With the development of a Hispano 300-hp engine, Vought immediately designed a new airplane around this engine, the VE-8.  In 1918, as World War I ended, the U.S. Army Air Service (USAS) ordered four of these airplanes.  This single-seat fighter appeared to have been greatly influenced by the French Spad.  Nurtured from previous design, the VE-8 was a more powerful fighter version of the VE-7.  Being overweight, it suffered from poor performance and stability.  To carry the added weight of the bigger engine, the nose structure and landing gear were built structurally stronger.  The top wing was very close to the fuselage and the center section was filled with a wooden fairing. 

Test pilot reports were unfavorable, observing that this model was sluggish on the controls, tail-heavy, and directionally unstable.  Lt. Harold Harris, USAS, believed that the joining of the fuselage to the upper wing caused much of the instability.  Four VE-8s were ordered by the USAS, but records show that only two were built; one for static and one for flight tests.