Monday, March 9, 2015

F8U Underwing Details

There isn't much to be seen under the wing of an F8U when it is raised, even the underside of the wing itself.

Note that there was only one actuator to raise and lower the wing (the F8U-3 had two).

The top of the fuselage can barely be seen although this is what it looks like with the wing removed, looking forward from the pivot point.
There's a lot of white overspray on this derelict fuselage. The forward bulkhead should be red. The duct on the right side is covered with a silver insulation. Some of the piping was green zinc chromate. There is also a red fuel filter or something along the right forward side.

Tom Weinel has done some research and concluded that the area was green up through the early 1960s (e.g. F-8Es) and then painted white during Navy overhaul at some point or when the F-8s were rebuilt by Vought.
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2 comments:

  1. Pat DonahueMarch 11, 2015 at 4:55 PM

    Was there a lock for the wing in case the actuator broke or malfunctioned? I am wondering if the dynamic pressure on the wing would tend to raise it if the system lost pressure?

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    1. TailspinMarch 11, 2015 at 5:14 PM

      The wing's center of lift was usually aft of the pivot point for the incidence change. As a result, the wing would normally be pressing against its down stop due to aerodynamic loads in flight. A pilot-actuated wing-down lock was added to the actuator early on. However, as far as I know, in every incident where the pilot pulled the wing off the airplane, the structural failure was at the pivot point, not at the actuator.

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