North American FJ-3 'Fury' | Planes of Fame Air Museum

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North American FJ-3 'Fury'

HISTORY

On New Year's Day, 1945, the navy ordered 100 straight-wing jet fighters from North American Aviation. The new aircraft was designated FJ-1 Fury. The Fury's performance was disappointing and the contract was cancelled after only 30 aircraft were delivered.
The North American engineers literally went back to the drawing board. They slimmed down the FJ-1's portly fuselage and, using data captured from the Germans at the end of World War II, added swept wings and tail surfaces. The result was the Air Force's classic F-86 Saber. When the Korean War broke out in 1950 the Navy's front-line jet fighters, the F9F Panther and F2H Banshee, were outperformed by the MiG 15. As a result, the navy asked North American to build a carrier-based variant of the F-86. The resulting aircraft, the FJ-2, was essentially an F-86E with a lengthened nose gear strut, an arrester hook and attach points for a catapult bridle.
Some 200 FJ-2's were built; all were delivered to the Marine Corps. The museum's Fury is an FJ-3, one of 538 built at North American's Columbus, Ohio plant. The FJ-3 featured an enlarged air inlet for its Wright engine. FJ-3s were delivered between September 1954 and August 1956. Some 80 aircraft were modified to carry the new AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking missile. Most Furies were retrofitted with an in-flight refueling probe. A subsequent ground attack version, the FJ-4, was capable of carrying a nuclear weapon. Furies served into the early 1960s, and although they flew combat air patrols during the 1958 Lebanon Crisis, no Fury ever saw combat and none ever served with a foreign power.

SPECIFICATIONS

Status: Unrestored

Manufacturer: North American Aviation

Year: 1954

Model: FJ-3 Fury

Registration Number:

Serial Number:

Crew: 1

Max T/O Weight: 17,190 lb.

Span: 37 ft. 1 in.

Length: 37 ft. 1 in.

Height: 13 ft. 7 in.