The last Navy fighter developed by the Chance Vought company before it was absorbed into the Ling-Temco-Vought organization, the F-8 Crusader was designed to meet a 1952 Navy requirement for a supersonic air-superiority fighter. The F-8 was equipped with an afterburner, and was unusual in having a high-mounted wing, the incidence of which could be increased to reduce the landing speed, without forcing the aircraft to assume an exaggerated nose-high attitude. The first F-8s flew in March and September of 1955, with deliveries to operational units beginning in March of 1957. The F-8 was armed with four 20mm cannon, as well as air-to-air rockets and Sidewinder missiles. They were very effective fighter aircraft, becoming known as "Mig-killers" during the Vietnam War.
(source: United States Navy Aircraft since 1911 by Gordon Swanborough and Peter Bowers)