Vought F6U Pirate
Vought · United States · first flew 1946 · fighter
The Vought F6U Pirate was one of the United States Navy's early carrier jet fighters, significant chiefly for being among the first American aircraft equipped with an afterburner. Despite this innovation, its performance proved insufficient and it never entered combat service.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Mid-mounted, swept |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × turbojet, fuselage-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Very short and rotund fuselage with a nose intake and mid-mounted swept wings |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Early American carrier jet fighter with afterburner — one of the first US aircraft with afterburning thrust
- Very short and rotund fuselage with a nose intake and mid-mounted swept wings
- Never entered combat — deemed inadequate in performance and quickly retired
Compact carrier fighter with a round nose intake, mid-swept wings, afterburner tailpipe, and a rotund fuselage typical of early jet designs before aerodynamic refinement.
Specifications
- The Vought F6U Pirate has a length of 11.43 m (37 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 10.16 m (33 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 933 km/h (580 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
The F6U was designed during World War II as a simple, rugged carrier jet fighter. First flying in October 1946, it used a Westinghouse J34 turbojet with afterburner — a then-novel feature. Despite the afterburner, performance was disappointingly poor compared to contemporary designs, and the Navy declared the aircraft inadequate for combat. Only 33 production aircraft were built, serving briefly for evaluation before being relegated to ground training use.
Variants
The F6U-1 was the only production variant; a proposed F6U-1P photo-reconnaissance version was not built.
Where you'll see it
Never entered combat service; the 33 production Pirates served briefly with US Navy evaluation units before being discarded.
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- Commonwealth CA-15
- Hughes XF-11
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