Article 2580 of rec.aviation.military:
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From: jfb@usgp1.ih.att.com (Joe Baugher)
Subject: Vought F-8 Crusader (18 of 18)
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Summary: Philippine Crusaders
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Date: Thu, 29 Sep 1994 14:15:22 GMT
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Besides France, the only other nation to use the Crusader was the 
Philippines.  In late 1977, the Philippines government purchased 35 
ex-US Navy F-8Hs that had been sitting in storage at Davis-Monthan AFB 
in Arizona.  25 of them were to be refurbished by Vought and the 
remaining ten were to be replacement aircraft.  

As part of the contract, Vought was also to train Philippine Air Force 
pilots and maintenance personnel.  The two-seat TF-8A was to be used 
in support of the training effort, but it crashed on July 28, 1978.  

The Filipino F-8Hs went to the 7th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 
5th fighter Wing stationed at Basa Air Base, Pampanga, in northern 
Luzon.  This outfit had previously operated F-86F Sabrejets, which 
were by this time thoroughly obsolete.  As part of their job in 
defending Philippine airspace, the F-8s of the 7th TFS intercepted 
many Soviet bombers which overflew the northwestern area of the island 
nation.  

The corruption and mismanagement that characterized the later years of 
the Marcos regime was so bad that most of the Philippine Crusaders 
rapidly deteriorated and fell into disrepair, with very few actually 
being able to fly at any one time.  During the confusion surrounding 
the departure of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, the 
flyable Crusaders were flown to Clark AFB to protect them from 
sabotage.  

The surviving Philippine Crusaders were finally phased out on January 
23, 1988.  In nine years, the PAF F-8s had suffered five major 
accidents, losing two pilots.  


Sources:

    Vought F-8 Crusader, Peter Mersky, Osprey, 1981.

    The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.

    United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911, Gordon Swanborough and
    Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.

    Ray Wagner, American Combat Planes, Third Enlarged Edition,
    Doubleday, 1982.



Joe Baugher			  **************************************
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