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thedrifter
09-18-04, 07:41 AM
Issue Date: September 20, 2004

The Lore of the Corps
Phantom was Corps’ first jet fighter

By Robert F. Dorr
Special to the Times


Many Marines remember the robust F-4 Phantom II fighter of the Vietnam era. Not so many recall the first plane to bear the Phantom name.
The original Phantom was the Corps’ first jet fighter; it was also the Navy’s first carrier-based jet.

The FD Phantom, better known by its later name, the FH, was conceived while the United States fought in World War II.

In August 1943, the Navy approached an obscure, 2-year-old company in St. Louis founded by James S. McDonnell.

The company would be responsible for developing a new, carrier-based fighter powered by jet engines made by Westinghouse.

At the time, jets were new and unproven; jet engines designed in the 1940s rarely offered enough power.

McDonnell’s engineering team considered designs with six, even eight, low-powered turbojet engines, before deciding to go with two. The final configuration of the Phantom emerged with two Westinghouse 19 engines, better known as J30s, plus straight wings and a single cockpit forward of the wing.

The first XFD-1 Phantom completed its initial flight on Jan. 26, 1945, with civilian test pilot Woodward Burke in the cockpit.

The pioneering jet aircraft ran into numerous developmental snags. The second XFD-1 was damaged in a belly landing on Aug. 24, 1945. The first was destroyed in a crash that killed Burke on Nov. 1, 1945.

After the two XFD-1s, McDonnell built 60 FH-1 Phantoms, which incorporated dozens of design changes and had greater fuel capacity.

The letter identifying the manufacturer was changed to “H” when a prominent aircraft builder, Douglas, returned to Navy and Marine Corps work after an absence and reclaimed its traditional “D” with the F3D Skyknight fighter. No one was going to argue with Douglas, which was then 100 times the size of McDonnell, so the FD Phantom became the FH.

The Phantom was the first U.S. jet aircraft to take off from and land on an aircraft carrier. On July 21, 1946, the plane, piloted by Cmdr. James Davidson, landed and took off from the Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB 42). The FH-1 also was the first Navy and Marine warplane to maintain 500 mph speeds in level flight.

The nose of the FH-1 held four .50-cal. guns. The FH-1 had provision for eight wing-mounted air-to-ground rockets.

The FH-1 became the first jet in the Marine Corps when it was delivered in July 1947 to Marine Fighter Squadron 122 at Cherry Point, N.C. Marines operated Phantoms for three years and frequently deployed with them to Puerto Rico.

The Phantom left Marine inventory in 1950. Its design influenced the F2H Banshee, flown during the Korean War by Navy and Marine fighter and reconnaissance pilots.

A Phantom is part of the Marine Corps’ museum holdings.

Robert F. Dorr, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va. He is the author of numerous books on Air Force topics, including “Air Force One.” His e-mail address is robert.f.dorr@cox.net.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-MARINEPAPER-332000.php

Ellie

tluedke
02-12-09, 09:46 PM
I was a 6621 (aviation electronics) and I saw F4H Phantoms on El Toro and Atsigi during my time in the Corps - 1958 to 1962. So I am pretty sure it did not leave inventory in 1950.
"The Phantom left Marine inventory in 1950".

Every time I heard the F4 squadron on the tower freq I would rush out of the hanger to watch the take offs. Blow my mind away.

Tex