F-8E(FN) “French Navy”

Hasegawa
 

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Reviewed by Dave Williams

The F-8E(FN) was developed in the early 60s as an air defense fighter for the French carriers Foch and Clemenceau. Due to the decks of the French carriers being shorter than the US Essex class carriers, it was necessary to modify the basic F-8E airframe to reduce the approach and landing speed. The wing was modified to include Boundary Layer Control (BLC) and double-hinged leading edge droops (flaps). In addition, the tailplanes were enlarged to provide greater control at lower airspeeds. Both of these modifications would later be fitted to US Crusaders as part of the F-8J remanufacturing program. Besides the wing modifications, the (FN) version also differed in having provision for firing MATRA air-to-air missiles, initially the R.530 and later the R.550 Magic. Other than a change in color from the original USN-style gull grey over white, to overall grey, to the final dark blue-grey scheme, the Crusaders soldiered on basically unchanged until the early 1990s. To extend the life of the aircraft until their eventual replacement by the Rafale M, seventeen of the remaining Crusaders were given an overhaul and modest upgrade beginning in 1990. The upgrade consisted of replacing the original F5 ejection seat with the later zero-zero F7 seat, some minor avionics upgrades such as GPS and ILS, and the addition of the Sherloc RWR system in a distinctive fairing near the top of the tail fin. The wings were also replaced with low-time F-8J wings from aircraft in storage at Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona. The upgraded aircraft were knows as F-8P (prolonge). The Crusader’s active career ended in late 1999 after 35 years of service to the Aeronavale.

Hasegawa’s kit of the F-8E(FN) is basically similar to their F-8J boxing and includes the double-hinged wing droops and enlarged tailplanes. What is new for the kit is the addition of new sprues containing a pair of radar-guided R.530 missiles, a pair of R.550 Magics, missile pylons, and antennas. The fin top fairing for the F-8P’s RWR system is also included. The cockpit and ejection seat are the same as in previous versions.

Overall, the new parts look good and appear to accurately represent the changes made to the (FN) version. The RWR fairing is optional to allow either an original (FN) or the upgraded –P version to be externally represented. A minor nit is that no clear seeker is included for the Magic missiles. One item is interest is that Hasegawa marks one of the parts (U6) on the new sprue made specifically for this kit as not being used. Aside from begging the question of why one would go to the trouble of molding something and then not using it, the fact is that the part can actually be used. Part U6 is a small blade antenna, normally painted yellow, which goes on top of the forward part of the dorsal “hump” on the F-8P. Hasegawa has even provided a flashed over hole in the fuselage halves to accept this antenna, so go ahead and use it. Photos show that sometimes a second similar antenna is on the underside of the fuselage, between the main gear bays. There is no flashed over hole on the keel piece (A9), so just shave the mounting tab off of the bottom of the second part U6 and place it by eyeball (the antenna is offset from the centerline). One other item of note, the aircraft always retained the original F-8E landing gear, so shave off the two “horns” on the front of the nosegear arm.

Decals are standard Hasegawa decals and provide markings for two aircraft from Flottille 12F.

One aircraft is an original F-8E(FN) in overall light gray camo with standard markings. The second aircraft is a F-8P in dark blue-grey with a sharkmouth and markings for the Crusader which made the last catapult launch during Operation “Trident” in 1999. Note that the box art and build-up on the instruction sheet shows this F-8P carrying R.530 missiles. The R.530 was removed from service due to high failure rates long before 1999 and probably before the first completed F-8P was even delivered. Although the R.530s admittedly do look cool, Magics would be accurate choice for the F-8P. Save the R.530s for a Crusader in the original grey/white or the overall light grey scheme.

For those looking for walkaround references on the web, here are two excellent sites with all the F-8P photos you’ll ever need.

http://frenchnavy.free.fr/aircraft/crusader/walk-around.htm

http://www.aeroslides.com/modelpublishing/acwalkarounds/f-8p/images.html

Sample kit courtesy of my ever dwindling bank account.

Recommended.

Dave Williams
IPMS/USA 19050

Review Copyright © 2003 by Dave Williams
Page Created 14 November, 2003
Last updated 13 November, 2003

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