Aviation Naval Warfare Land Systems Small Arms Space By Flag By Year By Tag

North American FJ-1 Fury

1947 COLD WAR

History of the North American FJ-1 Fury

Like the United States Air Force (USAF) after World War II, the United States Navy (USN) benefited from the promotion of jet aircraft technology in the United States, Britain and Germany. The service has been slower to adopt carrier-based jets than its USAF brethren, but over time has produced generations of capable fighter jets.

One of the more overlooked achievements was the North American "Fury" series of FJs that emerged after the war, with limited production. However, the genre had a major influence on the design and development of the classic North American F-86 Sabre during the Korean War.

The jet technology of the war years revolved around the "turbojet", which the Germans first took to the skies in the famous Messerschmitt Me 262 "Schwalbe" fighter. The UK followed with the Gloster Meteor, while the Americans managed only a limited inventory of Bell P-59 Airacomets (66 built), then opted for the improved Lockheed P-80 Shooting Start - a total of 1,715 were produced Hunter.

Since jet technology is still in its infancy, there is always room for improvement in engine reliability, thrust, and durability, leading the West to greatly benefit from -wing technology based on collected German jet data and Sweeps.

Jets already represent what Americans call the future of air combat, and authorities are already laying the groundwork for a new fleet of jet fighters and bombers. A late-war requirement was to create a straight, jet-powered single-seat fighter, and the North American design was chosen from competing designs by Douglas and Vought. North America will forever be associated with the wartime achievements of its P-51 Mustang, but the propeller fighter had seen its technological end by the end of the war. The U.S.

Navy chose the North American template "XFJ-1" and ordered a prototype in late 1944. Three were completed and powered by a single General Electric J35-GE-2 turbojet engine rated at 3,820 pounds of thrust.

North America continued its design and production of the airworthy XFJ-1 prototype, which first flew on September 1, 1946. By then, World War II had ended and many military programs had been scaled back or stopped altogether.

The XFJ-1 was so advanced and needed that it was allowed to continue development. Not long after being satisfied with its new product, the U.S. Navy ordered 100 FJ-1s, nicknamed "Fury." These will be powered by Allison J35-A-2 turbojets with 4,000 pounds of thrust. Armed with a 6 x .50 6 x .50 Browning M2 Heavy Machine Gun - America's hunting tradition dates back to World War II.

All weapons carry approximately 1,500 x .50 caliber cartridges. The first deliveries began in October 1947, and the first recipients became the VF-5A squadron.

The order of 100 was subsequently reduced to 30 airframes, which were primarily used for development missions at Naval Air Station North Island, California.

The FJ-1 is not a long-term solution for the US Navy's jet fighter. It lacked many of the basic elements that are widely accepted today, such as folding and retracting wings. Folding wings allow space-constrained carriers to store multiple aircraft on a single ship, while swept wings provide proper performance and stability in high-speed flight.

Folding wings cannot be inserted into the Fury's straight attachment due to the dive braking span. To circumvent storage issues, engineers added a "nose down" feature to the nosebone, which allows the plane to be lowered in the front when stowed.

This alleviates some over-provisioning of aircraft on U.S. Navy carriers, but is not a popular solution overall. American aircraft carriers are also from the WWII era, and their planes do not have catapult launch support.

The Fury was able to lift off on its own power, but the take-off phase pushed the turbojet to its limit, and the climb was a slow process that was not suitable for carrier operationsespecially in an interceptor role.

Performance figures for the FJ-1 include a top speed of 547 mph, a range of up to 1,500 miles, a service ceiling of 32,000 feet and a rate of climb of 3,300 feet per minute.

The FJ-1 was never exported outside the United States and did not enter service until 1953. Its last flight was in the U.S. Navy Reserve, when U.S. Navy front-line units began receiving Grumman F9F Panther fighter jets, which North Koreans used in combat service in wars with U.S. Navy and U.S.

Marine Corps units ( 1950-1953).

In her short airtime, the Fury achieved several highlights - winning the Bendix Trophy competition in September 1948 and becoming the first US Navy carrier jet to achieve squadron strength fighter.

The related FJ-2, FJ-3, and FJ-4 Furies are swept-wing versions of the original FJ-1 with enough changes to be entirely their own aircraft designs. All are detailed elsewhere on this site.