraft - starts to get a little nervous. He then sees what turns out to be the Marine Corps version of the cherry picker disguised as a 20 ton cat. Painted Marine Corps green. He is really getting nervous now. He gets rather excited when they hook the cat up to the cable. Starts to get mad, and is yelling at the Marines. To no avail. The Marines calmly drag the RF8 out of the gear and into the side area. A total loss. Ray was not a happy camper.
  
  Incidentally, I assume you saw the movie, 13 Days. The RF8's flying were digitized copies of actual RF8's in flight, taken from 8 mm film. I was in the lead aircraft, and a gent named Johnson was in the wing RF8. We had gone down to Meridian on a cross country to see his brother. His brother took the pictures during a section go.
  
  Scott Ruby
  
  [Webmaster's Note: The "gent" was Johnny Johnson and the brother taking the 8mm film was Dave Johnson, Webmaster of the "Gunfighter's site" (see our Links Page).]
  
  
• I lost all oil pressure over Haiphong in 1966. NATOPS sez if you set the throttle at 86% the engine might run another 15 minutes. That baby ran 40min and got me back aboard. I title that story "How I Came To Love Mr. Pratt & Whitney". -- Len Johnson
  
  
• Not all were combat losses! Bob White sends:
  Shelled out of 146897 on cruise fly-off - JUN 1981. Turbine failure. Dink was on my wing. The bird had been converted to an RF-8G. Thought I'd be one of the last but another guy shelled out 10 days later - Gary Tritt. I think we were the last Martin Baker worshipers.
  
  
• Gary Tritt adds:
  I flew the RF-8G in VFP-63 during 63's last active duty years. Joined 63 in 1978 and did 2 cruises on the Coral Sea with VFP-63 Det 2. Heck, I was the last guy on active duty to punch out of a Crusader but I believe Strong from the reserves was the last Crusader ejection when he punched after takeoff from Miramar.
  
  
• J.J. Olsen sends some more photo history:
  I flew the RF8A (F8U-1P) in VCP-63's Detachment Alfa onboard U.S.S. Midway during what I think was the first deployment of the RF8A, Aug 58-Feb 59. Our birds were BuNo's 144617, 144623, and 144625. I carqualed aboard Midway on 2 June, 1958, and deployed with Detachment Alfa in August.
  
  The other pilots in the Det besides myself were:
  
  Lcdr Len Derse (d)
  Lt. Don Lytle
  Lt Bob Thalman
  
  We had the very first CAX-12 Photo Recon cameras and processing equipment aboard Pac Fleet ships and we had some of the early operating problems and experiences with that system.
  
  The RF8A was a marvelous machine and a good friend for many years.
  J.J. Olsen, Cdr USN (Ret)
  
  
• Len Johnson may have made the last trap in a US Crusader:
  While cruising the web links, I came across the "official and unofficial 'lasts'' site. Am wondering when the last F8 trap was, since I might hold the distinction of making it. The date was February 27, 1983 aboard the Kitty Hawk. I flew a VFP-306 aircraft BUNO 145623.
  
  The event was catapult suitability trials off the southern CA coast. They were verifying the launch book figures for how much the F8 could be launched off-center, among other things. I remember the off-center part because I had some wild rides down the cat. I had the pattern to myself and an open deck. I made seven arrested landings and eight catapults, one after the other. I had come aboard on the previous evening. It was my first carrier landing since F4/VF-102 days on the Indy in 1973 and my first in an F8 since Shang cruise in 1968.
  
  Airborne time between launch and recovery was probably a minute or less. The whole thing took less than 30 minutes and I was launched off for Miramar and Andrews, our home base, my carrier aviation days history. It was a fun way to end - kind of like a July 4 fireworks grand finale.
  
  

The Last (four?) RF-8 Crusaders at the Boneyard (AMARC)



• (squadron,tail code, air group/base,nose number, arrival year) RF-8G BuNo 146845 -(VFP-63, PP, 923), (VFP-63, NP, 603, 1971), (VFP-306, *, 605, 1978) Retired to Davis-Monthan AFB on 9/25/1984. Photo: May 19, 2004: Copyright: Bill Spidle (approval requested). Contributed J.J. McKenna



• (squadron,tail code, air group/base,nose number, arrival year) RF-8G BuNo 145633 -(VFP-62, AJ, 905, 1966), VFP-63, NL, 712, 1967), (VMCJ-4, 5D, 42, 1971) Retired to Davis-Monthan AFB on 3/27/1987. Photo: May 19, 2004: Copyright: Bill Spidle (approval requested). Contributed J.J. McKenna



• RF-8Gs at AMARC These are the three RF-8G Crusaders which are visible just beyond the entrance gate at the start of the Pima Museum's AMARG tour. IIRC the tour guide stated that they were taking part in some type of experiment which perhaps accounts for the small boxes on sticks to one side?
  
