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McDonnell FH Phantom

The McDonnell FH Phantom is a twinjet, straight-wing, carrier-based fighter aircraft designed and first flown during late World War II for the United States Navy. As a first-generation jet fighter, the Phantom was the first purely jet-powered aircraft to land on an American aircraft carrier[2][N 1] and the first jet deployed by the United States Marine Corps. Although only 62 FH-1s were built it helped prove the viability of carrier-based jet fighters. As McDonnell's first successful fighter, it led to the development of the follow-on F2H Banshee, which was one of the two most important naval jet fighters of the Korean War; combined, the two established McDonnell as an important supplier of navy aircraft.[4]

McDonnell chose to bring the name back with the third-generation, Mach 2-capable McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, the most versatile and widely-used Western combat aircraft of the Vietnam War era.[5]


The FH Phantom was originally designated the FD Phantom, but this was changed as the aircraft entered production.

United States Navy

VX-3

United States Marine Corps

VMF-122

BuNo 111759 - of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., United States.[23] This aircraft served with Marine Fighter Squadron 122 (VMF-122). It was retired in April 1954, with a total of 418 flight hours. The aircraft was transferred to the Smithsonian by the U.S. Navy in 1959.[24]

National Air and Space Museum

BuNo 111768 - , Tucson, Arizona, on loan from the National Museum of the Marine Corps, Triangle, Virginia. It has had a busy post-retirement life. Formerly a Progressive Aero aircraft c/n 456 (civil registration N4283A) it was placed on display at the Marine Corps Museum. The aircraft was later transferred to the St. Louis Aviation Museum, and then the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo, New York. In 2006 the aircraft was moved to the [24] Wings of Eagles Discovery Center in Horseheads, New York.,[25] and moved to Tucson in 2016.

Pima Air & Space Museum

BuNo 111793 - at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.[26] This aircraft was accepted by the navy on 28 February 1948. After flying for a brief time with Marine Fighter Squadron (VMF) 122, the first Marine jet squadron, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, it was stricken from the naval inventory in 1949. The museum acquired the aircraft from National Jets, Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1983.[24]

National Naval Aviation Museum

Crew: 1

Length: 37 ft 3 in (11.35 m)

Wingspan: 40 ft 9 in (12.42 m)

Width: 16 ft 3 in (4.95 m) wings folded

[8]

Height: 14 ft 2 in (4.32 m)

Height folded: 16 ft 10 in (5 m)

Wing area: 273.74 sq ft (25.431 m2)

: root: NACA 66-218 a=.6; tip: NACA 66-215-414 a=.6[29]

Airfoil

Empty weight: 6,683 lb (3,031 kg)

Gross weight: 10,035 lb (4,552 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 12,035 lb (5,459 kg)

Fuel capacity: 375 US gal (312 imp gal; 1,420 L) gasoline internal, with optional 295 US gal (246 imp gal; 1,120 L) external belly tank.

Powerplant: 2 × (or J30-P20) turbojet, 1,600 lbf (7.1 kN) thrust each (Westinghouse 19 XB-2B)

Westinghouse J30-WE-20

Powerplant: 2 × JATO bottles, 1,000 lbf (4.4 kN) thrust each for 14 seconds

Aerojet 14AS-1000 D5

Data from Naval Fighters #3 : McDonnell FH-1 Phantom,[27] and McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920 [28]


General characteristics


Performance


Armament

McDonnell F2H Banshee

Related development


Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era


Related lists

Angelucci, Enzo and . The American Fighter. Sparkford, Somerset, UK: Haynes Publishing Group, 1987. ISBN 0-85429-635-2.

Peter M. Bowers

Bedford, Alan (May–June 1999). "Earl American Carrier Jets: Evolving Jet Operations with the US Fleet, Part One". Air Enthusiast (81): 13–19.  0143-5450.

ISSN

Francillon, René J. McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920. London: Putnam & Company, Ltd, 1979.  0-370-00050-1.

ISBN

Ginter, Steve. McDonnell FH-1 Phantom. (Naval Fighters Number 115) Simi Valley, California: Steve Ginter Books, 2022.  978-0-942612-53-0

ISBN

Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Four: Fighters. London: MacDonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1961 (sixth impression 1969).  0-356-01448-7.

ISBN

Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. WW2 Aircraft Fact Files: US Navy and Marine Corps Fighters. London: Macdonald and Jane's, 1976.  0-356-08222-9.

ISBN

Grossnick, Roy A. . United States Naval Aviation 1910–1995. Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, 1997. ISBN 0-945274-34-3.

"Part 6: Postwar Years: 1946–1949"

Hamilton, Hayden. "The McDonnell FH-1 Phantom: the Forgotten Phantom". AAHS Journal, Vol. 55, No. 2, Summer 2010.

Mesko, Jim. FH Phantom/F2H Banshee in Action. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 2002.  0-89747-444-9.

ISBN

Mills, Carl. Banshees in the Royal Canadian Navy. Willowdale, Ontario, Canada: Banshee Publication, 1991.  0-9695200-0-X.

ISBN

"Mr Mac's First Phantom: The Story of the McDonnell FH-1". Air International Vol. 33, No. 5, November 1987, pp. 231–235, 258–260. Bromley, UK: Fine Scroll.  0306-5634.

ISSN

Wagner, Ray. American Combat Planes. New York: Doubleday, 3rd edition, 1982.  0-385-13120-8.

ISBN

a 1947 Flight article by John W. R. Taylor

"Phantom Development"