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.ĭespite the problems, the Navy ordered 239 F3H-2s, and the first were deployed in March 1956. The first J71-powered Demon flew in October 1954. The engine also suffered from frequent flameouts and compressor stalls. In service, the J71 proved problematic, providing insufficient power for an aircraft of the Demon's size. Subsequent F3Hs with this powerplant were designated the F3H-2N. The best alternative turned out to be the Allison J71 engine which was also used in the Douglas B-66 Destroyer. 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 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. The J40 program was terminated sometime in 1955.Īll the aircraft it was to power were either canceled or redesigned to use other engines, notably the J57 and the J71. The proposed F3H-1P reconnaissance version was never built. 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.
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. The first production Demons were grounded after the loss of six aircraft and four pilots. Of 35 F3H-1N aircraft flown with the J40 engine, eight were involved in major accidents. Worse, it was temperamental and unreliable. The engine was a major disappointment, producing only half of the expected power. But the engine would ultimately fail to produce the promised thrust or run reliably. 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.
The first test flights of the operational design did not occur until January 1953, by which time the Korean War was winding down. 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 Navy desperately needed a high performance fighter to meet the challenge of the swept-wing MiG-15 encountered over Korea. It was the first swept-wing design produced by McDonnell and among the first U.S. That engine was being promoted by the Navy for its next generation of aircraft, and was to have thrust of over 11,000 lbf (49 kN)-three times that of the engines in the F2H Banshee. However, departing from its tradition of using two engines, the Demon would result in McDonnell's only single-engined carrier-based fighter, adopting under some Navy pressure, the Westinghouse J40 engine. The original design work was based at its predecessor, the F2H Banshee. The Skyray, with a top speed of 722 mph (1,162 km/h), would become the Navy's first fighter to fly supersonic in level flight, while the Demon would never reach that level of performance. A competing contract was also awarded for the delta wing Douglas F4D Skyray. Developmentĭevelopment work began in 1949, using a swept wing from the start rather than adapting a straight-winged design as was done with the Grumman F9F Panther. 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. 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. 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. Though it lacked sufficient power for supersonic performance, it complemented day fighters such as the Vought F8U Crusader and Grumman F11F Tiger as an all-weather, missile-armed interceptor until 1964. The successor to the F2H Banshee, the Demon was originally designed to use the Westinghouse J40 engine, but had to be redesigned to accept the Allison J71 after the J40 suffered severe problems and was ultimately abandoned. The McDonnell F3H Demon is a subsonic swept-wing United States Navy carrier-based jet fighter aircraft.