Navy personnel referred to the F-8 as "Vought's Last Chance," since the Vought company's last iteration, the F-7, was a miserable piece of gear.

Vought hit a home run though, producing a fighter jet that stayed in active service longer than all other fighters up till that point. It's longevity though, put it in some odd situations.

From gunfights in the sky, to fly-by-wire space technology, to, of all things, surveillance, the F-8's career was a strange journey through the annals of history.