Vought
The Chance Vought Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer founded in 1917 by aeronautical engineer Chance Milton Vought and financier Birdseye Lewis as the Lewis and Vought Company in Hempstead, New York.[1][2] Renamed Chance Vought Corporation in 1922 following Lewis's retirement, the firm specialized in designing and producing military aircraft and later missiles, becoming a key contributor to U.S. naval aviation.[3][4] Early successes included the Vought VE-7, the first aircraft to launch from a U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Langley, in 1922, which established Vought's reputation for innovative seaplane and fighter designs.[5] The company's most iconic achievement was the F4U Corsair, a high-performance fighter introduced in 1942 that achieved over 11,000 kills during World War II, primarily in the Pacific Theater, with production exceeding 12,500 units for U.S. and Allied forces.[2][6] Acquired by United Aircraft and Transport Corporation in 1928, Vought operated as a division until regaining independence in 1954, after which it developed Cold War-era projects like the F7U Cutlass jet fighter and anti-satellite missiles.[4][7] In 1961, Vought merged into Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV), expanding into electronics and aerospace systems before the aerostructures division evolved into the modern Vought Aircraft Industries, focusing on subassemblies for commercial and military aircraft as of the early 21st century.[2][8] The company's legacy endures through its contributions to carrier-based aviation and missile technology, though it faced challenges from industry consolidations and defense budget shifts post-Cold War.[9][7]History
Founding and Chance Vought era (1917–1928)
The Lewis and Vought Corporation was established on June 18, 1917, in Long Island, New York, by aeronautical engineer and pilot Chance M. Vought, with financial support from investor Birdseye B. Lewis, to manufacture aircraft amid U.S. entry into World War I.[2][1] Vought, born February 26, 1890, in New York City, had trained as a pilot under the Wright brothers in 1911, earning Fédération Aéronautique Internationale certificate No. 156, and gained experience as an engineer at firms including the Lillie Aviation School.[10][11] The company's initial design, the VE-7 "Bluebird," was a two-seat tractor biplane developed as an advanced trainer in response to U.S. military needs.[12] First flown in 1917, the VE-7 entered service with deliveries commencing February 11, 1918, primarily to the U.S. Navy but also adopted by the Army Air Service for observation and pursuit roles due to its strong performance.[13][14] Over 100 VE-7 variants were produced, incorporating engines like the 130-horsepower Wright-Hispano, and the type achieved naval aviation milestones, including the first U.S. carrier aircraft takeoff from USS Langley on October 17, 1922.[4][5] Following Lewis's retirement, the firm reorganized and incorporated as the Chance Vought Corporation in 1922, with Vought's father, George W. Vought, serving as secretary-treasurer.[15] The company expanded production of naval biplanes, including derivatives like the VE-9, securing contracts that positioned it as a key supplier of carrier-based trainers and fighters.[11] By 1928, Chance Vought Corporation ranked as the second-largest U.S. producer of military aircraft, reflecting its specialization in durable, purpose-built designs for maritime operations.[11]Great Depression and pre-WWII expansion (1929–1939)
In 1929, shortly before the onset of the Great Depression, the Chance Vought Corporation merged into the newly formed United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC) on February 1, alongside Boeing Airplane & Transport Corporation, Pratt & Whitney, Hamilton Standard, and associated airlines, creating a conglomerate capitalized at $146 million that integrated aircraft manufacturing, engines, propellers, and air transport.[16][5] This affiliation provided Vought with diversified revenue streams and financial resources from engine and component sales, enabling it to endure the economic contraction that devastated independent aviation firms through reduced commercial demand and federal scrutiny of monopolies.[17] By mid-1930, as the Depression deepened, Vought relocated its operations to East Hartford, Connecticut, to consolidate with UATC facilities, while founder Chance M. Vought died on July 25 from septicemia, leaving leadership to subordinates amid national unemployment exceeding 20% and aviation industry contractions.[17][18] The UATC structure insulated Vought from total collapse, allowing sustained focus on U.S. Navy contracts for carrier-based aircraft, its primary market, which prioritized military observation and scout planes over civilian models hit hard by austerity.[2] Production milestones underscored resilience: by August 13, 1933, Vought had manufactured its 1,000th aircraft, including variants of the O2U Corsair biplane observation type delivered through the early 1930s for naval and export use.