In September 1952, the Navy laid out for competitive bid by eight aircraft manufacturing companies the specifications for a new carrier-based fighter which, aside from normal requirements for easy maintenance, folding wings and a slow landing speed, also specified that it be able to exceed the speed of sound in routine level flight.
     Chance Vought won the bid with its F8U Crusader that incorporated a 42-degree swept-wing design to achieve the high speed requirement. The wing was also unique in providing a two-position, variable incidence wing which allowed the pilot to hydraulically raise it 7 degrees to enable the aircraft to land and takeoff at slow speeds while maintaining the fuselage parallel to a carrier deck or runway for excellent visibility by the pilot. Armed with four- twenty mm cannons, the F8U was a gunfighter and considered a pure air-superiority aircraft by its pilots. It was also capable of carrying an ordnance load of 4,000 lbs including AIM-9 "Sidewinder" heat seeking air-to-air-missiles, Zuni air-to-ground rockets and "Bullpup" air-to-ground missiles.
      Significant accomplishments by the F8U included a non-stop flight from an aircraft carrier in the Pacific to one in the Atlantic; a non-stop transcontinental flight speed record (723 mph) by a single engine aircraft set by Major John Glenn, USMC (later to become famous as an astronaut and U.S. Senator); participation in Lebanon patrol operations; and photo-intelligence flights during the Cuban missile crisis. F-8s were on-scene throughout the Vietnam conflict in photographic, strike and fighter roles and took credit for downing 18 MiGs. Eighty three Crusaders were lost in action while 109 sustained major damage.