The twin side-by-side engine installation was aspirated by half-circle intakes to either side of the fuselage.
The cockpit was held forward in the usual way with the pilot given good views from the elevated position - a key consideration for carrier-based aircraft on landing approaches. A pair of vertical tail fins with rudder controls were fitted as normal while all other control surfaces resided on the mainplanes. The Vought design was a wholly unique fighter approach for the period, lacking any true horizontal tail surfaces, instead utilizing a wide-area main wing planform with sweepback. The Vought proposal then emerged in three prototypes under the "XF7U-1" designation and the line as a whole went on to receive the name of "Cutlass" in due time. Reportedly, Vought engineers utilized captured wartime data obtained from the German concern of Arado - famous makers of the jet-powered Ar 234 "Blitz" bomber. Design proposals emerged from Curtiss, Douglas, Martin, McDonnell, North American, and Vought to which Vought's twin-engine, tailless offering was selected on June 25th, 1946 (as "Model V-346A"). The requirement specified a maximum speed of 600 miles per hour (with afterburner adding some 50mph more), a 6,500 feet-per-second rate-of-climb as well as a combat radius of 345 miles, and an operating service ceiling of 40,000 feet. In December of 1945, the United States Navy put forth Specification OS-105 which called for a new jet-powered carrier-borne day fighter to add to its post-World War 2 ranks. The aircraft inevitably received the nicknames of the "Praying Mantis", the "Ensign Eliminator" and the "Gutless Cutlass" - such was its lasting impression to pilots. Its design made it as unforgettable as its track record made it forgettable - such became the legacy of the Cutlass fighter program. The type led a troubled developmental existence and an even more troubled service life to the point that only a few hundred aircraft were procured and multiple fatalities occurring during its short time in service.
The afterburner was developed by Solar Aircraft, the first U.S. ĭeveloped during the transition from piston-engined aircraft to jets, the J34 was sometimes fitted to aircraft as a supplement to other powerplants, as with the Lockheed P-2 Neptune and Douglas Skyrocket (fitted with radial piston engines and a rocket engine, respectively). However, equipped with the J34 instead of its intended engines, it was seriously underpowered and could not exceed Mach 1 in level flight. The Stiletto was developed to investigate the design of an aircraft at sustained supersonic speeds. For instance, the Douglas X-3 "Stiletto" was equipped with two J34 engines when the intended Westinghouse J46 engine proved to be unsuitable. Built in an era of rapidly advancing gas turbine engine technology, the J34 was largely obsolete before it saw service, and often served as an interim engine.