Vought FU-1

Shipboard Reconnaissance / Observation Floatplane

United States | 1927

"Some twenty Vought FU floatplane aircraft was ordered by the United States Navy in the late-1920s - these serving for only a short time."

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 02/21/2018 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

During May of 1922, the Lewis and Vought Corporation was reformed to become the Chance Vought Corporation and its first product of note became the two-seat "OU-1" naval floatplane platform. In 1926, with development of new floatplanes emerging from Boeing and Curtiss, the United States Navy (USN) commissioned Vought to produce an interim floatplane as a stopgap measure. These would serve aboard American capital warships and be launched via catapult, provide over-the-horizon reconnaissance and artillery spotting, and be retrieved by shipboard crane. The aircraft would be of a single-engine biplane design with floats serving as its undercarriage. Unlike the two-seat observation aircraft being worked on by Boeing and Curtiss, the Vought design would be a single-seat form. Its designation became OU-3.

The OU-3 featured equal-span, twin-bay wing elements with parallel struts and its construction was a mix of steel tubing, wood and fabric. The engine was fitted in the front of the fuselage and drove a two-bladed propeller unit. The pilot sat under and aft of the upper wing structure in an open-air cockpit, the cockpit slightly ahead of midships. A raised dorsal spine served as a headrest for the pilot and views out-of-the-cockpit were generally adequate - the bulk of the aircraft ahead of the pilot blocked much of the forward viewing. The tail unit was traditional in its general arrangement - a single vertical fin with low-set horizontal planes. Armament became 2 x 0.30 caliber machine guns synchronized to fire through the spinning propeller blades - a standard of fighter aircraft of this period. Dimensions included a length of 28.4 feet, a height of 10.1 feet and a wingspan of 34.3 feet.

The floatplane arrangement constituted a large central float under the forward mass of the aircraft and smaller underwing floats held outboard.

Power would come from a Wright J-5 (R-790) "Whirlwind" series radial piston engine of 220 horsepower output which featured a supercharger for improved performance. Indeed specifications included a maximum speed of 122 miles per hour as well as a range out to 410 miles and a service ceiling up to 26,500 feet. Due to its reinforced understructure when compared to the earlier OU-1, the OU-3 fared better in aggressive maneuvers. The floatplane undercarriage was also made to be replaced by a more conventional wheeled arrangement for land-based operation if required.

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Twenty of its kind were on order from June 1926 and, in October, the product had its designation revised to "FU-1". Deliveries were all fulfilled by April of the following year and, for June 1928, the line was serving aboard U.S. naval capital ships as part of squadron VF-2B. However, their time in service was short-lived for the product was quickly superseded by the more modern Boeing F3B-1 carrier-based fighter-bomber biplanes introduced in August of 1928 - this coincided with VF-2B's shift from capital battleship service to aircraft carriers.

Vought FU-1s ended their days as two-seat trainers following conversion which reintroduced the second cockpit of the OU-1. In this guise they were designated "FU-2".

The Peruvian Air Force and Navy services both operated several FU series aircraft for a time, becoming the only foreign operator of the type. The line was altogether retired in 1929.

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Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one aircraft design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the Vought FU-1 Shipboard Reconnaissance / Observation Floatplane.

1 x Wright J-5 (R-790) "Whirlwind" radial piston engine developing 220 horsepower.
Propulsion

121 mph
195 kph | 105 kts
Max Speed

26,509 ft
8,080 m | 5 miles
Service Ceiling

410 miles
660 km | 356 nm
Operational Range

1,000 ft/min
305 m/min
Rate-of-Climb

Structure
The nose-to-tail, wingtip-to-wingtip physical qualities of the Vought FU-1 Shipboard Reconnaissance / Observation Floatplane.

1
(MANNED)
Crew

28.4 ft
8.65 m
O/A Length

34.4 ft
(10.50 m)
O/A Width

10.2 ft
(3.10 m)
O/A Height

2,083 lb
(945 kg)
Empty Weight

2,778 lb
(1,260 kg)
MTOW

Armament
Available supported armament and special-mission equipment featured in the design of the Vought FU-1 Shipboard Reconnaissance / Observation Floatplane .

2 x 0.30 caliber machine guns synchronized to fire through the spinning propeller blades.

Variants
Notable series variants as part of the Vought FU-1 family line.

FU - Series Designation

FU-1 - Original single-seat form of 1926

FU-2 - Two-seat conversion trainers rebuilt from existing FU-1 stock.

Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the Vought FU-1. Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national aircraft listing.

Total Production: 20 Units
Contractor(s): Chance Vought - USA

[ Peru; United States ]

1 / 1

Image from the Public Domain.

Going Further...
The Vought FU-1 Shipboard Reconnaissance / Observation Floatplane appears in the following collections:

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