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Model
Subject: Chance
Vought F7U-1 "Cutlass"
Kit Used:
1/70 Aurora, kit no. 496
History
of the aircraft modeled:
The Chance
Vought F7U Cutlass was the most radical fighter design ever to achieve fleet
service. The bold design of the Cutlass gave the Navy a pioneer airframe which
was to test and develop many systems that are still in use today.
The F7U was
the first tailless airplane to go into production in the United States and the
first jet fighter in the U.S. designed from the outset with afterburners. The
Cutlass was also the Navy's first sweptwing jet, its first with steerable nose
wheels and an irreversible power control system.
Design for
the Cutlass started in June 1945, and the tailless configuration was developed
in an attempt to solve the compressibility problems then being encountered by
such planes as the P-47 and F4U. These aircraft were experiencing the
compressibility phenomenon at around Mach .75 and since the F7U was expected
to operate in the neighborhood of Mach .9+, a solution was necessary. It was
known that at this high speed the downwash on the horizontal tail was causing
the nose to tuck under. Once this started the stick forces would become too
great for the pilots to handle. Since it was not possible to effect a trim
change large enough to give a negative lift coefficient, Vought decided to
solve the problem by eliminating the horizontal stabilizer.
The Navy
opened a 1945 fighter competition for a fighter capable of operating at 40,000
feet and 600 mph. In competition with twelve different designs by six
companies, the Vought V-346A was chosen the winner on June 25, 1946, and
designated XF7U-1.
The Navy
described the XF7U-1 as an experimental, tailless fighter designed for carrier
operations and equipped with two 24C turbojet engines. The principal features
included sweptback (35 degrees) wings of low aspect ratio, tricycle landing
gear, pressurized cockpit, and a fixed gun armament of four 20mm cannon. The
engine specification was changed to two Westinghouse J34-WE-32 turbojets by
the time of the initial flight.
The folding
wings were fitted with "ailevators" which combined the function of
elevators and ailerons. Since there were no landing flaps, leading edge slats
provided the low speed characteristics required for carrier landings.
Initially four speed brakes were installed in the XF7U-1. Two were of the
clamshell variety mounted on the trailing edge of each wing between the
fuselage and vertical tail, while the other two were located under the leading
edge of the intake ducts. The latter proved ineffective and were removed.
The XF7U-1
flew for the first time on September 29, 1948 and without the aid of
afterburners. This flight and those to follow were sufficiently promising for
the Navy to place an order for 14 production F7U-1 aircraft.
The fourteen
production F7U-1s were never put into squadron service. Two F7U-1s, 124426 and
124427, were assigned to the Blue Angels for use during their 1952 shows. The
Blues were flying F9F-5 Panthers at the time and the two Cutlasses were mainly
to be used as solo performers. The two pilots, Lt. Cdr. Edward L. Feightner
and Lt. Harding C. MacKnight only had their birds for a short time before they
were retired due to parts shortages. Other F7U-1s were used by the advanced
training command until they too ran out of parts. After the -1s were no longer
flyable, some were relegated to the Naval Air Technical Training Command,
where they were used as jet maintenance trainers.
In
retrospect, this unorthodox design, which took ten years to reach service
squadrons in the form of the F7U-3, proved too complicated and, more
importantly, did not offer the performance and dependability that its more
conservative contemporaries exhibited. Nevertheless, such forward looking
aircraft as the F7U laid the basis for more successful twin-tailed aircraft of
today, such as the Grumman F-14 Tomcat and the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18
Hornet. It could truly be called the Studebaker of jet fighter designs coming
out of the late 1940s and early 1950s, too far ahead in the design department
for the technology of the time.
About
the aircraft modeled:
Although the
Navy's Blue Angels Precision Aerobatic Team utilized Grumman F9F-5 Panthers at
the time, two Vought F7U-1 Cutlass aircraft, 124426 and 124427, were employed
for individual solo performances. They flew for only two shows of the 1952
season (Glenview, Illinois and Detroit, Michigan), but were forced to be
grounded for lack of spare parts.
There were
only 14 production "dash one's" made and with Vought having
introduced the F7U-3, a much heavier aircraft and totally different in
construction though still baring the appearance of the -1, parts were not
available for the former models introduced in 1950.
The subject
I have modeled (Bureau No. 124426), left the Vought factory in late 1951 and
was assigned to the U.S. Navy Blue Angels as an upcoming solo performer during
the 1952 season. This aircraft flown by Lt. Hardin C. MacKnight, along with
another F7U-1 flown by Lt. Cdr. Edward L. Feightner, excited audiences during
their two solo performances, particularly with their extremely loud
afterburners, something that was fairly new to the civilian in 1952.
When I saw a
picture of the two Cutlasses flying over the Dallas factory, in color no less,
I just had to build a Cutlass for my Blue Angel collection, of which this is
the fourth model completed.
