"Perhaps the most unusual first accomplished by the Crusader, and a capability its designers never envisioned, was its ability to fly with its wings folded. This was made possible by the fact that enough lift was provided by the wing's center section alone, and because the flaps and ailerons were both inboard of the wing fold. If the ailerons had been outboard of the wing fold, such flight would not have been possible regardless of how much lift was generated by the wing's center section.
There are no less than seven separate recorded incidents where an F-8 flew with its wings in the folded position, none of which were made deliberately. The first of these took place at Capodichino Airport, Naples, Italy, on August 2, 1960. LT Jack Barnes, of VF-11, inadvertantly took off with the wings folded. When he noticed the problem, he climbed to 5000 feet, dumped his fuel, and safely made a 'hot' landing. The entire flight took about twenty-four minutes.
On two occasions, pilots who had taken off with the wings folded were able to climb to altitude, extend first one wing and then the other. This would seem to be even more dangerous than flying with both wings folded, since the center of lift would be altered considerably with one wing extendedand one folded. However, both pilots accomplishedthe maneuver successfully, then continued their flights in a routine manner.
It did not require a clean aircraft to fly the Crusader with the wings folded. There were two incidents where flights were made with external stores attached to the aircraft. In August 1966, a Marine Corps Crusader from VMF(AW)-235 took off from Da Nang witg two 1000-pound bombs for a night strike. Once the pilot noticed the problem, he landed the aircraft safely, although the landing gear collapsed because of the heavy weight and 'hot' landing. The second 'loaded' flight with the wings folded also happened at Da Nang and involved another VMF(AW)-235 aircraft.
On this occasion the Crusader was loaded with Zuni-rockets and a 1000-pound bomb load.
After the pilot jettisoned these in the Gulf of Tonkin, he returned and landed safely."