How about this great shot of a stubby U.S. Naval Air Reserve North American FJ-1 Fury fighter, BuNo 120368 F-101 of the Naval Air Reserve Training Unit (NARTU) from Naval Air Station Oakland, May 1951. Note the large “Weekend Warrior” nose art.
U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation photo No. 1996.253.7237.023
The same jet– along with others assigned to Oakland with the same nose art– appeared in several images taken around the same time over the Bay Area, possibly taken for use in recruiting drives.
Ordered along with the similarly jet-powered carrier-borne fighters– Vought XF6U-1 Pirate, McDonnell XFD-1 Phantom, and the McDonnell XF2D-1 Banshee– late in WWII for Operation Olympic/Coronet, the planned invasion of Japan set for May of 1946, the FJ-1 Fury utilized the anemic Allison J35-A-2 turbojet, good for 4,000 pounds of thrust, to lift its 15,000-pound frame.
Good for about 475 knots, it carried a six-pack of .50 cal Brownings clustered in its nose– the last U.S. Navy jet with a .50 caliber armament– with 1,500 rounds carried, and no weight allocation for underwing hardpoints.
Notably, the first operational Navy jet fighter squadron, VF-5A (renamed VF-51 in August 1948), was equipped with FJ-1s and made history in March 1948 with a series of workups on the straight-decked Essex-class carrier USS Boxer (CV-21).
FJ-1 Fury of VF 5A flown by CDR Pete Aurand traps on the flight deck of the carrier Boxer (CV 21) in the first underway test on 17 March 1948.
USS Boxer CV-21 March 1948 off San Diego, First operational jet fighter squadron VF-5A’s FJ-1 Fury. LIFE Kodachrome.
USS Boxer CV-21 March 1948 off San Diego, First operational jet fighter squadron VF-5A’s FJ-1 Fury. LIFE Kodachrome.
USS Boxer CV-21 March 1948 off San Diego, First operational jet fighter squadron VF-5A’s FJ-1 Fury. LIFE Kodachrome.
VF-5A also made a bit of history by winning the Bendix Trophy in 1948, beating out Air Force F-80 Shooting Stars in the cross-country race.
CDR Pete Aurand’s FJ-1 Fury aircraft of Fighter Squadron (VF) 51 lined up for the Bendix Trophy Race at Long Beach, California, in 1948.
With its first flight in November 1946, and, with the new and much better performing F9F-2 Panther introduced by 1949, the Fury’s career was limited and, with just 30 production models delivered to the Navy, they transitioned to the USNR as a transition trainer for pilots moving from Hellcats and Corsairs into jets, before the type was retired in 1953, having just served seven years.
In that short period, at least nine of the 30 operational FJ-1s were written off after crackups, lost in accidents, or ditched at sea, taking at least five aviators with them. Not an enviable safety record.
Of course, the Fury would make a much more successful return to service in its swept-wing FJ-2/-3/-4 format, which was the tailhook-carrying hot rod brother of the famed F-86 Sabre, but that is another story.