FJ Fury in Detail & Scale, Part 1

Book excerpt: FJ Fury in Detail & Scale, Part 1: Prototypes Through FJ-3 Variants is the first of two books that cover North American Aviation’s iconic early jet fighter that was flown by the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps. The FJ Fury was a major milestone as the Navy developed its early jet fighters for carrier operations. Moving from the original straight-wing design of the FJ-1, the FJ-2 would become operational with the Marines, and the FJ-3 would become one of the first swept-wing jet fighters to operate from aircraft carriers of the U. S. Navy in large numbers, along with Grumman’s F9F Cougar. It was a small but essential step along the way that has led to the state-of-the-art supersonic fighters that followed. In 2003, Detail & Scale originally published FJ Fury in Detail & Scale. That title covered all versions of the Fury, including the FJ-4 and FJ-4B. This new publication is the first of two parts that significantly expand the coverage of that original book, and it covers the prototypes through the FJ-3 and FJ-3M. The FJ-4 and FJ-4B will be the subjects of FJ Fury in Detail & Scale, Part 2: FJ-4 & FJ-4B Variants. The book begins with a chapter on the developmental history of the aircraft, covering its design and the production commitment by the Navy while World War II was still ongoing, through the evolution of the Fury up to the major redesign that resulted in the FJ-4 variant which will be covered in Part 2. This is followed by a chapter which takes a closer look at each early variant of the Fury, from the straight-winged FJ-1, to the swept-wing FJ-2 which was basically a navalized version of the Air Force’s F-86E Sabre, to the improved FJ-3 and FJ-3M variants with a more powerful engine. Also included is a section on the XFJ-2 and XFJ-2B prototypes. The hallmark of the Detail & Scale Series, the details chapter, follows. The Fury Details chapter in this Part 1 is divided into two sections, one covering the original FJ-1, and the second covering the FJ-2 and FJ-3/FJ-3M. Each section is as large as a typical details chapter in most Detail & Scale Series publications. Between the two sections, there are more than 180 detailed photographs and illustrations in the Fury Details chapter. As with all titles in the Detail & Scale Series of books, the last few pages are dedicated to scale modelers. In the years since our first book on the Fury was published, several new kits of the these early variants of the Fury have been released, and these are all covered with reviews and photographs along with the older kits. The digital version of FJ Fury in Detail & Scale, Part 1: Prototypes Through FJ-3 Variants, has 178 pages, 269 photographs (211 in color), and 10 full-color profiles.