https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_F3H_Demon
The McDonnell F3H Demon was a subsonic swept-wing United States Navy
carrier-based jet fighter aircraft. The successor to the F2H Banshee, the Demon
was redesigned with the J71 engine after severe problems with the Westinghouse
J40 engine that was part of the original design but ultimately abandoned. Though
it lacked sufficient power for supersonic performance, it complemented daylight
dogfighters such as the Vought F8U Crusader and Grumman F11F Tiger as an
all-weather, missile-armed interceptor until 1964.
It was withdrawn before it could serve in Vietnam when both it and the Crusader
were replaced on Forrestal-class and similar supercarriers by the McDonnell
Douglas F-4 Phantom II. McDonnell's Phantom, which was equally capable against
ground, fighter and bomber targets, bears a strong family resemblance, as it was
conceived as an advanced development of the Demon. The supersonic United States
Air Force F-101 Voodoo was similar in layout, but was derived from the earlier
XF-88 Voodoo, which also influenced the Demon's layout.
The Navy desperately needed a high performance fighter to meet the challenge of
the swept-wing MiG-15 encountered over Korea. Production of the F3H-1N was
hastily ordered even before the first flight of the XF3H-1 prototype on 7 August
1951 by test pilot Robert Edholm. The first test flights of the operational
design did not occur until January 1953, when the Korean War was winding down.
The F3H Demon was originally designed around Navy's ambitious new Westinghouse
J40 which was to offer enough power to use just one engine in a number of new
aircraft designs. But the engine would ultimately fail to produce the promised
thrust or run reliably. The engine was a major disappointment, producing only
half of the expected power. Worse, it was temperamental and unreliable. Of 35
F3H-1N aircraft flown with the J40 engine, eight were involved in major
accidents. The first production Demons were grounded after the loss of six
aircraft and four pilots. Time magazine called the Navy's grounding of all
Westinghouse-powered F3H-1 Demons a "fiasco", with 21 unflyable planes that
could be used only for Navy ground training at a loss of $200 million. One high
point of the J40 was the 1955 setting of an unofficial time-to-climb record, in
a Demon, of 10,000 feet (3,000 m) in 71 seconds. The proposed F3H-1P
reconnaissance version was never built. The J40 program was terminated sometime
in 1955.
All the aircraft it was to power were either canceled or redesigned to use other
engines, notably the J57 and the J71. The F4D Skyray had been designed to accept
larger engines in case the J40 did not work out, and was eventually powered by
the Pratt & Whitney J57. But no other engine could simply be fitted into the old
Demons, as both the wings and fuselage would have to be redesigned and enlarged.
The best alternative turned out to be the Allison J71 engine which was also used
in the Douglas B-66 Destroyer. Subsequent F3Hs with this engine were designated
the F3H-2N. In service, the J71 proved problematic, providing insufficient power
for an aircraft of the Demon's size. The engine also suffered from frequent
flameouts and compressor stalls. The first Demon with a J71 flew in October
1954. Another significant problem was the reliability of the ejection seats:
initial versions were found to be unreliable and were eventually replaced with
Martin-Baker ejection seats that were becoming the standard Navy seat of choice
due to their higher performance at low altitude and better reliability.
Despite the problems, the Navy ordered 239 F3H-2s, and the first were deployed
in March 1956. 519 Demons were built up to the end of production in November
1959. It was not the Navy's first all-weather interceptor with radar (the
AN/APG-51 air interception set was used first on the F2H-4 Banshee). The F3H-2
Demon had the AN/APG-51A, later upgraded to the 51-B version with a tunable
magnetron then on to 51-C with better counter-measures in the receiver.
Role
carrier-based fighter aircraft
Manufacturer
McDonnell Aircraft Corporation
First flight
7 August 1951
Introduction
7 March 1956
Retired
1964
Status
Retired
Primary user
United States Navy
Number built
519
The F3H-2N's standard armament was four 20 mm (.79 in) Colt Mk 12 cannons. In
later years, the upper two cannons were often omitted to save weight. Later
models, redesignated F3H-2M, were equipped to fire the Raytheon AAM-N-2 Sparrow
and later the Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. Deployed aircraft carried both
types of missiles, the Sparrow on the inboard rails and the Sidewinder outboard.
Cannons were not used in carrier air defense applications, but they were
installed and armed when situations (such as the Cuban Missile Crisis) dictated,
and where the aircraft might be deployed against surface targets.
A reconnaissance version, the F3H-2P, was proposed, but never built. It remained
the Navy's front-line fighter until 1962, when it was succeeded by the F-4
Phantom II (which was a development of a proposed "Super Demon", a larger and
much heavier version of the F3H). Developed during the Korean War to counter the
MiG-15, it did not claim any aerial victories with missiles or dogfights,
although it flew over Lebanon and Quemoy in 1958.
In 1962, the F3H was redesignated F-3. The F3H-2N became the F-3C, the F3H-2M
became MF-3B, and the F3H-2 changed to F-3B.
The last Demon-equipped squadron, VF-161 'Chargers', traded their F-3s for F-4
Phantom IIs in September 1964.
Due to excellent visibility from the cockpit, the Demon earned the nickname "The
Chair". Demon pilots were known colloquially as "Demon Drivers" and those who
worked on the aircraft were known as "Demon Doctors". The unfavorable
power-to-weight ratio gave rise to the less flattering nickname "lead sled",
sometimes shortened to "sled".
Specifications (F3H-2)
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 59 ft 0 in (17.98 m)
Wingspan: 35 ft 4 in (10.76 m)
Height: 14 ft 7 in (4.44 m)
Empty weight: 21,133 lb (10,040 kg)
Loaded weight: 33,900 lb (15,377 kg)
Thrust with afterburner: 14,750 lbf (65.77 kN)
Performance
Maximum speed: 716 mph (622 knots, 1,152 km/h) at sea level, 647 mph (563 knots,
1,041 km/h) at 30,000 ft (9,150 m)
Range: 1,370 mi (1,191 nmi, 1,899 km)
Endurance: 3 hr at 575 mi (500 nmi, 926 km) radius
Service ceiling: 35,050 ft (10,683 m)
Rate of climb: 12,795 ft/min (65.0 m/s)
Armament
Guns: 4 20 mm (0.79 in) Colt Mk 12 cannons, 150 rpg
Missiles: 4 AIM-7 Sparrow or AIM-9 Sidewinder
Bombs: 6,000 lb (2,720 kg) of bombs
Avionics
AN/APG-51A, B, and C radar
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