The Vought F6U Pirate was one of the first generation of jet fighters and one of the first jet aeroplanes operated by the US Navy. Despite its innovation it was not very successful and only several dozen were made.

Vought had established its reputation with the F4U Corsair but, with World War II still in progress, the company began work on its first jet aeroplane.

The design was aerodynamically simple but it attracted the interest of the US Navy which ordered three prototypes in December 1944 and later another 62 production aircraft.

The prototype flew for the first time on 2 October 1946 and the design went through a number of modifications before the production version was deployed in August 1949.

Due to its low power engine it was not considered a success and it was modified to become the first operational jet aircraft with an afterburner. Even so, its performance was poor and only 33 were constructed.

Airmodel 1/72 kit completed by Leigh Edmonds in April 1996.