text: Following these incidents, the two Cutlasses were deemed unsuitable for demonstration flying and were flown to Naval Air Station Memphis, Tennessee, where they were abandoned to become aircraft maintenance instructional airframes for the Naval Technical Training Center. The Blue Angels would opt to use the Grumman F9F Panther in place of the Cutlass.
  Variants
  XF7U-1
  Three prototypes ordered on 25 June 1946 (BuNos 122472, 122473 & 122474). First flight, 29 September 1948; all three aircraft were destroyed in crashes.
  F7U-1
  The initial production version, 14 built. Powered by two J34-WE-32 engines.
  F7U-2
  Proposed version, planned to be powered by two Westinghouse J34-WE-42 engines with afterburner, but the order for 88 aircraft was cancelled.
  XF7U-3
  Designation given to one aircraft built as the prototype for the F7U-3, BuNo 128451. First flight: 20 December 1951.
  F7U-3
  The definitive production version, 180 built. Powered by two Westinghouse J46-WE-8B turbojets.  The first sixteen aircraft, including the prototype, were powered by interim J35-A-29 non-afterburning engines.
  F7U-3P
  Photo-reconnaissance version, 12 built. With a  longer nose and equipped with photo flash cartridges, none of these aircraft saw operational service, being used only for research and evaluation purposes.
  F7U-3M
  This missile capable version was armed with four AAM-N-2 Sparrow I air-to-air beam-riding missiles.  98 built of which 48 F7U-3 airframes under construction were upgraded to F7U-3M standard. An order for 202 additional aircraft was cancelled.
  A2U-1
  Designation given to a cancelled order of 250 aircraft to be used in the ground attack role.