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SICDT PIDJltTS DPTIE
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LUFTWAFFE
COLD WAR
INTERCEPTOR Thi! RRF'S F.1551/D.R. 329 Fighter Projects
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Despera hon and Deva sta tion During WW 2's Final Months
Introduction
ABOUT THE ARTIST
JP Vieira is an illustrator producing military history and aviation-themed artwork. He is entirely self-taught and aims to constantly improve both the technical and digital methods. His attention to detail and constant pursuit of improvement makes his artworks both accurate and artistically pleasing. JP is a published artist, collaborating with several authors, editors and publishers.
histories of the aircraft he was writing about and the F-4 issue was a real eye-opener. The history of McDonnell and later McDonnell Douglas was fascinating – it turns out there was a whole crucial chapter of aviation history I had foolishly been ignoring for years! Looking back from 2020, a time when the lifespan of modern fighter aircraft is measured in decades, if not half-centuries, it seems strange to think that once upon a time a US Navy jet fighter was expected to last no more than five or six years, a decade tops. Right from the early days of jet propulsion, the Navy was pushing the boundaries of what was technologically possible with designs such as the Cutlass (not quite as ‘gutless’ as you might have been led to believe), Demon (ancestor of the F-4) and Skyray (in front line service for just six years!). Clearly, here were aircraft which foreshadowed the mighty Tomcat itself when it came to high-tech prowess. Today’s Navy is finally emerging from what has been a time of unprecedented austerity with the F/A-18E/F and F-35C at the cutting edge of aviation technology and with the F/A-XX programme set to deliver a sixth generation fighter that will take the Navy well into the 21st century. This publication chronicles the US Navy’s jet fighters through the beautiful artworks of renowned aviation illustrator JP Vieira. I hope you enjoy marvelling at the incredible variety of designs as much as I have. Dan Sharp
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he F-14 Tomcat was the American jet fighter during the 1980s. Those big intakes, the hawkish nose, and those wild variable geometry wings – it was the future of air combat plain and simple. And then there was Tony Scott’s iconic film Top Gun starring Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis and Val Kilmer; a whole generation grew up to the sound of Kenny Loggins urging whoever would listen to ‘ride into the danger zone’. That was my impression of the US Navy growing up – the skill and bravado of the aviators, certainly, but the F-14 was the pinnacle of naval fighter development. I knew that before the Tomcat there was the unforgettable F-4 Phantom II. This was a real dog of war aircraft, bloodied in Vietnam and brutally powerful. But it had become ubiquitous by the time I became aware of it – the RAF and Royal Navy in Britain both operated it along with numerous other countries all around the world. It somehow lacked the high-tech appeal of the F-14. Later there came the F/A-18 which, if my Airfix models were any basis for comparison, had a somewhat weedier airframe and whose star turn on the big screen came courtesy of the horrendous Independence Day. It just wasn’t in the same league as the Tomcat. And that was it. For some reason my mind labelled everything prior to the F-4 ‘old stuff’ and I paid it no mind until, one day, I found myself working on the Aviation Classics series of magazines – writing material for editor Tim Callaway as well as editing his work. Tim was very good at recapping the full
BOEING F/A-18E/F SUPER HORNET A nest of Hornets – US Navy air power on display aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on the Arabian Sea in August 2019. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Dan Snow
US NAVY JET FIGHTERS
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US NAVY JET FIGHTERS
Commercial director: NIGEL HOLE
Design: BOOKEMPRESS
Published by: MORTONS MEDIA GROUP LTD, MEDIA CENTRE, MORTON WAY, HORNCASTLE, LINCOLNSHIRE LN9 6JR.
Publishing director: DAN SAVAGE Publisher: STEVE O’HARA Picture desk: JONATHAN SCHOFIELD, PAUL FINCHAM Production editor: DAN SHARP Marketing manager: CHARLOTTE PARK 004
US NAVY JET FIGHTERS
Tel. 01507 529529 Printed by: WILLIAM GIBBONS AND SONS, WOLVERHAMPTON
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MCDONNELL F2H BANSHEE
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NORTH AMERICAN FJ-2 AND FJ-3 FURY
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All illustrations: JP VIEIRA
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018
DOUGLAS F3D SKYKNIGHT
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NORTH AMERICAN FJ-4 FURY
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NORTH AMERICAN FJ-1 FURY
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MCDONNELL FH-1 PHANTOM
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006
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CONTENTS
022
GRUMMAN F9F PANTHER
ISBN: 978-1-911639-34-3 © 2020 MORTONS MEDIA GROUP LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL, INCLUDING PHOTOCOPYING, RECORDING, OR ANY INFORMATION STORAGE RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHER.
