Vought XF5U (USN Photo) The Vought XF5U “Flying Flapjack” was an experimental U.S. Navy fighter aircraft designed by Charles H. Zimmerman for Vought during World War II. This unorthodox design consisted of a flat, somewhat disc-shaped body (resembling a flying flapjack/pancake, hence its nickname) serving as the lifting surface.[1] Two piston engines buried in the body … Read more
Vought SB2U Vindicator (USN Photo) Vought-Sikorsky SB2U-1 “Vindicator”, Scouting Bombing Plane, 23 June 1938. Note, the “Tophatters” squadron insignia. The Vought SB2U Vindicator is an American carrier-based dive bomber developed for the United States Navy in the 1930s, the first monoplane in this role. Vindicators still remained in service at the time of the Battle of … Read more
Mount Pleasant, Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, 40 Patriots Point Road, 29464-4377. Most of the aircraft listed here are preserved onboard the USS Yorktown (CVS-10). The USS Laffey (DD-724) and the USS Clagamore (SS-343) are also preserved here. USS Yorktown (CVS-10), Patriots Point, Charleston Harbour, South Carolina. (Michael Forman Photo) (Ryan Pethick Photo) (Jim … Read more
New York Warplanes, Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum (Ajay Suresh Photo) USS Intrepid (CV/CVA/CVS-11), also known as The Fighting I, is one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during the Second World War for the United States Navy. She is the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name. Commissioned in August 1943, Intrepid … Read more
North American A-5 Vigilante (USN Photo) North American RA-5C Vigilante (BuNo. 156640) of Reconnaissance Heavy Attack Squadron 3 (RVAH-3) “Sea Dragons” in flight on 1 June 1976. The North American A-5 Vigilante is an American carrier-based supersonic bomber designed and built by North American Aviation (NAA) for the United States Navy. Before the 1962 unification of … Read more
North American FJ-2 Fury, FJ-3 Fury (Bill Larkins Photo) North American FJ-3 Fury (BuNo. 135850), of VC-3. The North American FJ-2 and FJ-3 Fury are a series of swept-wing and carrier-capable fighters for the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The FJ-2 resulted from an effort to navalize the North American F-86 Sabre operated by … Read more
McDonnell F-4 Phantom fighters preserved in the USA F-4A (F4H-1F) (Kathie Ulinski Photo) (BuNo. 148252), Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum, Horsham, Pennsylvania. (Author Photo) (BuNo. 145315), USS Lexington Museum, Corpus Christi, Texas. (Author Photo) (BuNo. 148261), NAS Oceana Air Park, Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia. (Adrian Brooks Photo) (BuNo. 148273), Air Victory Museum, Lumberton, New … Read more
(USN Photo) A McDonnell F2H-2 Banshee fighter (BuNo 124974) from fighter squadron VF-172 Night Owls, Carrier Air Group Five (CVG-5), being brought up to the flight deck aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Essex (CV-9) on 25 August 1951. The Essex was deployed to Korea from 26 June 1951 to 25 March 1952. Note the names … Read more
McDonnell F3H-2N Demon (NMNA Photo) McDonnell F3H -1N Demon (BuNo. 133492), 104 and F3H-2/F-3B Demon (BuNo. 146715), 105, Fighter Squadron VF-13 “Night Cappers” in flight. The McDonnell F3H Demon is a subsonic swept-wing carrier-based jet fighter aircraft designed and produced by the American manufacturer McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. It was the first swept wing jet fighter … Read more
McDonnell FH Phantom (USN Photo) USN McDonnell FH-1 Phantom (BuNo. 111793) in flight, 17 Feb 1948. 111793 is today on display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola, Florida. The McDonnell FH Phantom is a twinjet, straight-wing, carrier-based fighter aircraft designed and first flown late in the Second World War for the US Navy. … Read more
