Made by Jam Handy in 1961 for the U.S. Navy, this film familiarizes personnel with the F-8U1P, the photographic version of the F-8U Crusader. The film presents many aspects of operating the cameras which, interestingly enough, can be activated using the “fire guns” button on the aircraft stick. The Vought F-8 Crusader (originally F8U) was a single-engine, supersonic, carrier-based air superiority jet aircraft built by Vought for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, replacing the Vought F7U Cutlass, and for the French Navy. The first F-8 prototype was ready for flight in February 1955. The F-8 served principally in the Vietnam War. The Crusader was the last American fighter with guns as the primary weapon, earning it the title “The Last of the Gunfighters”.
An early F8U-1 was modified as a photo-reconnaissance aircraft, becoming the first F8U-1P, subsequently the RF-8A equipped with cameras rather than guns and missiles. On 16 July 1957, Major John H. Glenn, JR, USMC, completed the first supersonic transcontinental flight in a F8U-1P, flying from NAS Los Alamitos, California to Floyd Bennett Field, New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8.3 seconds.
The unarmed Crusader was operated aboard carriers as a detachment (Det) from either VFP-62 or VFP-63 to provide photo reconnaissance capability as RF-8A proved ideal for the task of getting low altitude detailed photographs. During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, RF-8As flew extremely hazardous low-level photo reconnaissance missions over Cuba with overflights beginning on 23 October 1962. These were the first true operational flights of the F-8 Crusader. Flights of RF-8As, operating in several pairs of aircraft, with each pair assigned a different target, left Key West twice each day, to fly over Cuba at low level, then return to Jacksonville, where the film was offloaded and developed, to be rushed north to the Pentagon.
These flights confirmed that the Soviet Union was setting up IRBMs in Cuba. The RF-8As also monitored the withdrawal of the Soviet missiles. To keep score after an overflight, each aircraft was given a stencil of a dead chicken. The overflights went on for about six weeks and returned a total of 160,000 images. The pilots who flew the missions all received Distinguished Flying Crosses, while VFP-62 received the prestigious U.S. Navy Unit Commendation.
The RF-8 Crusader was a photo-reconnaissance development and operated longer in U.S. service than any of the fighter versions. RF-8s played a crucial role in the Cuban Missile Crisis, providing essential low-level photographs impossible to acquire by other means. U.S. Naval Reserve units continued to operate the RF-8 until 1987.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
