FJ-2/3 Catapult Hook

The XFJ-2 had a fixed catapult hook and an uncovered barrier pickup in the front of a small recess immediately aft of the pickup.

Along with deepening the forward fuselage for a bigger inlet on the FJ-2 and even bigger on the FJ-3, the catapult hook was made retractable (but not covered) and the barrier pickup covered with a door. The FJ-2 and -3 had slightly different catapult hook recesses on the bottom of the forward fuselage.

FJ-2

View looking up and forward...

FJ-3

There may have been variations of this detail because the barrier pickup that was on the FJ-2s was initially present on the FJ-3s. See https://thanlont.blogspot.com/2009/09/when-rube-goldberg-isnt-enough.html