Service History
- Delivered: Nov 15, 1947
- 1947 – VF-5A (later VF-51) NAS North Island, San Diego, CA
- Jan 1950 – NART Los Alamitos, CA
- Feb 16, 1950 – O & R Alameda, CA
- Mar 1951 – NART Olathe, KS
- May 1952 – NART Philadelphia, PA
- Oct 6, 1953 – Stricken off charge
The FJ-1 was the US Navy’s first operational jet fighter and performed the first jet take off and landing from a carrier at sea. From this design, North American Aircraft developed the famous swept wing F-86.
The engine, fuel tank and air intake are within the fuselage, allowing for a super thin, high speed, laminar flow wing. Another innovative feature of the Fury was a small wheel mounted on the nose strut that permitted the aircraft to “kneel” allowing nose under tail storage on crowded carrier decks. The FJ-1 was the last Navy aircraft to use machine guns.
In 1947, two FJ-1s from VF-5A performed the first carrier take off and landings. After tests of unassisted and catapult launches were conducted, the catapult launch became the standard due to operation and safety concerns. One of the highlights of the Fury’s service was the 1948 Bendix Trophy Race for jets with four FJ-1s taking the first four places over California ANG F-80s.
Yanks FJ-1 is famed for its 1205 mile Seattle to Los Angeles speed record of 1 hour, 58 minutes & 7 seconds piloted by CDR Evan “Pete” Aurand in February of 1948. When this aircraft was retired, it had accumulated 257 flight hours. Acquired by Yanks in 1999, only two still exist today.
