RF-8G “Crusader” Aircraft

The RF-8G is the reconnaissance version of the famous F-8 “Crusader,” the last U.S. Navy jet fighter who’s primary armament consisted of cannons rather than missiles. With its powerful afterburning J-57 engine, the F-8 is the first supersonic Navy fighter. On July 16, 1957, then Major John Glenn, USMC, who later became the first man to orbit the Earth, completed the first supersonic transcontinental flight averaging 732.5 mph flying an earlier model, the RF-8A. During the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1963, the RF-8A, provided vital photographs regarding Soviet missile emplacements. The aircraft on display is 1 of 73 RF-8G models upgraded in 1965.