Early work

In early 1943, officials within the United States Navy (USN) were impressed by McDonnell's audacious XP-67 Bat prototype. Thereafter, McDonnell was invited by the USN to cooperate in the development of a shipboard interceptor; the standout feature of this envisioned aircraft was that it would be powered by a turbojet engine, which were already under development by Westinghouse Electric Corporation.^[8][1] Three prototypes were ordered on 30 August 1943 and the designation XFD-1^{[N 2]} was assigned.^[6] Under the 1922 United States Navy aircraft designation system, the letter "D" before the dash designated the aircraft's manufacturer. The Douglas Aircraft Company had previously been assigned this letter, but the USN elected to reassign it to McDonnell because Douglas had not provided any fighters for navy service in years.^[9]

McDonnell's design team evaluated a number of engine combinations, varying from eight 9.5 in (24 cm) diameter engines down to two engines of 19 inches (48 cm) diameter. The final design used the two 19 in (48 cm) engines after it was found to be the lightest and simplest configuration.^[10] While early considerations had been made towards the incorporation of an auxiliary 'boost' engine, however, the design team were sufficiently satisfied with the power output of the base engines.^[8] The engines were buried in the wing root to keep both the intake and exhaust ducts short, an arrangement that offered greater aerodynamic efficiency in contrast to underwing nacelles.^[11] Furthermore, the engines were angled slightly outwards to protect the fuselage from the hot exhaust blast.^[9][1] Placement of the engines in the middle of the airframe, behind the center of gravity, required the cockpit with its bubble-style canopy to be placed ahead of the wing, which also granted the pilot excellent visibility in all directions. The long nose allowed designers to use tricycle gear, thereby elevating the engine exhaust path and reducing the risk that the hot blast would damage the aircraft carrier deck.^[12][8]

The construction methods and aerodynamic design of the Phantom were fairly conventional for the time, which was an intentional choice of the design team.^[8] Accordingly, the aircraft had unswept wings, a conventional empennage, and an aluminum monocoque structure with flush riveted aluminum skin. Folding wings were used to reduce the width of the aircraft in storage configuration.^[1][6] Provisions for four .50-caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns were made in the nose, while racks for eight 5 in (130 mm) High Velocity Aircraft Rockets could be fitted under the wings, although these were seldom used in service.^[9][8] Adapting a jet to carrier use was a much greater challenge than producing a land-based fighter because of slower landing and takeoff speeds required on a small carrier deck. The Phantom used split flaps on both the folding and fixed wing sections to enhance low-speed landing performance,^[13] but no other high-lift devices were used. Provisions were also made for Rocket Assisted Take Off (RATO) bottles to improve takeoff performance.^[9][6]

In May 1944, a mock-up of the aircraft was presented to officials, after which several design revisions were made; details related to the engine installation were the last to be firmed due to the development cycle of said engine having not yet been completed. While the maiden flight of the XFD-1 prototype had been scheduled to take place during early 1944, the persistence unavailability of the engine would delay its completion into XFD-1.^[14]

Into flight

When the first XFD-1, serial number 48235, was completed in January 1945, only a single Westinghouse 19XB-2B engine was available for installation. Accordingly, ground runs and taxi tests were conducted using this single engine, and such was the confidence in the aircraft that the first flight on 26 January 1945 was made with only the one 19XB-2B engine in place.^{[15][N 3]} Early flight testing of the aircraft revealed a bearing issue with the engine, requiring a one month suspension while this was rectified.^[17] It was during this test flight programme that the Phantom became the first USN aircraft to exceed 500 mph (434 kn, 805 km/h).^[3][18]

Following further flight testing, a production contract was awarded on 7 March 1945 for 100 FD-1 aircraft. Months later, in response to the end of the conflict, the Phantom production contract was reduced to 30 aircraft, then promptly increased back to 60.^[16][17]

The first prototype was lost in a fatal crash attributed to aeleron failure) on 1 November 1945.^[19][17] The second and final Phantom prototype (serial number 48236) was completed early the next year; it incorporated improvements aimed at improving the aircraft's lateral control characteristics amonst other changes made to be more representative of production-standard aircraft.^[17] The second prototype became the first purely jet-powered aircraft to operate from an American aircraft carrier, completing four successful takeoffs and landings on 21 July 1946, from Franklin D. Roosevelt near Norfolk, Virginia.^[3][20] At the time, she was the largest carrier serving with the USN, which permitted the aircraft to take off without assistance from a catapult.^[16] The second prototype crashed on 26 August 1946.^[21]

