USS Yorktown - The Flight Deck - Take A Couple Chances

Two fantastic and historic aircraft from Chance Vought were on the flight deck.

 The A-7 Corsair II, often lovingly referred to as the SLUF (Short Little Ugly Fellow*).

A subsonic light attack, fighter, and tanker aircraft, the A-7 served in both the Navy and Air Force and with foreign militaries.

Interestingly, the A-7 never served with the US Marine Corps, unlike its famous predecessor in name, the F4U Corsair. 

The A-7 served in the US Navy from 1967-1991, and served on in the Air National Guard until 1993, and the A-7 continued to serve with the Greek Air Force until being retired in 2014.

This aircraft on the flight deck served with VA-147, the first Navy squadron equipped with the A-7 Corsair II in 1967.

The next Chance Vought aircraft on deck, parked right beside the A-7 is the F-8 Crusader.

The F-8 Crusader, often called the Last Gunfighter, as it was the last US fighter plane designed to have guns as its main armament, was a supersonic fighter. 

A variant, the RF-8, served as a photo-reconnaissance aircraft, most importantly during the Cuban Missile crisis.  

The fighter versions entered into service in 1956 and served in the Navy until 1976. The last photo reconnaissance variant was retired from the Navy in 1987 and the final F-8 aircraft in active service with a foreign power was retied from the French Navy in 2000.    Not a bad run at all.

Interestingly, the F-8 was the only fighter to carry the AIM-9C radar guided version of the normally heat-seeking Sidewinder missile.

The aircraft, while visually similar to the A7 is larger, has an afterburner, a greater angle to its swept wing, as well as a more pointed nose.

Again, the planes were tested and found to be well and truly Murphy-proofed.