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F-3 / F3H Demon
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Photo: Robert Deering
4/18/2015 National Museum of Naval Aviation NAS Pensacola (NPA) Pensacola, Florida |
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The F3H Demon was McDonnell Aircraft
Corporation's first swept wing aircraft,
providing the basis for development of the
F-4 Phantom II. It was an infamously
troubled aircraft; engine problems plagued
the first version of the airplane, resulting
in eleven crashes and the deaths of four
pilots between 1952 and 1955. Later versions
of the aircraft were designed for
all-weather operations and could carry the
AIM-7 Sparrow missile, yet the Demon never
shook its troubled reputation.
McDonnell hoped to advance its role building
Navy jet fighters with a new design in
response to a 1949 request for a short-range
jet interceptor. The result was the XF3H-1
Demon, which first flew in 1951.
Troubles with the Westinghouse J-40 power
plant immediately threatened the F3H
program. Between August 1952 and October
1955, eleven Demons crashed, killing four
pilots, which prompted cancellation of the
airplane and a Congressional investigation
into the Navy's procurement of jet aircraft.
Nevertheless, McDonnell stuck with the
design, adopting Allison's J-71 engine, a
move that allowed for a resumption of
production and eventual delivery of 519
airplanes, including the F3H-2M designed to
carry the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile.
The improved Demon, however, could not
escape its performance limitations, which
included lack of power compared to Navy
contemporaries, and high fuel consumption
that limited range and required sparing use
of the afterburner.
Nevertheless, until 1964 the F3H-2
complemented daylight dogfighters such as
the F8U Crusader and the F11F Tiger as a
carrier all-weather, missile-armed
interceptor. The Demon was withdrawn before
it could serve in Vietnam where the F-4
Phantom II, itself conceived as an advanced
development of the Demon, was a mainstay.
Between 1956 and 1964, a total of 23 Navy
fighter squadrons flew versions of the F3H
Demon.
Accepted by the Navy on 24 May 1957, the
Museum's F3H-2M (Bureau Number 137078) spent
just over two years in operational service
and for many years was displayed at Naval
Air Station (NAS) Cecil Field, Florida. It
returned to Pensacola in 1999 upon the
decision to close Cecil Field, and is
displayed in the markings of Fighter
Squadron (VF) 193. The Museum's airplane is
one of only three surviving Demons. 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. |
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1959 DOD Aircraft Recognition Page |