[19] Engineers developed over 50 new designs between 1930 and 1940, evolving from biplanes like updated Corsairs to monoplanes such as the SB2U Vindicator dive bomber, selected by the Navy in 1935 for carrier operations and reflecting investments in all-metal construction and retractable gear despite fiscal constraints.[18] Regulatory pressures culminated in the Air Mail Act of 1934, forcing UATC's dissolution to separate manufacturing from transport, resulting in the 1934 formation of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) with Vought as a key division.[17] In 1935, Vought integrated into the UAC's United Aircraft Manufacturing Company, streamlining East Hartford production and emphasizing naval prototypes amid rising defense budgets under the New Deal's military reallocations.[2] By 1939, as European tensions escalated, Vought merged with Sikorsky Aircraft to form the Vought-Sikorsky Division under UAC, expanding facilities and workforce to prepare for anticipated wartime demands while delivering Kingfisher floatplanes and Vindicator squadrons that bolstered U.S. carrier capabilities.[2][5] This pre-war consolidation positioned Vought for rapid scaling, with Navy orders offsetting Depression-era commercial voids and fostering technological advancements in aerodynamics and armament integration.[18]World War II contributions (1940–1945)
During the early years of World War II, Chance Vought Corporation, operating as a division of United Aircraft, focused on producing observation and scout aircraft, notably the OS2U Kingfisher floatplane. The first production OS2U-1 was delivered to the U.S. Navy in early 1940, with 54 units following shortly thereafter for deployment on battleships like the USS Colorado.[20] Service entry occurred in August 1940, and the aircraft served primarily as a shipboard scout, observation platform, and rescue vehicle, equipped for catapult launches from cruisers and battleships.[21] Vought manufactured 1,519 Kingfishers in total, including 1,006 OS2U-3 variants by 1942, after which production shifted to the Naval Aircraft Factory; these planes contributed to reconnaissance, anti-submarine patrols, and notable rescues in the Pacific and Atlantic theaters.[22][23] Parallel to Kingfisher production, Vought developed the F4U Corsair carrier-based fighter, with the XF4U-1 prototype achieving first flight on May 29, 1940, under test pilot Lyman A. Bullard Jr.[24] Designed for high speed and long range, the Corsair featured a powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine, enabling a top speed exceeding 400 mph and earning it a reputation for ruggedness in carrier operations.[25] Production of the F4U-1 began in 1942, with Vought delivering 2,814 units of this initial variant alone; by late 1944, the company reached a peak output of 300 aircraft per month, equivalent to one complete Corsair every 82 minutes.[26] The fighter entered combat in February 1943 with U.S. Marine Corps squadrons in the Solomon Islands, proving highly effective against Japanese aircraft and ground targets, while also seeing service with British Fleet Air Arm units marked with Royal Navy insignia.[25] Vought's wartime efforts extended to limited production of the SB2U Vindicator dive bomber, though most output predated 1940; approximately 260 units were built overall, with some employed in early Pacific engagements before being phased out.[27] Overall, these contributions bolstered U.S. naval aviation, with the Corsair's design innovations—such as its inverted gull wings for enhanced propeller clearance and carrier compatibility—addressing key operational challenges and sustaining production through 1945, when Vought had manufactured thousands of combat aircraft critical to Allied air superiority in the Pacific.[28]Postwar jet age transition (1946–1960)
Following World War II, Chance Vought Aircraft, then a division of United Aircraft Corporation, experienced significant downsizing, with employment dropping from a wartime peak of 13,516 to 3,600 by the late 1940s as piston-engine production wound down.[29] By late 1946, the workforce stood at approximately 2,500, reflecting the broader contraction in military aviation demands.[30] In 1949, at the U.S. Navy's urging to disperse industrial capacity inland from coastal vulnerabilities, Vought relocated its primary operations to a former North American Aviation facility in Dallas, Texas, facilitating a shift toward jet propulsion amid emerging Cold War requirements.[4] Vought's initial foray into jet aircraft was the F6U Pirate, a compact carrier-based fighter designed under a Navy contract awarded on December 29, 1944, with the prototype's first flight occurring on June 29, 1946.[31] Powered by a single Westinghouse J34 turbojet producing 3,000 pounds of thrust with afterburner—the first such feature in a U.S. Navy fighter—the aircraft emphasized lightweight construction using composites but suffered from inadequate power-to-weight ratio, achieving only subsonic speeds and marginal handling.