The first single-engined all-jet fighter developed for the Navy was the FJ-1 Fury. In many ways, the aircraft was just an extension of the standard WWII type fighter. It just had a different power plant. 

Typical of the type, it had straight wings and an all machine gun armament. An unusual feature of the aircraft was that the front landing gear could be raised and a small trolley fit under the nose. While in this 'kneeling' position, a number of aircraft could be parked in a smaller amount of space. The FJ-1 did not have folding wings.

The aircraft was really uninspiring. While not slow, it was also not able to dogfight with the Corsairs and Bearcats of the day.  The other planes were just too maneuverable and were able to outperform the FJ-1 and it's anemic early J-35 powerplant. Though rated at 4,000 lbs of thrust, it rarely produced that much.

Where the FJ-1 was useful was in allowing the Navy the opportunity to develop plans on the use of  jet aircraft and give pilots familiarity with the type. Only one regular Navy unit flew the type, and that was VF-5 (later VF-51). The aircraft was taken on one cruise before the squadron switched to the more capable Banshee.

Those Furies still left were divvied up to several Navy Reserve units until it was no longer economical to maintain. There are several FJ-1s still extant. One in the Navy Museum at Pensacola and the other at the Bradley Museum in Connecticut.

Area 53 has presented us with a fine sheet covering three aircaft. There are enough common markings to allow you to do any one of the three shown. The first aircraft is a trials bird from NATC. Other than the alignment markings and the B, it is rather plain.

Next is one from the Oakland Air Reserve. You have seen shots of this aircraft in a number of books. It has an orange fuselage band as commonly used by the reserves and a red nose stripe. There is a section of dark sea blue provided on the decal sheet to put over the orange stripe.

Finally one from the Olathe, Kansas Reserve unit. This aircraft has the insignia moved to a more forward position than the others with the NAVY marking in the orange band.

If you have the Czech Model FJ-1 kit, toss out the kit decals and get this one!

Please note that I deliberately fuzzed the image of the decals to prevent unauthorized duplication. I have also made the sheet very dark so that the white will show up. This has resulted in some red markings becoming black.

Review copy courtesy Apollodcal 

If you can't find their decals at your local hobby shop, you can order them direct from the link above.

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