On this date in engineering history, McDonnell Aircraft delivered
its first production-quality F3H-2N (F-3C) Demons to fighter squadron VF-14 at
Cecil Field Naval Air Station in Jacksonville,
Florida. The F3H Demon, as the
base model was known, was McDonnell's first swept-wing jet fighter and the only
single-engine, carrier-based plane built by the legendary aircraft company. The
strike fighter's predecessor, the F3H-2M (MF-3B) Demon, was the first American
combat aircraft armed mainly with missiles instead of guns. The F3H-2N
furthered this development, featuring four radar-guided missiles and two
heat-seeking missiles in addition to four 20-mm cannons. Unlike its predecessor,
however, the F3H-2N (F-3C) was also designed for all-weather operation.
McDonnell Aircraft began work on the Demon in early 1949,
soon after the U.S. Navy selected the company's "Model 58" over the designs of
11 competitors. Originally, the aircraft was dubbed the XF4D-1 and the XF3H-1;
however, when the Navy modified its requirements, the plane's designation was changed
to F3H. For McDonnell, work on a single-engine warplane was a departure in
design. During World II, the company had built the FH-1 Phantom, a twin-engine fighter
which became the first jet-powered aircraft to land on the deck of an American
aircraft carrier. Although the FH-1's successor, the F2H Banshee, incorporated even
more powerful Westinghouse jet engines, the F3H Demon was plagued by an
unreliable J40 powerplant. After the loss of six planes and four pilots, the
first production F3H-1N Demons were grounded.
In 1953, the McDonnell Demon was re-designed as a strike
fighter. Now powered by a single Allison J71-A-2E engine, the warbird boasted
9,500 lbs. of thrust and a maximum speed of 716 mph. With a range of 1180
miles, the new F3H-2N Demon could climb 14,350 ft/min and reach a
ceiling of 42,650 ft. The F3C Demon saw squadron service during the Cuban
Missile crisis of 1962, and provided fleet defense during both the Quemoy Island
and Lebanon
crises of 1958. As one sailor later wrote, "the Demon was a very steady platform
and provided the Navy with (sic) the fighter it needed in a Cold War situation".
Other Navy veterans were critical of the Demon, however. As one former crash fire-fighter
noted, "we were kept real busy with 'emergency runs' on Demons for such things
as hydraulic system failures, over heated brakes, blown tires and the unreliable
fire warning system."
McDonnell Aircraft built a total of 522 Demons and delivered
the last one in 1959.
Resources:
http://aeroweb.brooklyn.cuny.edu/specs/mcdonnel/f3h-2n.htm
http://aeroweb.brooklyn.cuny.edu/locator/manufact/mcdonnel/f3h.htm
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/f-3.htm
http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Aerospace/McDonnell/Aero31.htm
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/cecil-field.htm
http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/f3_1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FH_Phantom
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