The last Marine Corps Crusaders served with the 4th Marine Air Wing for multiple Reserve Squadrons. I was with active duty staff at the NAS Atlanta (Marietta) unit. Not sure when they were retired, but I was present when we were deployed to Griffis AFB, NY for exercises (I was an active duty Flight Line supervisor overseeing the reservists) when we had one shear a landing gear strut while on the runway prior to takeoff. Prompted X-raying of all remaining F-8's in the inventory. I think that was the beginning of the end for them.
Dobbins AFB/NAS Atlanta is a great place to watch aircraft! Sorry I missed the F-8 years there. I did get to see 4 A-7E's recover one afternoon after dogfighting some F-5's from Key West. The last Corsair aboard that day had to use the field arresting gear!
I think at one time the USAF used to fly 105's out of Marietta. Imagine them and F-8's launching at the same time! There was a little cemetery on a bluff overlooking Dobbins that was a great place to watch jets.
@@dmutant2635 actually in the early 70s they flew F-100s out of Dobbins. I think it was usaf reserve or national guard. We used to see them coming and going.
Yes, any maneuverable fighter is. Maneuverability and instability are two sides of the same coin. Constantly accelerating and decelerating when approaching, as one Crusader pilot put it. Many concessions to ease of operation have always been necessary to make the best warplanes in the world. Of course the Crusader’s unique variable incidence wing helped by giving the pilot good enough visibility to bring it aboard while at a high “angle of attack”.
It was notorious for its main gear failure on landing. On some of the smaller carriers like the Oriskany, there was little room for error between an OK3 and a ramp strike.
As an engineer, I understand that the variable incidence wing was to kept the fuselage horizontal on landing so the landing gear could be short, strong and light enough for a long fuselage as the F-8 one.
