McDonnell FH

McDonnell FH Phantom
FH-1 of the US Marine Corps (VMF-122), 1949
Type:	Fighter bomber
Design country:	United States
Manufacturer:	McDonnell Aircraft Corporation
First flight:	January 26, 1945
Commissioning:	1947
Production time:	1946 to 1947
Number of pieces:	62

Phantom FH-1 (1949)

The McDonnell FH Phantom was the first jet-powered fighter aircraft of the United States Navy . It first flew in 1945 and was retired in 1953. Later there was the McDonnell F-4 , also known as the "Phantom".

development

The US Navy commissioned McDonnell on August 30, 1943 with the design of a jet-powered fighter aircraft . McDonnell was chosen because the only four-year-old company was hoping for an impartial approach to the new drive technology and because the "large" companies would not take any capacities off of war-related orders. In the first concept studies, three engines were planned in the wings, later there should be two more powerful engines in the wing roots. At the end of 1943 the Navy then ordered two prototypes with the designation XFD-1 . Right from the start, these had complete equipment suitable for aircraft carriers, but the cockpit was not pressurized and ejection seats were not installed either. The first prototype allegedly made its first hop at the beginning of January 1945, at which point only one engine was installed due to delivery problems. The actual first flight took place on January 26, 1945, and the aircraft was now powered by two 5.18 kN Westinghouse 19XB-2B engines. This plane crashed on November 1, 1945, killing test pilot Woodwark Burke. The second prototype flew in June 1945, it was damaged in a belly landing in August 1945 . It landed and took off as the first US jet aircraft on July 21, 1946 from an aircraft carrier, the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR). The pilot was Jim Davidson. In November, tests with a Lockheed P-80 were also carried out on the FDR ; but their construction turned out to be too weak for hard deck landings.

Versions

XFD-1

Prototype with two Westinghouse 19XB-2B engines, two were built (BuNo 48235-48236).

FH-1 (FD-1)

Production version with two Westinghouse J30 WE-20 engines, originally referred to as FD-1. 60 were built (BuNo 111749-111808).

commitment

An FH-1 on the USS Saipan in May 1948

On March 7, 1945, the US Navy placed a series order for 100 FD-1s with more powerful J30-WE-20 engines, but this was first reduced to 30 and then increased to 60 after the end of the war. The first FD-1 flew in October 1946, and in July 1947 the VF-17A (later VF-171) was the first to be equipped with the Phantom . At the same time the US Navy changed the code letters for aircraft from the manufacturer McDonnell from "D" to "H", and so the "FD" phantom became the "FH" phantom (see designation system for aircraft of the US Navy from 1922 to 1962 ). VF-17A flew briefly from the light aircraft carrier USS Saipan in May 1948 . In addition to this squadron, only the Fighter Squadron VMF-122 of the United States Marine Corps was equipped with the FH. From July 1950 to July 1953, the machines flew with the reserve squadrons of the Naval Air Reserve. The FH's operating time remained so short that, in anticipation of rapid development in jet aircraft, McDonnell had already placed an order for a larger and more powerful fighter-bomber on July 2, 1945 , the later F2H Banshee , of which 895 were built.

Technical specifications

Parameter	FH-1 data
crew	1
length	11.35 m
span	12.42 m
height	4.32 m
Wing area	24.64 m²
Empty mass	3031 kg
Max. Takeoff mass	5459 kg
Top speed	771 km / h at sea level
Rate of climb	21.5 m / s
Service ceiling	12,525 m
Max. Range	1580 km
Engine	two jet engines Westinghouse J30 -WE-20 each with 7.1 kN thrust + optional JATO starter rockets
Armament	four 12.7 mm machine guns with 325 rounds each + eight unguided air-to-surface missiles on suspensions under the wings

literature

• Peter M. Bowers : United States Navy Aircraft since 1911. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis (Maryland) 1990, ISBN 0-87021-792-5 , pp. 321-322.
• First Jet Squadron on the CVL Saipan. In: US Naval Aviation News July 1948, pp. 10f. ( PDF )

Web links

Commons : McDonnell FH  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ FliegerRevue February 2012, pp. 52–55, The transition to jet propulsion - FH-1 Phantom, FJ-1 Fury, F6U Pirate
2. ↑ Bowers, p. 321
3. ↑ Boeing.com: History: The Boeing Logbook 1946–1951 ( Memento of February 3, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (English), accessed on September 18, 2011
4. ↑ Augsburger Allgemeine from July 21, 2011, section Das Datum
5. ↑ US Naval Aviation News July 1948, p. 10
6. ^ Bowers, p. 296
7. ↑ Bowers, pp. 322f.