The problem
I first encountered was finding a model of an F7U-1 Cutlass. There are plenty
of F7U-3s on the market by Fujimi, but where would I find a "dash
one". The help came from a model collector in Duxbury, Massachusetts. I
purchased an old Aurora kit (Kit No. 496) from this kind gentleman and
proceeded to start the kit upon its arrival.
Building
the model:
The
Cockpit
Needless to
say, there was no cockpit in the kit. As a matter of fact, the cockpit area
wasn't even open. There was a generic pilot's head and upper coaming area
molded into each fuselage half.
I cut out
the cockpit opening in the kit
and scratch-built a cockpit using a Matchbox F9F-5 cockpit as a reference to
go by. I used sheet styrene for the cockpit, instrument panel, and instrument
panel shroud. The seat was scratch-built out of sheet styrene using photos I
had of F7U-1 seats, which were made by Vought themselves. The pilot was rifled
from the said mentioned Matchbox kit.
I used
various decals for the cockpit sides and the instrument panel, these I took
from surplus decal stock. Radio equipment and other boxes were depicted using
auto striping tape and painted with a clear flat finish (I like to brush paint
Testors Dullcote, as it dries almost immediately).
I have had
other modelers tell me that the interior was a neutral grey, but in the photo
the ejection seat is more of a medium green, so I painted the interior with
Model Master Medium Green. The instrument panel, instrument panel shroud, and
cockpit sides from canopy closure line to canopy were painted flat
black.
The pilot
was painted with Polly S and Tamiya acrylics and given a black wash. The
helmet was painted a light blue that I mixed to match the photo I have and
goggles were painted black. After the paint dried I coated the helmet and
goggles with Johnson's FUTURE and applied a small strip of sanded black auto
striping tape for the goggles strap.
The seat was
painted medium green, with the headrest being painted Tamiya Hull Red and
given a light brushing of skin oil to semi gloss it. Rudder pedals were
simulated with two pieces of silver auto striping tape.
After I
cemented the pilot to the seat, I attached two small strips of masking tape to
the pilot and into two small slots that I had milled for the seat harness,
these being painted olive drab. The cockpit was sit aside for the next
adventure with this kit.
Fuselage
and Wings
Discounting
the landing gear pieces, which were not used, this kit had only 11 parts for
the entire assembly. I proceeded to sand every piece in the kit into a smooth
surface. Anyone who knows of these old kits can attest to the extent of
overexposing the control surfaces and rivets. Fortunately this kit was molded
with raised detail and it is much easier
to sand raised detail smooth, then to have to fill and sand recessed detail.
Something else I will have to give the kit maker
of this day, the plastic is much more user-friendly to sandpaper then
the plastic of today.
I was able
to sand all the sections in two days and then proceeded to rescribe lines
using photocopies of 1/72 scale plans that I had reduced from some 1/48 scale
plans that I was able to locate. This was done by first scribing the lines for
control surfaces, wing slats, landing gear doors, fuselage panels, and canopy
closure with a curved blade in a hobby knife. After I had cut the lines, I
then cut out the lines with a dentist's scraping tool, sanded to remove any
plastic raised in the scribing and then washed the pieces to remove any skin
oil or sanding grit.
I then drew
my attention to the air intakes and made baffles for both. The inner air
intake piece is actually three pieces of sheet plastic, one being shimmed
against another so that the entire assembly will fit the inside of the
fuselage, while looking right on the outside. The cannon gun ports were
drilled out and filed. I scratch-built the exterior vents mounted just below
and forward of the air intakes out of sheet styrene.
The vertical
stabilizers were cemented to their proper wing halves, filled with gel type
super glue, and sanded smooth. I used an accelerator here, as it made
the cement more sandable and I was not too concerned about the bond
(always check for air bubble pits when using an accelerator with this type of
cement).
I removed
the twin exhausts from the exhaust assembly and extended the rear section with
two pieces of sheet styrene. Exhaust protective pieces were also constructed
of sheet styrene, that I rolled with a piece of heated brass to get the
curvature needed (tape the brass where you are going to handle it), and
cemented to the exhaust assembly. Lastly two exhausts were cut from 1/4 inch
aluminum rod, these being thinned on the exposed edge by using a cone-shaped
cutting bit and cone-shaped sanding bit in a pin vise. These were painted
gunmetal, with a little more black added, on the outside and Testors Jet
Exhaust inside, then set aside for installation after the model was painted.
The exhaust
assembly was cemented to the fuselage halves and the entire assembly was wet
sanded to remove any abnormalities in the cemented joints. The wing/vertical
stabilizer assemblies were now cemented to the fuselage assembly and this was
also lightly filled and sanded.
The canopy
was useless in its molded form, but was useful in supplying me with a start
for a mold to stretch-form a new canopy out of clear butyrate. I filled in the
heavy molded separation line in the kit canopy with gel type super glue and
added three 2mm sections of sheet styrene to the bottom of the front section.
