With its sleek and unusual tailless design, the Vought F7U Cutlass seemed like a perfect fit for the U.S. Navy's Flight Demonstration Team, the Blue Angels. However, as the Blues would find out, the aircraft's complex development history led to significant challenges and several near brushes with tragedy.

In this brand new episode of the Blue Angel Phantoms Podcast, you'll hear directly from RADM Edward "Whitey" Feightner, a WWII Ace and Navy test pilot, who was charged with developing the Cutlass program on the Blue Angels for the 1952 airshow season. What makes this particular interview all that more special, is that it was conducted over 25 years ago by aviation historian, Nicholas A. Veronico, who is publicly sharing this historic treasure for the first time.

Originally recorded as research for Veronico's book "The Blue Angels: A Fly-By History", Rear Admiral Feightner provides detailed insight into the Blue Angels reformation after the Korean War, the selection process for the F7U, and the painstaking task of performing aerial demonstrations with the Cutlass' faulty controls. RADM Feightner also discusses the Blues' challenges with the Grumman F9F-5 Panther and recalls his tragic final day on the Team in which pilot Buddy Rich was lost in a midair collision at NAS Corpus Christi.

RADM Feightner's naval career spanned over 33 years, where he achieved early success flying both the F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat during WWII and earning 9 aerial victories. Post war, he became a prolific test pilot for the Navy where he was introduced to the F7U Cutlass and holds the distinction of being the only pilot to launch and recover the F7U-1 on a carrier.

In 1952, Feightner was asked to take command of the Blue Angels and install the F7U as the Team's primary demonstration platform. Aware of the F7U's extreme limitation, Feightner was able to persuade the Navy to select the F9F Panther instead and reserve the Cutlass as a solo act. This resulted in Roy "Butch" Voris, the Team's first flight leader, to return and take point and allow Feightner to focus on the F7U.

The airshow season was plagued by technical problems including a loss of flight controls on several occasions. With increased strain on maintenance and growing safety concerns, the Blue Angels canceled the F7U program after 7 months.

RADM Feightner retired in 1974 and passed away on April 1, 2020 at the age 100.

Special thanks to Nick Veronico for sharing this cassette tape with the Blue Angel Phantoms YouTube Channel.

Interview Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction
0:57 Nick Veronico Interview
7:06 Whitey Feightner Interview Start
7:27 Reformation of the Blue Angels
11:14 F7U Cutlass Demonstration
12:38 Loss of Flight Controls at Pensacola Airshow
17:15 F9F-5 Panther Engine Problems
18:17 Marion Carl, Test Pilot Crash
21:07 Issues with the F9F-5 Panther
21:47 F7U Cutlass Solo Routine
25:08 Near Miss with a Light Aircraft
26:24 Maintenance Nightmare
27:14 Deciding Factor to Get Rid of the F7U
38:56 Midair Collision Over Corpus Christi
45:42 Ray Hawkins Ejection
46:57 Nick Veronico's Current Book Projects

Visual Resources and Footage From:

Aerobaticteams.net
The National Archives
National Air and Space Museum
U.S. Naval Institute
Coeur d'Alene Press

The interview featured within this video is protected by copyright owned by Nicholas A. Veronico. Any unauthorised reproduction, distribution, or public display of this interview or any part thereof is strictly prohibited without written consent from Mr. Veronico. © 2023 Nicholas A. Veronico