This meant that normal recovery procedures did not apply to the Cutlass and the result was later confirmed in wind-tunnel testing. Morrey Loso found himself tumbling about in the cockpit in his tumbling aircraft after a stall, he found that when he let go of the control stick to reach with both hands for the ejection handle, the Cutlass self-corrected. Test pilots particularly praised its high roll rate of 570 degrees/s, three times faster than most production jets at the time. On the positive side, test pilots found it a stable weapons platform, maneuverable, fun to fly and the strengthened airframe to be sturdy. Test pilot (and later, astronaut) Wally Schirra wrote in his autobiography that he considered the F7U-3 accident prone and a "widow maker". The F7U-3 featured Westinghouse J46 engines, a stronger airframe larger by a third and extra maintenance panel for service access. On 20 December 1951, the F7U-3 version took off for its maiden flight. On 7 July 1950 Vought test pilot Paul Thayer ejected from his burning prototype in front of an airshow crowd. None of the 14 F7U-1s built between 19 became approved to be used in squadron service. The F7U was underpowered by its Westinghouse J34 turbojets, an engine that some pilots liked to say "put out less heat than Westinghouse's toasters." Naval aviators called the F7U the "Gutless Cutlass" and/or the "Ensign Eliminator" or, in kinder moments, the "Praying Mantis". The hydraulic system was not ready for front-line service and was unreliable. The hydraulic system operated at 3000 psi, twice that of other Navy aircraft. The aircraft had all-hydraulic controls which provided artificial feedback so the pilot could feel aerodynamic forces acting on the plane. The high stresses of barrier engagements, and side-loads imposed during early deployment carrier landings caused failure of the retract cylinder's internal down-locks, causing nose gear failure and resultant spinal injuries to the pilot. The very long nose landing gear strut required for high angle of attack takeoffs lifted the pilot 14 feet into the air and was fully steerable. Slats were fitted to the entire span of the leading edge. Pitch and roll control was provided by elevons, though Vought called these surfaces "ailevators" at the time. The design was given the company type number of V-346 and then the official designation of "F7U" when it was announced the winner of the competition. The cockpit was situated well forward to provide good visibility for the pilot during aircraft carrier approaches. The design featured broad chord, low aspect ratio swept wings, with twin wing-mounted tail fins either side of a short fuselage. The requirements were for an aircraft that was able to fly at 600 miles per hour (970 km/h) at 40,000 feet (12,000 m). Former Messerschmitt AG senior designer Woldemar Voigt, who supervised the development of numerous experimental jet fighters in Nazi Germany, contributed to its design with his experience in the development of the Messerschmitt P.1110 and P.1112 projects. Navy competition for a new carrier-capable day fighter, opened on 1 June 1945. The first F7U-1 launching from the carrier Midway in 1951 Over one quarter of all Cutlasses built were destroyed in accidents. The type was responsible for the deaths of four test pilots and 21 other U.S. Regarded as a radical departure from traditional aircraft design, the Cutlass suffered from numerous technical and handling problems throughout its short service career. The F7U was the last aircraft designed by Rex Beisel, who was responsible for the first fighter ever designed specifically for the U.S. It was a tailless aircraft for which aerodynamic data from projects of the German Arado and Messerschmitt companies, obtained at the end of World War II through German scientists who worked on the projects, contributed, though Vought designers denied any link to the German research at the time. The Vought F7U Cutlass is a United States Navy carrier-based jet fighter and fighter-bomber of the early Cold War era.
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