Chance Vought
3 types · 0 airframes
Pre-1950 Narrative
The first incarnation of Vought was established by Chance M. Vought and Birdseye Lewis in 1917. Chance Vought produced thousands of planes during World War II, including the F4U Corsair. Chance Vought years 1917–1928 In 1917, the Lewis and Vought Corporation was founded by Lewis, an early aviator, and Vought, a former chief engineer of the Wright Company. They sought to take advantage of the growing field of military and civilian aviation after World War I. Operations began in Astoria, New York; in 1919, they moved to Long Island City, New York. After Lewis retired in 1922, it was renamed the Chance Vought Corporation. Vought made history in 1922 when the Vought VE-7 trainer made the first takeoff from the deck of the USS Langley, the first American aircraft carrier.
Aircraft Types
Vought F4U Corsair
The F4U Corsair is an American carrier fighter and fighter-bomber designed and built by Chance Vought around the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine, and recognised by its inverted gull wing. First flown in 1940, it served with the United States Navy and Marine Corps in the Second World War and again in Korea; Vought, Goodyear and Brewster together built 12,582, and production ran longer than that of any other American fighter of its war.
Vought F8U Crusader
The Vought F8U Crusader — redesignated F-8 in 1962 — was a single-seat, supersonic carrier fighter built by Chance Vought for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and the last American fighter designed with guns as its primary weapon. Its two-position variable-incidence wing let it exceed 1,000 mph yet still land aboard carriers, and 1,261 were built: 1,072 fighters and 144 photo-reconnaissance aircraft for the U.S. services, and 42 F-8E(FN)s for the French Navy. Photo Crusaders photographed the Soviet missile sites in Cuba in 1962, and over Vietnam the type was credited with 18 MiG victories against three air-combat losses. France, the last operator, retired its fighters in December 1999; the Philippines had flown second-hand F-8Hs until 1991.
Vought XF8U-3 Crusader III
The Vought XF8U-3 Crusader III was a single-seat supersonic carrier fighter built by Chance Vought as a fleet-defense interceptor and successor to the F-8 Crusader. First flown on 2 June 1958, it was faster than McDonnell's rival F4H-1 Phantom II and more maneuverable, but its lone pilot carried the whole intercept workload, and on 17 December 1958 the Navy chose the two-seat, more versatile Phantom. Five aircraft were built and three flew; the flown aircraft passed to NASA, which used them briefly, including sonic-boom measurements at Langley, before all were scrapped. No example survives.