Famous American Aircraft: Vought F7U-3 Cutlass

The Chance Vought F7U Cutlass was ahead of its time. In 1948, when it first flew, it could hardly have been more exotic or state-of-the-art: a tail-less fighter to be powered by two afterburning jet engines. It was not only to be carrier-based but also climb quicker and be faster than the Air Force’s new swept-wing North American F-86 Sabre. Developmental problems resulted in it taking too long to reach operational squadrons, which partly accounts for its relatively unsuccessful career.

The Cutlass was designed too soon to benefit from the discovery of the area rule, which doomed it to transonic performance in level flight. Similarly, its lack of a horizontal tail was intended in part to address the transonic pitch-control difficulties being encountered at the time but they proved to be avoidable with one. Unfortunately, no horizontal tail resulted in it not only being radical in appearance but also having challenging handling qualities at approach speed.

The F7U-3’s service introduction was also accomplished before the Navy perfected a rigorous process for transitioning pilots to new airplanes, particularly important in the case of the Cutlass and its unusual handling qualities, one of which resulted in a rare aeronautical phenomenon, the post-stall gyration. It was also first deployed before the introduction of the angled-deck concept that greatly reduced the degree of difficulty in landing high-performance jet fighters back aboard a carrier.

The F7U Cutlass did eventually join the fleet and deploy, albeit to mixed reviews. It is often unfairly included on shortlists of the world’s worst jet fighters. It was actually innovative in many respects. This new, detailed history of the development and operation of the type provides a more balanced perspective on what was a fascinating aircraft.

‘F7U Cutlass’ is the first of the new Famous American Aircraft series, setting new standards in detailed descriptions of some of most iconic and celebrated aircraft produced by the USA.

Author Biography

Before his post-retirement career as the author of several books, monographs, and articles on the U.S. naval aviation subjects, Tommy H. Thomason worked as an engineer, manager and executive in the aerospace community for almost 40 years, including two years as a flight test engineer assigned to the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II. Thomason graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a bachelor of Aeronautical Engineering Degree and received a Master of Science in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. Additionally, he earned an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. Thomason has an Airline Transport Pilot certificate and accumulated more than 3,000 hours of flight time in 80 different airplanes, helicopters, and sailplanes. He currently resides in Mystic, Connecticut.