I then added strips of evergreen styrene and slowly built up a curvature in
the top of the canopy to match photos I had. After I achieved a curvature to
my liking, I filled in the strips liberally with super glue. I then wet sanded
the mold while constantly checking the fit and when the desired shape was met,
I polished the mold with two grades of Meguire's Mirror Glaze. After I had
polished the mold to my liking, I applied a coat of Johnson's FUTURE, attached
a piece of long sprue (4 inches will do) to the inside of the mold, and filled
the inside of the mold with epoxy to strengthen it during the stretch-forming.
Since I have
never got the hang of vacuforming anything with as much curvature as a canopy,
I use the heating element of my old Mattel Vacuform Machine and when the
plastic is properly heated I pull the heated butyrate up and insert my mold
into the butyrate as far as it needs to go to get the shape I'm after.
I always
make multiple pieces while I'm at it, as the canopies are very thin and easily
miscued in cutting if one is not exceedingly careful. The down side to this is
that any abnormality that exists on the mold will positively show through. If
really makes one appreciate the trouble cottage industries go through making
clear vacuform parts for modelers. After I had made the canopies, I chose the
first one that was cut out correctly.
Activating
rods for the rudder, trim tabs, and ailevators were constructed from 26 gauge
wire and cemented into predrilled holes. Underwing blade antennas were cut
from sheet styrene, painted, and set aside for assembly after the model was
painted and decaled. Likewise the antenna on the underside fuselage was cut
from 18 gauge wire, painted, and saved for installation later.
The small
bent antenna on the canopy section was cut from .005 stainless steel wire,
attached later, and painted after assembly. The pitot tube on the port
vertical stabilizer was constructed from a 25 gauge hypodermic needle and
stainless steel wire. The small bulge underneath the fuselage just ahead of
the gun ports is nothing more than a drop of epoxy.
The framing
on the canopy forward section was cut from sanded black auto striping tape
after the canopy was installed and cleaned up. I used the kit nose piece after
filling the attachment hole for the nose boom. (For some reason Aurora's kit
showed an F7U-3 on the box art and the kit's raised molding outlined the
rudders, ailevators, etc. of an XF7U-1.)
Painting
and Decaling
After the
canopy was installed and masked, I primed the entire assembly in neutral grey
primer. After this had dried for
two days, I rubbed out the primer with an old undershirt , filled any
abnormalities, and reprimed these areas. A day later I rubbed out the reprimed
areas and airbrushed three coats of Model Master Blue Angel Blue and set the
model aside for two weeks (its been very wet weather here).
After the
fortnight sabbatical, I polished the model with Meguire's Mirror Glaze #3
(their finest abrasive) and applied Bare-metal Foil to the three rear sections
of the engine/exhaust assembly. The foil on the two rear sections was coated
with Testors Dullcoat, as the photo I have shows this area as having a flat
appearance and the forward section as being polished.
The decals
are a mish-mash from three separate decal sheets. The number 7 on the vertical
stabilizers used two different numbers, 1 and 2, from SuperScale sheet 72-138.
The bureau numbers were individually cut from sheet 72-138; I had to invert
four number 5s to get the number 2s I needed. The underwing decals likewise
came from SuperScale sheet 72-138. This is strictly speculation on how the
underwing motif looked as I have no drawing, photo, or written authenticity as
to how it looked. It just looked right to my eye and I took artistic license
on this one. The U.S. NAVY fuselage decals are from SuperScale sheet 72-133. I
wanted to use some I had left over from the Blue Angels Bearcat I built, but
they were not large enough. The ones I utilized are correct in their length,
but a little tall in their characters. The Blue Angels logo decals are from
the Matchbox F9F-4/5 kit.
When the
decals had dried, I gently washed them to remove adhesive residue and coated
all exterior surfaces, saving the flat black anti-glare panel and the rear
exhaust assembly, with Johnson's FUTURE.
Wing
navigation lights were cut out previously and replaced with drops of epoxy.
After setting I painted the port wing light Tamiya Clear Red and the starboard
light Tamiya Clear Blue.
References:
-
COMBAT
AIRCRAFT OF THE WORLD, George
Rainbird Ltd., Marble Arch House, 44 Edgeware Road, London, W2, United
Kingdom, 1969.
-
Ginter,
Steve, CUTLASS: The Full Story Of The U.S. Navy's Most Unorthodox Fighter
Of The Fifties, AIRPOWER, Volume 13, Number 6, November, 1983, Sentry
Books, Inc. 10718 White Oak Ave., Granada Hills, CA 91344.
-
Gunston,
Bill, The Encyclopedia of the World's COMBAT AIRCRAFT, Salamander Books
Ltd., 52 James Street, London, W1, United Kingdom, 1976.
-
McGuire,
Jim, "A Pictorial History of the Blue Angels",
Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1115 Crowley Drive, Carrollton, TX 75011,
1981.
Caz
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