The F-8 was and still is the last of the gun fighters. No other aircraft hence has been designed to be pure air superiority fighter like the F-8. (Not even the F-15...I know I am going to catch hell for that comment) The F-4 was designed with the "New-Thinking" of the time that guns we obsolete and that missiles are all that would be needed hence no gun and the its bias toward being a multi role airframe like everything. They were wrong, that is why later models carried a gun pod mounted on the belly of the aircraft. The F-8 would turn tighter, pull more g's, had a truer sight picture and was designed to help the pilot get on the guns fast and stay in the fight. A real pilots aircraft that was also tough as nails. I would take the F-8 in the hands of a skilled pilot anytime. The F-4 was ugly, not very stable but had 2 powerful GE engines that made the aircraft what it is. If you look at the way the wings slant up and the horizontal stabilizerscant down, those were all an effort to make the ugly bird fly...The F-8 and F-4 are almost two different to com pair. As far as a true gunfighter the F-8 is it, not even the mighty F-14 (built for fleet defense and around the phoenix missile to shoot down Russian bears) can hold a candle to the F-8. Again the F-8 was designed to be a gun fighter pure and simple, not the multi role / multi purpose designs that have been the norm from Vietnam on. Just my opinion.