Ok your thought. The fact is the aircraft was underpowered. So was the Demon and many other early jets. Was the F7U a sound design? Yes it probably was, biggest issue being it was built for a set engine type and had no room to modify! Did it deserve the nickname, that's up in the air but it got it and it lasted. The Navy jets were a lot less forgivable that Air Force Jets. The Cutlass and the Demon were true demonstrations of that issue. 10 thousand feet of run way is far more forgiving than 500 feet, 4 wires, moving at thirty knots and pitching deck.
U.S. Air Force McDonnell Douglas RF-4C-37-MC Phantom 68-0558 (msn 3405), of the 17th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, at Florennes Air Base, Belgium, for exercise ROYAL FLUSH '73, on 13 June 1973.
The first flight of this Boeing 747 version E-4A on June 13, 1973 at Paine Field in Everett, Washington. The specially equipped jumbo jet was designed to be used as an advanced airborne command post in case of national emergency.
An air-to-air left side view of the lead F-15 Eagle aircraft of the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, 15 June 1983. The aircraft is equipped with Sidewinder (AIM-9) missiles on the wing pylon and fuselage-mounted Sparrow (AIM-7) missiles.