Hey there @BasherBenDawg8 !
Thanks a lot for your questions.
1: are there any images of it carry 4 sidewinders? Would they be carried on those double racks on the sides of the fuselage?
1: Couldn’t find a photo of it carrying both at the same time, but found this pic and this article talking about the Crusader carrying only 7 missiles with 3 of them being Sparrows/AIM-7 and the other 4 Sidewinders/AIM-9 https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-f-8-super-crusader-the-hot-navy-fighter-almost-replaced-20405
2a: would the top sidewinder be the Aim-9G or Aim-9D variant?
2b: What is the latest variant of the Aim-7 it’s expected to receive? Aim-7E or Aim-7E-2?
2: Given that the F-4 Phantom was chosen over the XF8U-3 in 1960, it was realistically only fitted with AIM-9Bs as 9Ds were only produced from '65 onward. regarding the AIM-7, it was realistically only the 7D, as the 7E were only produced from '63 onward, but it is not unreasonable to assume that could recieve the 9D and 7E for balance reasons.
3: Can it carry the Sparrows and Sidewinders together without any obstruction? The way you worded it as 3 sparrows “or” 4 sidewinders made it sound like it needed to sacrifice the sparrows or sidewinders for one another. Based on the location of previous sidewinder pylons, and the visual location of the sparrows on this variant I’d assume it isn’t a problem, but just wanted to double check.
3: Yes, all missiles all at once all the time everywhere
4: Countermeasures… didn’t see any mention of them in this post, I’m assuming none? Were they at least planned as the guns were?
4: Again, as it was passed over in favour of the F-4 (which also lacked countermeasures in its initial versions) it is likely that no countermeasures were fitted to the aircraft. Its still important to note that the F-8E, which had its first flight only a year later than the termination of the XF8U-3 program, its still possible that some were fitted, but so far I couldn’t find anything to validate this possibility as there apparently isn’t a single good picture of the planes underside and the large ventral fins block the view additionally. A RWR appears to have been fitted.
