Crew:		one
Length:		54 ft 3 in	(16.53 m)
Height:		15 ft 9 in	(4.80 m)
Wing span:		35 ft 8 in	(10.87 m)
Wing area:		375 sq ft	(34.8 m2)
Weights:	empty: combat:	17,541 lb 29,000 lb	(7 956 kg) (13 000 kg)
Engine:		one Pratt & Whitney J57-P-20A afterburning turbojet
Performance:	range	990 nautical miles
Ordnance:	guns: rockets: mssiles: bombs:	four 20 mm Colt Mk 12 cannon eight Zuni rockets four AIM-9 Sidewinder two AGM-12 Bullpup upto 4 000 lbs (1 800 kg)
Used from:	F-8E F-8J	January 1964 April 1969

The F-8U first flew on 25 March 1955, the first delivery was in March 1957. The single-seat, single-engine daytime fighter, the F-8U was distinctive for its high wing with variable incidence to alter landing speed. It was the last Navy plane to be fitted with a gun for dog-fighting, leading to its nickname, The Last Gunfighter.

The Crusader was the aircraft longest used by VF-191, initially with the F-8E aboard the USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) for it's first deployment to Vietnam in January 1964 until November 1964. The F-8E was used for three more tours, once more aboard the USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31), from April 1965 to January 1966, followed by two aboard the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) from October 1966 to May 1967 and from December 1967 to August 1968.

During the last tour, USN LCDR John B. Nichols III, in the F-8E, shot down a North Vietnamese MiG-17.

The squadron then used the F-8J variant for it's all it's later deployments aboard the USS Oriskany (CVA-34), totalling four more tours to Vietnam and a final one to the Western Pacific from September 1975 to March 1976.

By the time the last delivery was made in January 1965, 1,264 had been accepted for the U.S Navy and Marine Corps and foreign military use, notably the French Navy. The Crusader was last reported in squadron by VFP-206 on 1 April 1987 at NAF Washington, D.C.

Vought F-8J Crusader
VF-191 Satan's Kittens
USS Oriskany (CVA-34)