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DOUGLAS F4D SKYRAY
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VOUGHT F-8 CRUSADER
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GRUMMAN F-14 TOMCAT
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MCDONNELL DOUGLAS F-4 PHANTOM II
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102
MCDONNELL DOUGLAS F/A-18A, B, C, D HORNET
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LOCKHEED F-35C LIGHTNING II
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BOEING F/A-18E, F SUPER HORNET
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GRUMMAN F11F-1 TIGER
042
VOUGHT F7U CUTLASS
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MCDONNELL F3H DEMON
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GRUMMAN F9F COUGAR
US NAVY JET FIGHTERS
005
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US NAVY JET FIGHTERS MCDONNELL FD-1 (LATER FH-1) PHANTOM McDonnell FD-1 (later FH-1) Phantom, 111749, 1947. The first production Phantom was delivered in 1947.
MCDONNELL FH-1 PHANTOM 1947-1954
Primitive and produced in only small numbers, McDonnell’s FH-1 Phantom was nevertheless the US Navy’s first operational pure jet fighter.
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US NAVY JET FIGHTERS
E
ngineer James McDonnell’s timing was impeccable. He left aircraft manufacturer Glenn L. Martin in 1938, having worked there for seven years, to form his own company making aircraft components in 1939 – just as the US military was preparing to place enormous orders for parts. McDonnell was keen to begin building aircraft of his own and just a year later his team entered a US Army Air Corps contest to design a new high-speed longrange bomber interceptor. After a steep learning curve, the result was the XP-67 Moonbat – a novel but underpowered prototype which was destroyed following an engine fire before testing could be completed. The fledgling firm had no experience of naval aircraft or jet propulsion but with other manufacturers working at maximum capacity and having demonstrated the ability to innovate, McDonnell received a contract to build a jet-powered fighter for the Navy in August 1943.
The result was a compact fighter with folding straight wings; tailplane with noticeable dihedral; forward-set fullvision canopy; four .50-cal machine guns in its upper nose; a tricycle undercarriage and a jet engine buried in each wingroot. It was designed with the first American turbojet in mind – the Westinghouse WE-19XB-2B, later redesignated the J30-WE-20 – which produced 1600lb of thrust. Two prototypes were ordered and the first one made its maiden flight on January 26, 1945, although short hops on a single engine had previously been carried out. An order for 100 full production examples followed on March 7. The production model had a fuselage 18in longer than the prototypes, its rudder was shortened and its tailplanes were reduced in length. An aerodynamic external fuel tank could be installed beneath the fuselage for added range and the canopy windscreen was changed to improve pilot visibility.
FD-1 flew on November 28. Deliveries to US Navy squadrons commenced on July 23, 1947, and the type was redesignated FH-1. Its service career would prove to be brief however, and by mid-1949 it was being replaced by McDonnell’s own F2H-1
Banshee. Training and reserve units would continue to use the type until 1954. The Phantom suffered from weak engines, a lack of firepower, an inability to carry external stores and no ejection seat but better aircraft were on the way.•
MCDONNELL FH-1 PHANTOM McDonnell FH-1 Phantom, 111776, R-117, VF-171, USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1949. Phantoms entered service with VF-171 (previously designated VF-17A), serving aboard several aircraft carriers.
MCDONNELL FH-1 PHANTOM McDonnell FH-1 Phantom, 111778, R-112, VF-171, USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1949. Phantoms could be equipped with a ventral fuel tank, as depicted.
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The end of the Second World War saw the production order cut to just 60 examples. The second prototype became the first pure jet fighter to make an arrested landing on a US carrier on July 21, 1946, and the first production
MCDONNELL FH-1 PHANTOM
McDonnell FH-1 Phantom, 111808, E-104, US Naval Air Reserve, Naval Air Station Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1952. Phantoms had a short front-line operational career; by the end of 1949, the aircraft were allocated to Naval Air Reserve units.
US NAVY JET FIGHTERS
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US NAVY JET FIGHTERS
MCDONNELL F
1948-1965
The fundamentally sound design of McDonnell’s Phantom had been let down by its engines – so as bigger and better powerplants became available it made sense to simply scale up the FH-1’s airframe to accommodate them. The result was the F2H Banshee.
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US NAVY JET FIGHTERS
J
ust five days before it received the order for 100 production model FH-1 Phantoms, on March 2, 1945, McDonnell was handed a contract to build three prototypes of a scaled-up version designated the XF2D-1. The additional size would allow the aircraft to accommodate a pair of Westinghouse J34-WE-22 turbojets in its wingroots, each producing 3000lb of thrust, and four 20mm cannon in its nose rather than four machine guns. The wings remained straight and were still capable of folding to suit the cramped confines of a hangar deck – but each now had four
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MCDONNELL F2H-2 BANSHEE McDonnell F2H-2 Banshee, F-210, VF-62, USS Lake Champlain (CVA-39), aboard USS Wasp (CV-18), 1952. The punishment for landing on the wrong carrier was swift and very visible, as seen in this aircraft.
