Mar 142013
In 1949, the Langley Aeronautical laboratory of the NACA studied external stores (apparently fuel tanks) configurations for the Vought F7U Cutlass. A wide and occasionally unusual range of layouts was considered. As it happened, the Cutlass was a disaster of an airplane, with low powered engines prone to flameout in the rain and landing gear prone to collapse. The Cutlass did not last long and a surprising fraction were destroyed in crashes.
