The F7U Cutlass, born from post-WW2 experimental designs, entered service with promise—yet quickly earned a deadly reputation. What went wrong with this bizarre, tail-less Navy jet?

Pilots hated the plane, and even the improved F7U-3 wasn't much better, as well as being a mechanical nightmare to maintain. Despite all this, Oldsmobile decided to name a car after the plane; ...

On December 20, 1951, the F7U-3 made its first flight. “Our job was to test the Cutlass,” wrote F7U Navy test pilot—later astronaut—Wally Schirra in his autobiography, Schirra’s Space .

The F7U made its maiden flight in 1948. For an aircraft that would lose a quarter of its rolling stock to accidents, many of them fatal, the Cutlass had a fairly trouble-free first few test flights.

But Beisel also invented the F7U Cutlass jet, which was not anyone’s idea of a fine fighter.The Cutlass “was ahead of its time and the capabilities of available power plants, resulting in its ...

But Beisel also invented the F7U Cutlass jet, which was not anyone’s idea of a fine fighter.The Cutlass “was ahead of its time and the capabilities of available power plants, resulting in its ...

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An F7U-3 Cutlass flying over New Jersey in 1955. (U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation) When jet aircraft began making their appearance during World War II, officials at the U.S. Navy’s ...

See the latest Sterling Plantations Ltd stock price (F7U:XBER), related news, valuation, dividends and more to help you make your investing decisions.

F7U-3 Cutlasses crashed on at least four occasions in 1955, the year this photo was taken over New Jersey. One beautiful southern California afternoon in the summer of 1954, I watched a Navy F7U-3 ...