L F2H BANSHEE should be able to carry a single Mk.7 or Mk.8 nuclear bomb beneath their port wingroot if needed. Consequently, 27 airframes received strengthened port wings, had one 20mm cannon replaced with an inflight refuelling probe and had landing gear that could be pumped up to provide additional ground clearance for the large ordnance. These aircraft received the designation F2H-2B. Another 14 airframes were modified on the production line to become the Navy’s first night and all-weather interceptors, designated F2H-2N. These aircraft were fitted with AN/APS-19A radar housed inside a new
MCDONNELL F2H-2 BANSHEE McDonnell F2H-2 Banshee, T-111, VF-11, USS Kearsarge (CVA-33), Korea, 1952. Banshees proved very useful during the Korean War as ground-attack aircraft.
US NAVY JET FIGHTERS
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was placed even before the first F2H-1s had been delivered. This second variant would become the most-produced Banshee with 364 examples rolling off McDonnell’s St Louis production line. The F2H-2 was powered by J34-WE34s, producing 3250lb of thrust, had an ejection seat and could be fitted with wingtip fuel tanks for improved range. Unfortunately, the tip tanks could only be fuelled when the wings were down and had to be drained before the wings could be folded – making the Banshee more difficult to work with. While production was ongoing it was decided that a number of Banshees
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external hardpoints, allowing the Banshee to carry bombs or rockets weighing up to a total of 1540lb. McDonnell also took the opportunity to make all-over detail changes to the aircraft’s aerodynamic form. The Banshee, affectionately known as the ‘Banjo’ in service, would effectively incorporate all the lessons learned from designing and building the Phantom. The first prototype XF2H-1 flew on January 11, 1947, as McDonnell was gearing up to commence deliveries of the FH-1, and an order for 56 production model F2H-1s followed on May 29. And an order for the further improved F2H-2
US NAVY JET FIGHTERS
McDonnell F2H Banshee
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MCDONNELL F2H-2 BANSHEE McDonnell F2H-2 Banshee, O-312, VA-76, NAS Oceana, Virginia, 1955. One of the last units to operate the F2H-2 was VA-76.
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MCDONNELL F2H-3 BANSHEE McDonnell F2H-3 Banshee, I-109, VF-41, USS Forrestal (CVA-59), 1956. The Banshees of VF-41 operated from the US Navy’s first carrier to be constructed with a steam catapult, an angled flight deck and an optical landing system.
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MCDONNELL F2H-3 BANSHEE McDonnell F2H-3 Banshee, K-112, VF-31, 1955. Banshees were adapted to carry nuclear ordnance including the depicted Mk.7 bomb; this aircraft carries one such weapon under the right wing and is equipped for in-flight refuelling.
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US NAVY JET FIGHTERS
lengthened plastic nose section and had their cannon shifted further aft. A photo reconnaissance variant was produced under a separate contract as the F2H-2P, with 58 examples being built from scratch. Again, the F2H-2 was given a much longer nose. This was divided into three sections and incorporated various windows so that cameras could be installed in a variety of different positions. Meanwhile, McDonnell had been busy with another scaling exercise and had proposed a still larger version of the Banshee as a dedicated night and all-weather interceptor. The F2H-2N had already proven that the aircraft could be adapted to this purpose so on July 14, 1950, an order was placed for 250 F2H-3s. While the F2H-3 retained the engines of its predecessor, it had a new 7ft longer fuselage, newly enlarged wings and a completely redesigned tail unit. It maintained some parts commonality but was practically a new aircraft. The fuselage could house two new fuel tanks, which meant that tip tanks were no longer always necessary, and inside the nose was an AN/APQ-41 radar. The last Banshee sub-type was the F2H-4 – another night and all-weather interceptor. It was based on the F2H-3 and externally looked identical. However, beneath the skin it had new J34-WE-38 engines offering 3600lb of thrust each and a new AN/APG-37 radar in its nose. One hundred and fifty examples were ordered by the Navy. A total of 892 Banshees were built across the four variants and in September 1962 the F2H-3 was redesignated F-2C while the F2H-4 became the F-2D. The type remained in front line service until 1959 and the last examples were retired from the Reserves in 1965, ending a lineage that had begun during the dark days of the Second World War.•
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MCDONNELL F2H-4 BANSHEE McDonnell F2H-4 Banshee, X-102, VF-102, USS Randolph (CVA-15), 1956. The F2H-4 variant was procured in relatively low numbers but did feature a new radar giving true all-weather capability
US NAVY JET FIGHTERS
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US NAVY JET FIGHTERS
NORTH AMERICAN FJ-1 FURY
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NORTH AMERICAN FJ-1 FURY North American FJ-1 Fury, F-103, NAS Oakland, California, 1952. The operational career of the FJ-1 was short, with aircraft being assigned to reserve units and eventually retired in 1953.
US NAVY JET FIGHTERS
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1947-1953
The FJ-1 Fury was a ‘safe’ single-jet design produced at a time of uncertainty about the advantages and potential perils of swept-wing design. It was also a snapshot of the F-86 during the early stages of its development.
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