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Hello everyone, I’d like to suggest the North American FJ-1 Fury for the US aviation tech tree in War Thunder. The FJ-1 Fury was the first operational jet aircraft in the US Navy to serve at sea under operational conditions. It was powered with one of the early turbojet engines and had a straight-winged and six 50 caliber machine guns. The design of the FJ-1 was very influential and led to the USAF’s evolution of the F-86 Sabre, which in turn formed the basis for the Navy’s carrier-based FJ-2/-3 Fury.
Key Characteristics
- Barrel-like-fuselage with a straight wing and frameless teardrop canopy
- 6 x .50-cal. M2 Browning machine guns
- Wing-tip tanks
- 4,000 lbf Allison J35-A-2 turbojet engine
History
The first FJ-1 Fury originated in a requirement issued by the US Navy in 1944 that called to supplement its first jet fighter, the McDonnell XFD-1 Phantom. Three aircraft manufacturer competitors responded to the USN with the Vought XF6U-1 Pirate, McDonnell XF2H-1 Banshee, and the North American XFJ-1 Fury. The USN ordered these four carrier-based jet fighters from late 1944 to early 1945, and it anticipated that these four fighters would be available in time for Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan.
The XFJ-1 was built as a thin-straight-wing, tricycle-gear fighter with a single General Electric J35 turbojet fed by an intake passing through the fuselage. It had a frameless teardrop canopy, and the cockpit was mounted high up in the fuselage to give the pilot excellent visibility. It was armed with 50 Browning machine guns mounted next to the air intake, making it the last aircraft ordered by the USN to use the type of guns as its primary armament. The XFJ-1 had a wing, tail assembly, and canopy that strongly resembled the piston-engined North American P-51D Mustang.
In May 1945, 100 FJ-1s were ordered even though the aircraft had not left the drawing board; however, the war in the Pacific ended sooner than expected. Effectively, the order for the FJ-1 was cut to three prototypes and 30 production aircraft, and the development began to slow down.
In September 1946, the XFJ-1 finally made its first flight on November 27, 1946. The deliveries of the production aircraft to the US Navy began in October 1947. Only a single squadron of VF-5A had become the first operational jet fighter squadron with its FJ-1 aircraft in the USN; this squadron was based at NAS North Island near San Diego, California. In addition, the FJ-1 made the first operational aircraft landing as a pure jet fighter at sea on March 10, 1948, aboard the Essex-class aircraft carrier, USS Boxer. The aircraft was also capable of launching without catapult assistance without a crowded flight deck, although this was later considered too risky for normal operations.
The production FJ-1 was powered by a 4,000 lb Allison J35-A-2 turbojet engine and did not use the folding wings because dive brakes mounted in the wings made them impossible. To compensate for that disadvantage, the engineers fitted it with a “kneeling” nose undercarriage, allowing the FJ-1 to be stacked tail-high close to another FJ-1. The aircraft even lacked pressurization and temperature control in the cockpit, making it very uncomfortable to fly. The VF-5A pilots also noted the flight performance of the FJ-1 was fairly poor when flying at its maximum gross weight, but it had comfortable flying characteristics. There were problems with the wingtip tanks, as they were too heavy for the thin wing. North American engineers attempted to redesign them, but the problem was never resolved.
Consequently, the aircraft did not reach mass-production status mainly because it was not very suitable for carrier service, and the much-improved aircraft with a longer and slimmer fuselage and the swept-wing design had entered development for the USN that would replace the FJ-1 sooner.
The VF-5A was later renamed as VF-51 and received more advanced Grumman F9F-2 Panthers in May 1949, so the FJ-1s were transferred to the USN Reserve units after just 14 months of being frontline fighters in service. They remained in training roles for another four years before retiring in 1953.
The US Air Force got interested in the Fury, so North American proposed a refined design to the USAF in 1945 while the FJ-1 was in development. North American had assured the USAF that they could build a much-improved aircraft derived from the FJ-1 basic design. This led to the development of XP-86 with the swept-wing configuration, the first of the Sabres, beginning to lay the lineage of the F-86 Sabres and FJ-2/-3 Furies.
Specifications
North American FJ-1 FuryGeneral Characteristics
- Crew: 1 (Pilot)
- Length: 34 ft 5 in (10.49 m)
- Height: 14 ft 10 in (4.52 m)
- Span: 38 ft 2 in (11.63 m)
- Wing area: 221 sq ft (20.53 sq m)
- Powerplant: Allison J35-A-2 turbojet engine
→ 4,000 lbf (17.8 kN) thrust- Empty Weight: 8,843 lb (4,011 kg)
- Design Gross Weight: 10,800 lb (4,899 kg)
- Combat Gross Weight: 12,824 lb (5,817 kg)
- Maximum Takeoff Weight: 15,600 lb (7,076 kg)
- Internal Fuel: 805 US gal. (3,047 L)
- Oil Tankage: 6.5 US gal. (24.6 L)
Jet Unit Ratings
Normal:
→ 3,350 lbf (14.9 kN) thrust @ 7,700 rpm @ sea level
Military:
→ 4,000 lbf (17.8 kN) thrust @ 7,700 RPM @ sea level
Performance
- Thrust-to-Weight Ratio: 0.31
- Sea level Speed: 587 mph (945 km/h)
- Critical Altitude Speed: 514 mph @ 35,000 ft (827 km/h @ 10,668 m)
- Stall Speed: 121 mph (195 km/h)
- Empty Fuel: 102 mph (164 km/h)
- Wing Loading: 58.02 lb/sq ft (283.28 kg/sq m)
- Takeoff Distance - Calm: 2,635 ft (803 m)
- Rate of Climb: 5,660 fpm (28.75 m/s)
- Time to Altitude: 12.7 minutes to 35,000 ft (10,668 m)
- Service Ceiling: 38,000 ft (11,582 m)
- Combat Radius: 610 miles (982 km)
- Combat Range: 1,496 miles (2,408 km)
Armament
- Guns:
- 6 x .50-cal. M2 Browning machine guns (250 rpg; 1,500 rounds)
Conclusion | Why it should be in the game
The North American FJ-1 Fury may appear to be a rather unremarkable aircraft for the US Navy, considering its raw flight characteristics. Although the FJ-1 only had seen a short-lived service, it became undeniable that the aircraft had laid the foundation for a line of much more notable and successful descendants. I was surprised to see this aircraft hasn’t been suggested for a long time in a while for War Thunder. I feel it would be a great aircraft to place between F8F/F7F and F2H-2 as a very early starter jet fighter, though its flight performance stats were very primitive compared to the F2H and F9F Panther. One should not get hopes up too high for its flight performance.
See Also
Sources
- AN 01-60JK-1 Pilot’s handbook for Navy Model FJ-1 (1 June 1948)
- FJ-1 Fury Standard Aircraft Characteristics (1 May 1949)
- North American FJ-1 Fury
- Sea Sabres; The North American FJ Furys - Forgotten Aircraft - Military Matters
- FJ-1 Fury: US Navy’s First Operational Jet - Jets ’n’ Props
- North American FJ-1 Fury Carrierborne Fighter Aircraft
- North American FJ-1 Fury - Wikipedia
Thank you for taking the time to read my suggestion! 😃