In 1944 the Naval Bureau of Aeronautics issued requests for proposals for jet fighters to several aircraft manufacturers. The McDonnell XFD-1 (FH-1) Phantom receiving the only contract, up to that time, for a naval jet fighter. In response to this request 3 manufacturers submitted proposals: the XFD-2 (FH-2) Banshee from McDonnell, the XF6U Pirate from Vought and the XFJ-1 Fury from North American. Contracts for all three aircraft were signed. North American received an order for 100 production examples, of which only 30 were built.

   For a time the Navy's FJ-1 and the Army's P-86 were developed concurrently. The designs diverged when the Army wanted to take advantage of research suggesting the benefits of swept wings. The Navy wanted a more conventional straight winged design to accommodate the lower speeds needed for landing on carriers. The original design also offered wing mounted dive brakes, which meant fuel was to be stored in saddle tanks in the fuselage leading to the tubby looking fuselage of the FJ-1. Having wing mounted dive brakes also prohibited wing folding for carrier storage. The FJ-1 was fitted with a mechanism for owering the nose of the aircraft on to small wheels. The aircraft were then stored one under the other.

   The first prototype was completed in January 1946, but did not receive it's engine until June '46.The last production Fury was delivered to the Navy in April of 1948.

   The FJ-1 Fury only served with one regular navy squadron, that being VF-5A (later VF-51) at North Island California. The squadron along with the FH-1 Phantoms of VF-17 was tasked with the development of procedures for the deployment of jets on board aircraft carriers. The Fury also won the Bendix Trophy in 1948.

   May of 1949 saw the Fury being phased out and relegated to Naval Reserve units. The last Fury was retired in 1953.

   I used Czech Model kit # 4805 to produce my model. I had always liked the Fury and this recently released kit was in my favorite 1/48 scale so the choice was obvious. This a multimedia kit with injected molded, resin and vacuum formed pieces being used.