Vought F6U Pirate Trivia

The F6U catapult hook mechanism (and hold back, not shown), located aft of the nose-landing-gear well, was retractable and covered by two access doors.

One of many changes during the Pirate's development was to add a link/case chute on the belly, directly under the catapult mechanism location, to channel the links and cases from two of the cannons aft, safely past the engine intakes.

So what happened to the catapult mechanism or its access? After more closely examining a picture of the F6U bailed to NACA up on jacks and a closeup picture of the chute itself, I realized that there were actually two side-by-side chutes, each mounted on one of the catapult access doors.

For more on the F6U and the Admiral kit: http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2013/03/vought-f6u-pirate.html