I flew the FJ-3M with VF-173 and VF-62. Made the 1959 Med. cruise with VF-62 on the CVA-9. On that cruise I had the misfortune to ditch astern of the boat when the engine failed while in the groove at appox.200Ft. Later went into the drink again when the number 2 wire broke and I went off the angle deck. Still, this was my most favorite plane of the 26 I have flown (including the F-8).

Own and fly the last one left flying ... take a look at www.migfuryfighters.com

This was my first swept wing ride and I loved it. It was a agreat improvement over the Panther and Banshee and light-years over the F-80/T33 and T1A, The FJ-4 was the best non afterburning aircraft I ever flew. We had to get into the F4D and F8U yo best the FJ's performance.Same number of take-offs and landings.

Was station in GITMO Cuba,Watched them bring in the Regulus we had to clear the area during practice.There were some hairy moments,but it gave us somthing to do,we had no liberty.

Served in GMGRU-1 at NAS Barbers Point,HI from 1956-1958.
The squadron had FJ3D Furies. Our squadron delivered the Regulus missile after it was lauched from a submarine via radio controls. Training for the pilots was conducted with RED Regulus missile equipped with tricycle landing gear so they could be reused after launch and landed at NAAS Barking Sands on Kauai,HI. Those practice landing (crashes) were spectacular when the landing wasn't perfect.
The narrow spacing of the main gear on the missile made it critical to have the wings level or it was bye bye baby.

I flew the FJ3 and FJ4B in the reserves out of Floyd Bennett across from Idylwild (aka JFK). This by itself made for exciting flying. It was an incredible delight to fly except when things went wrong which happened too often. One of the most memorable was my introduction to PIO (aka the JC maneuver).

I flew the FJ-4 and 4B's and they were great air to air and air to ground machines. The ergonomics of the cockpit layout left a lot to be desired and you had to be alert to the ultra clean wing in the landing pattern. Four 20 MM cannons in the nose virtually under the cockpit were great. Turn capability extraordinary.

I flew the FJ-4 and 4B's and they were great air to air and air to ground machines. The ergonomics of the cockpit layout left a lot to be desired and you had to be alert to the ultra clean wing in the landing pattern. Four 20 MM cannons in the nose virtually under the cockpit were great. Turn capability extraordinary.

Best swept wing the Navy had at the time. It outptreformed the F98 and was fun to fly but all our engines were weak at the time. GE and the rest of the engin manufacturers had a lot to learn in these years

I flew the FJ-4 in the fleet introductory progaram at Pax River. It was a 'rocking chair' with virtually no surprises. While it didn't have an afterburner, it was supersonic in a slight dive I believe there were only 150 produced and only the Marines had active squadrons of them.

Great airplane,Was in squadron VF 84 aboard the USS Forrestal during the fifties.We had FJ3m"s. Not complicated easy to work on.

WT AND MEASUREMENTS, HOW HARD TO GET?

UNDER POWERED LIKE MANY OF THE JETS OF THAT DAY...THE AIR FORCE HAD THE F-100 WITH A BURNER... MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE...IT HAD A FLYING TAIL AND WAS A RUGGED BIRD.

Its a very neat aircraft, possibly one of the best carrier aircraft after world war 2