[32] The first production model flew on October 2, 1948, but the program yielded just 30 aircraft before cancellation in 1949 due to performance shortfalls relative to competitors like the Grumman F9F Panther.[33] Building on lessons from the Pirate, Vought pursued the more ambitious F7U Cutlass, a tailless swept-wing design initiated in June 1945, influenced by captured German aeronautical concepts for high-speed stability.[34] The XF7U-1 prototype first flew on September 29, 1948, introducing swept wings to Navy carrier fighters, with the production F7U-3 variant (entering service in 1951) featuring twin Westinghouse J46 engines totaling 9,200 pounds of thrust afterburner.[35] Approximately 314 Cutlasses were built by 1954, but persistent issues—including hydraulic instability, engine flameouts, and catapult launch failures—led to 32 crashes and 13 pilot deaths by 1953, prompting early retirement by 1957 despite its role in advancing tailless aerodynamics.[36] The Cutlass's challenges underscored Vought's transitional struggles, but the company achieved a breakthrough with the F8U Crusader, responding to a 1952 Navy specification for a supersonic day fighter.[37] Vought secured the contract in May 1953 over seven rivals, with the XF8U-1 prototype—powered by a Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet—achieving supersonic speed in level flight on its maiden voyage on March 25, 1955.[38] Retaining four 20 mm cannons as primary armament amid debates over missiles, the Crusader emphasized transonic carrier operations and entered production soon after, marking Vought's maturation in jet design. This success coincided with corporate independence on July 1, 1954, when Chance Vought separated from United Aircraft under president Fred O. Detweiler.[39] By December 31, 1960, the firm reorganized as Chance Vought Corporation, setting the stage for further expansion before its 1961 merger with Ling-Temco.[4]LTV integration and diversification (1961–1992)
In 1961, Chance Vought Corporation merged with Ling-Temco Electronics, forming Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) and integrating Vought's Dallas-based aircraft and missile operations as a core division of the new defense-oriented conglomerate.[40][41] The acquisition, led by entrepreneur James Ling, provided Vought with expanded resources amid declining manned fighter demand, enabling a shift toward diversified defense technologies including space systems and guided weapons.[42] By 1963, Vought operations formed the foundation of LTV Aerospace, which prioritized subcontracting and independent programs to sustain revenue.[2] LTV's strategy emphasized product diversification within aerospace, moving beyond supersonic interceptors like the F-8 Crusader to subsonic attack aircraft, vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) prototypes, and orbital launch capabilities. The A-7 Corsair II, a carrier-based light attack aircraft derived from the F-8 airframe, entered Navy development in the early 1960s, achieving first flight on September 27, 1965, and entering production with over 1,500 units built by the mid-1970s for U.S. Navy and Air Force use in Vietnam and beyond.[43][44] Concurrently, the XC-142 tiltwing V/STOL transport, developed jointly with Ryan Aeronautical and Hiller Aircraft, demonstrated short-field capabilities with its first flight on September 29, 1964, though the tri-service program ended without production due to technical challenges.[45] Space and missile efforts further exemplified diversification, with LTV serving as prime contractor for the Scout solid-propellant launch vehicle, which supported NASA's small satellite missions from Wallops Island starting in the late 1950s and achieving its 25th launch anniversary in 1984.[46][47] In guided weapons, LTV Vought advanced anti-satellite technology, developing the ASM-135 missile from 1977 to 1988 for air launch from F-15 fighters; a test firing occurred on January 21, 1984, followed by the successful destruction of the Solwind satellite on September 13, 1985, at an altitude of approximately 555 kilometers.[48][49] These initiatives balanced fixed-price contracts and risk-sharing programs, contributing to LTV Aerospace's profitability amid the conglomerate's broader expansions into electronics, steel, and consumer goods.[40] By the late 1980s, LTV's conglomerate structure strained finances due to overleveraging and downturns in non-core sectors, culminating in Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1986, though aerospace remained viable.[42] Diversification sustained Vought's technical expertise through Cold War defense spending, but integration challenges and market shifts prompted restructuring; in February 1992, LTV agreed to sell its aerospace and missile divisions to a management-led venture, forming Vought Aircraft Company and concluding the LTV era.[50]