The U. S. Navy's first experiments with jet power for carrier-based aircraft began with several composite designs which combined both a piston engine and a turbojet in the same aircraft. But the Navy realized that a true jet fighter had to be developed for carrier use if naval aviation was to remain an important part of America's military in the post World War II era.

The unknowns associated with jet engines and the development of jet aircraft in general caused the Navy to issue contracts for two jet fighter designs. One of these was to the Vought Corporation on December 12, 1944, for the XF6U Pirate. The second was made to North American Aviation for the XFJ-1, known as model NA-134 at North American. This contract was issued on January 1, 1945, just twenty-six days before McDonnell's XFD-1 prototype made its initial flight.

On May 28, 1945, the Navy placed an order for one hundred production FJ-1s and bestowed the name Fury on the aircraft. As work continued on the development of the XFJ- Is, the U. S. Army Air Forces contracted with North American for a refinement of the design which featured a more slender fuselage and swept back flying surfaces. This was known as NA-140 at North American, and it was reviewed by the Navy.

The Navy took the conservative approach and opted to stay with the original design of NA-134. While it was obvious that NA-140 with its swept wings would offer better performance, the Navy was concerned that it could not fly slowly enough to land aboard an aircraft carrier. The straight wing of the NA-134 permitted better handling at slower speeds necessary for carrier operations, but the Navy had no flight data to indicate that this could be done with a swept wing fighter.

There appears to be some debate on when the maiden flight of the first of the three XFJ-1 prototypes took place. Some references indicate that it was made on November 27, 1946, but official Navy records state that it was made on September 11, 1946.

The first production FJ-1,was delivered to the Navy in March 1947, however the initial contract of one hundred FJ-1's was reduced to only thirty. Several of these went to the Naval Air Test Center at Patuxent River. In March 1948, two FJ-1s were used for carrier evaluations aboard USS BOXER, CV-21. VF-5A's evaluations aboard BOXER marked the first time jet aircraft assigned to a regular line squadron had operated from a carrier.

After the squadron's designation had been changed to VF-51 in mid-1948, seven of their aircraft took part in the Bendix Trophy race between Long Beach, California, and Cleveland, Ohio. But a disastrous carrier evaluation by eight of the squadron's FJ-1s aboard USS PRINCETON, CV-37, along with more confidence in the swept wing design, led to a quick retirement of the FJ-1 from active Navy service.

When turbojet engines began being used as a means of propulsion for fighter aircraft in the mid-1940s, they brought with them the need for development in many other aspects of aircraft design.

Sometimes innovation requires a new approach. Engineers proceeded slowly at first, adapting the jets to tried and true formulas, but it was evident from the outset that advancements had to be made in aerodynamics if the higher performance figures promised by the jet engines were going to be realized to the fullest extent. Swept wings and tail surfaces, more aerodynamic fuselages, and new control surfaces, like the all-flying tail, became necessary as development of jet fighters progressed.

Pilots of propeller-driven fighters simply jumped out of their stricken aircraft when a bailout became necessary in an emergency. But jets flew too fast, so ejection seats became necessary. The higher speeds also meant that standard machine gun armament became less effective. They had to be replaced with rapid-fire aerial cannons firing explosive shells which could destroy a target with fewer hits. Almost every aspect and component of the fighter, from the fire control system to the brakes, had to be improved or completely redesigned.

No other aircraft exemplifies the development of early jet fighters better than North American's FJ Fury. Conceived originally as a simple and conservative straight wing design that proved less than successful, the Fury was developed into a successful air superiority fighter and ground attack aircraft. The incorporation of a more powerful engine, swept wings and tail surfaces, an all-flying tail, and 20-mm cannons instead of .50-caliber machine guns, all contributed to the success of the later versions of the Fury.

The Fury was one of only two jet fighters that began operational squadron service as a straight wing design and was then developed into operational versions with swept wings. The other was Grumman's F9F Panther and Cougar, and like the F9F, the swept wing versions of the Fury included two quite different refinements in the design of both the wing and fuselage. The Fury was also involved in the rapid advancements relating to more powerful and sophisticated armament.

The FJ-1 was armed with six .50-caliber machine guns and had no capabilities to carry external ordnance. Four 20-mm cannons replaced the machine guns in the FJ-2, and provisions to carry basic underwing stores, in the form of rockets and bombs, were also added. The capability to employ the infrared-guided Sidewinder air-to-air missile appeared on the FJ-3M and was retained on the FJ-4 and FJ-4B. The FJ-4B could carry the command-guided Bullpup air-to-ground missile, rockets, and both conventional and tactical nuclear bombs.

The FJ-3, FJ-3M, FJ-4, and FJ-4B versions of the Fury were still in service when the Department of Defense directed that aircraft designations within all services of the military should be standardized. The FJ-3 became the F-1 C, the FJ-3M was redesignated MF-1 C. The FJ-4 became the F-1 E, and the FJ-4B was redesignated AF- 1F to indicate its attack mission.

Unlike most other carrier aircraft, the FJ-1 did not have folding wings. To conserve valuable and limited space aboard ship, a small dual-wheel truck could be attached to the forward nose gear door. After the small wheels were attached, the nose gear was retracted, causing the aircraft to "kneel". The lowered nose of one FJ-1 could then be tucked under the high tall of another, thus saving space.

On February 29,1948, three FJ-1s from VF-5A took off from Seattle and set speed records to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. CDR Evan "Pete" Aurand flew the 1,205 miles between Seattle and Los Angles in one hour, fifty-eight minutes, and seven seconds. LCDR John J. Magda averaged 511.8 miles-per-hour flying from Seattle to San Diego in two hours, twelve minutes, and fifty-four seconds. The third Fury, flown by LCDR Robert Elder, averaged 492.6 miles-per-hour flying the 690 miles from Seattle to San Francisco. Shortly after entering service, the FJ-1 Fury had made its presence known by grabbing the headlines.

Another neat diorama from Guido Van Roy!

Cockpit of the North American FJ-4B Fury.

Specifications for the North American FJ-1 Fury

Span: 38ft 2in Length: 34ft 5in Height: l4ft l0in Empty Wt: 8,348 lbs Max Wt: 15,600 lbs Performance Max Speed: 547mph Range: 1,500 miles Service Ceiling: 32,000ft

A: Fitted with six 12.7-mm (.50-cal.) machine guns in the nose, the FJ-1 was the last US Navy aircraft to have 'half-inch' guns.	B: Like the McDonnell FH-1 Phantom which followed it, the FJ-1 was able to 'kneel' on the carrier deck by retracting its nose gear and resting on a tiny wheel. This facilitated stowage without wing folding.	C: To increase its somewhat limited range, the FJ-1 was soon fitted with 165-gallon wingtip fuel tanks. Airbrakes were a feature of all FJ variants, especially the FJ-4B attack version.	D: Designed around the General Electric J35 axial-flow turbojet, the production Fury used an Allison-built variant of this engine, producing 4000 lb thrust.

3/27/61 North American FJ-4 #139291 crashed in cloudy weather killing the pilot Lt. JG Henry M. "Hank" Harding, USN. Site is on West Otay Mountain at the 2,500 foot level near the Mexican Border about a half mile north of road in heavy brush.