Production Phantoms incorporated a number of design improvements. These included provisions for a flush-fitting centerline drop tank, an improved gunsight, and the addition of speed brakes.^[22] Production models used Westinghouse J30-WE-20 engines with 1,600 lbf (7.1 kN) of thrust per engine. The top of the vertical tail had a more square shape than the rounder tail used on the prototypes, and a smaller rudder was used to resolve problems with control surface clearance discovered during test flights. The horizontal tail surfaces were shortened slightly, while the fuselage was stretched by 19 in (48 cm). The amount of framing in the windshield was reduced to enhance pilot visibility.^[9][16] While the prototype Phantoms had a curved tip present on their vertical tailplane, production examples had squared-off tips instead.^[17]

Halfway through the production run, the navy reassigned the designation letter "D" back to Douglas, with the Phantom being redesignated FH-1.^[16][17] Including the two prototypes, a total of 62 Phantoms were finally produced, with the last FH-1 rolling off the assembly line in May 1948.^[23]

Realizing that the production of more powerful jet engines was imminent, McDonnell engineers proposed a more powerful variant of the Phantom while the original aircraft was still under development – a proposal that would lead to the design of the Phantom's replacement, the F2H Banshee.^[1][24] Although the new aircraft was originally envisioned as a modified Phantom, the need for heavier armament, greater internal fuel capacity, and other improvements eventually led to a substantially heavier and bulkier aircraft that shared few parts with its agile predecessor.^[25] Despite this, the two aircraft were similar enough that McDonnell was able to complete its first F2H-1 in August 1948, a mere three months after the last FH-1 had rolled off the assembly line.^[26][17]

Civilian use

In 1964, Progressive Aero, Incorporated of Fort Lauderdale, Florida purchased three surplus Phantoms, intending to use them to teach civilians how to fly jets. A pair were stripped of military equipment and restored to flying condition, but the venture was unsuccessful, and the aircraft were soon retired once again.^[31]

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

• Angelucci, Enzo; Bowers, Peter M. (1987). The American Fighter. Sparkford, Somerset, UK: Haynes Publishing Group. ISBN 0-85429-635-2.
• Bedford, Alan (May–June 1999). "Earl American Carrier Jets: Evolving Jet Operations with the US Fleet, Part One". Air Enthusiast. No. 81. pp. 13–19. ISSN 0143-5450.
• Cleaver, Thomas McKelvey (2019). Holding the line : the naval air campaign in Korea. Oxford, UK. ISBN 978-1-4728-3172-9. OCLC 1084309969.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Francillon, René J. (1979). McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920. London, UK: Putnam & Company Ltd. ISBN 0-370-00050-1.
• Ginter, Steve (2022). McDonnell FH-1 Phantom. Simi Valley, California, USA: Steve Ginter Books. ISBN 978-0-942612-53-0.
• Green, William (1961). War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Four: Fighters. London, UK: MacDonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. ISBN 0-356-01448-7. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Green, William; Swanborough, Gordon (1976). WW2 Aircraft Fact Files: US Navy and Marine Corps Fighters. London, UK: Macdonald and Jane's. ISBN 0-356-08222-9.
• Grossnick, Roy A. (1997). United States Naval Aviation 1910–1995 (PDF). Washington, D.C., USA: Naval Historical Center. ISBN 0-945274-34-3.
• Hamilton, Hayden (Summer 2010). "The McDonnell FH-1 Phantom: the Forgotten Phantom". AAHS Journal. Vol. 55, no. 2.
• Mesko, Jim (2002). FH Phantom/F2H Banshee in Action. Carrollton, Texas, USA: Squadron/Signal Publications Inc. ISBN 0-89747-444-9.
• Mills, Carl (1991). Banshees in the Royal Canadian Navy. Willowdale, Ontario, Canada: Banshee Publication. ISBN 0-9695200-0-X.
• "Mr Mac's First Phantom: The Story of the McDonnell FH-1". Air International. Vol. 33, no. 5. Bromley, UK: Fine Scroll. November 1987. pp. 231–235, 258–260. ISSN 0306-5634.
• Polmar, Norman; Genda, Minoru (2006). Aircraft Carriers: A History of Carrier Aviation and Its Influence on World Events, Volume II: 1946-2006. Potomac Books. ISBN 978-1574886-658.
• Naval Aviation News. Chief of Naval Operations and Naval Air Systems Command, Navy Department. 1987.
• Wagner, Ray (1982). American Combat Planes. New York, USA: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-13120-8.