  The center RF-8G is Bu.No 145633 which Fryer/Swann record as last operated by VFP-206 and retired in March 1987. The farthest RF-8G appears to be park coded 2F433 which would make her Bu.No 146845 last operated by VFP-306 as 'ND-604' retired in Sept 1984. Am unable to identify the RF-8G nearest the camera.
  
  Photo taken through the bus window on the 5th May 2008 - Michael Baldock. Contributed by: JJ McKenna



• RF-8Gs at AMARC And a second view of the three RF-8G 'Saders visible from the AMARG tour coach. Interesting that 145633's tail pipe is painted while the other two are natural metal.
  
  I think there was also an RF-8G on 'Celebrity Row' however I could only take photos from one side of the coach as it was completely full so missed that one. Photo taken through the bus window on the 5th May 2008 - Michael Baldock. Contributed by: JJ McKenna


[Webmaster's Note: To see Google Earth satellite photos of the Crusaders stored at Davis Monthan, click on the link: The Bone Yard -- Davis Monthan --]

The Late RF-8G's with the Improved P-420 Engine
A Hot Bird



• I got to fly the J and the late RF-8G's with the P-420: WOW. The photo bird had gotten heavier over the years but with the P-420 [engine] in it all that weight no longer mattered. It would blow through its 700 Knot or 1.55 M[ach] limit with ease, just like the old RF-8A would. The test hop profile was really something. That altimeter would spin like mad up to FL400 and then it would slip through Mach 1 in military while you were writing down all the numbers. Cannot have too much thrust! - Will Gray

Memories of the Two Seat Crusader
The "2 Sader" (TF-8A)



• I had three flights in TF-8A BuNo 143710 in 1964.
  
  From the rear seat you had the feeling that you were in a single seat because you could not see anything in the front seat and your forward view was totally unobstructed.
  
  The bird was lost due "MOTOR FAILURE" with Ken Fox (now deceased) as instructor pilot with a Filipino pilot. No serious injuries upon ejection. -- PJ Smith
  [Webmaster's Note: See additional comments on the accident below.]



• I flew TF-8A BuNo 143710 twice in April 1967, first with D.Z. Skalla, Assistant Director of TPS and a classmate from Class 25, TPS. Second flight was with Gary Wheatley, a School instructor. Location was Pax River; the airplane was attached to TPS at the time. I was a test pilot at NASA Langley Research Center and had requested a couple of fam flights because of an upcoming project: Direct Lift Control (DLC) on Approach and Landing, using an F8C modified to provide direct lift, jacking the airplane up and down with flap actuation. The pitching moment resulting from flap action was countered with auto UHT movement.
  
  NASA's interest stemmed from the then-active SST program - the SST designs had long, dense fuselages which made it awkward to modify the flight path on approach or to land. If the airplane was rotated upward with the conventional horizontal tail, analysis showed the CG would actually sink considerably before starting to climb. Vought had already modified this F8C for a Navy test program and further changed some elements for particular NASA requirements. I had flown the F8 at TPS; shortly before graduation, the students did a 4-flight mock NPE on an airplane never flown before and I got the F8. But the 2-flight fam in the TF was very helpful. The NASA Project went well - I flew about 200 ILS-type approaches and landings and the findings were all very positive. You could plant the airplane just where you wanted using only the DLC on top of the stick. --Jim Patton
  
  
• I was the last to fly the 2-seat [Crusader], affectionately nicknamed "The Football", designated the "NTF8A". As I was the only "real" F8 driver in the school [NATC PAX River] at the time I got to give the demo flights for the command and there were a lot of sub-sonic types who wanted to scream high and fast and that sucker would flat go. And as mentioned during some of these last discussions, it had the hot P420 engine which generated a lot of thrust because of the high EGT (1100+ degrees?) with ceramic coated turbine blades. From Hotdog Brown



• I think most of our Production Test Pilots flew the "Twosader".
  
  As a side note nobody wanted us to do a full scale Accident Investigation-:
  • Not NASA-"No need to investigate a one-of-a-kind"
  • Not Navy-"It belongs to NASA"
  • Not Vought-"Not part of the contract"
  • Not the PAF-" We don't care".
  
  
  So we cleaned up the debris from the farmer's field, salvaged the ejection seats, wrote the shortest accident report since WW1, and closed the investigation. As a side-bar that was the ONLY test of the escape system. See Dick Atkins for details. I was still on active duty when the Twosader was built. I was the Mgr. of System Safety for Vought when the accident occurred and I was in charge of the "investigation". [Capt]Frank L. "Fang" Liberato


[Webmaster's Note: There was no photo version and the gun ports were blocked off. See pictures of the TF-8A on "RF8 Photo Gallery" linked from "We Love Crusaders".]

Created on ... January 27, 2007