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10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. F7U cutlass 1954: Wikimedia Commons· Public domain
- 2. F7U-3M Cutlass Launches from Intrepid CV11 1954: U.S. Navy· Public domain
- 3. F7U Cutlass: U.S. Navy· Public domain
- 4. Vought F7U-3M Cutlass, Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Florida: Greg Goebel· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 5. Vought F7U-3 Cutlass during evaluation of carrier approach techniques by the NACA Ames Research Center, 22 June 1955 (A-20486): NACA Ames Research Center· Public domain
- 6. F7U-1 Cutlass in flight near Naval Air Station Patuxent River, circa in the early 1950s (NH 101803-KN): Commander Richard Timm, U.S. Navy· Public domain
- 7. F7U-1 Cutlass in flight with F2H-2 Banshee F9F-2 Panther and F6U-1 Pirate: U.S. Navy· Public domain
- 8. F7U-3 Cutlass fighters of VF-81 in flight in 1954: U.S. Navy· Public domain
- 9. F7U-3 Cutlass of VX-3 in flight c1955: U.S. Navy· Public domain
- 10. F7U-3P Cutlass in flight c1955: U.S. Navy· Public domain
what is it?
The Vought F7U Cutlass was a United States Navy carrier-based jet powered fighter and fighter-bomber designed and produced by the aircraft manufacturer Chance Vought. It was the first tailless production fighter in the United States as well as the Navy's first jet equipped with swept wings and the first to be designed with afterburners. The Cutlass was developed from the mid 1940s to early 1950s as Vought's entry in a United States Navy competition.
How to recognise it: 2 jet engines · 12.1 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 78 years ago, in 1948.
- Top speed is 8.6× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 12.1 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
- Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 2 African elephants (~6 t each).
- Can fly 1.4× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).
jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1948-09-29
- introduced
- 1954
- retired
- 1959
- status
- retired
- number built
- 307
- role
- naval multirole fighter
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- makers
- Vought
- engines
- 2× Westinghouse J46-WE-8B
- crew
- 1
- length
- 12.6 m
- wingspan
- 12.1 m
- height
- 4.3 m
- max take-off weight
- 14.4 t
- top speed
- 1,122 km/h
- cruise speed
- 907 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 12,375 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q580542, Wikipedia: Vought F7U Cutlass (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.