![]() ![]() ![]() The thing with the Hobbycraft Cutlass was that it had so many problems that I had no idea where to start from. Some braver souls tried to fix it and some got it to look a little better and closer to target. Most just put it away and forgot about it. Most modelers noticed it soon after they opened the box. I have no idea who the maker was and what references he used but the resulting model looks very little like an F7U-3. This is the case with Hobbycraft's Cutlass. Sometimes some model kits are just rough approximations of the intended subject. The Cutlass production ended in December 1955 with 290 F7U-3 Cutlass variants delivered in total. The F7U-3P Cutlass was the camera-equipped variant. Later in its life the F7U-3M version of the Cutlass was modified to carry four Sparrow I missiles. There was provision for underwing rocket pods and various other ordinance stores. The F7U-3 armament comprised of four 20 mm cannons in the upper lips of the intake fairings. Difficulties with the underpowered Westinghouse J34 engines led to an extensive redesign of the Cutlass resulting in the -3 variant which became the definitive production version, with 162 aircraft equipping four USN squadrons. The first Chance Vought Cutlass was the F7U-1 which flew on March 1, 1950. Since it did not have tail wings, the pitch and roll control was provided by elevons. The Cutlass had broad swept wings and twin tail fins mounted on them. As the confiscated German aeronautical research data was becoming deciphered in the USA in the late 1945, details of tailless design works done by the Arado company picked the interest of U.S. The Chance Vought F7U Cutlass was one of the most unusual aircraft of the U.S. ![]()
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