FH Phantom
| FH Phantom | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| McDonnell FH-1 Phantom | |
| Role | Carrier-based fighter aircraft |
| Manufacturer | McDonnell Aircraft |
| First flight | 26 January 1945 |
| Introduction | August 1947 |
| Retired |
1949 USN, USMC July 1954 USNR |
| Primary users |
United States Navy United States Marine Corps |
| Number built | 62 |
| Developed into | McDonnell F2H Banshee |
The McDonnell FH Phantom was a twin-engined jet fighter aircraft designed and first flown during World War II for the United States Navy. The Phantom was the first purely jet-powered aircraft to land on an American aircraft carrier and the first jet deployed by the United States Marine Corps. Although with the end of the war, only 62 FH-1s were built, it helped prove the viability of carrier-based jet fighters. As McDonnell's first successful fighter, leading to the development of the follow-on F2H Banshee, which was one of the two most important naval jet fighters of the Korean War, it would also establish McDonnell as an important supplier of Navy aircraft. When McDonnell chose to bring the name back with the Mach 2–class McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, it launched what would become the most versatile and widely used western combat aircraft of the Vietnam War era, adopted by the USAF and the US Navy.
The FH Phantom was originally designated the FD Phantom, but the designation was changed as the aircraft entered production.
In early 1943, aviation officials at the United States Navy were impressed with McDonnell's audacious XP-67 Bat project. McDonnell was invited by the Navy to cooperate in the development of a shipboard jet fighter, using an engine from the turbojets under development by Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Three prototypes were ordered on 30 August 1943 and the designation XFD-1 was assigned. 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.
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