Here are a few profiles of one of my favourite aircraft: the Vought F-8 Crusader, the “last of the gunfighters”. According to some pilot reports I’ve read, the F-8 was able to defeat an F/A-18 Hornet in close combat. Obviously, it would have been totally outclassed in BVR combat against the legacy Hornet, but over three decades separate these two aircraft.
US Marine Corps F-8A, BuNo 145400, VMF-323, USS Oriskany carrier qualifications, February 1960
US Navy F-8E, BuNo 149203, VF-162, Cdr Burt Sheperd, USS Oriskany, 1966
US Navy F-8K, BuNo 145575, VC-2, NAS Oceana, August 1970
US Navy F-8J, BuNo 150680, VF-194, CAG Bird, NAS Miramar, 1971
French Navy F-8E(FN) n°7, Flottille 12.F, armed with Matra R.530 missiles