Global InformationMcDonnell FH Phantom information
| FH Phantom | |
|---|---|
| |
| An FH-1 Phantom landing aboard USS Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1946 | |
| Role | Carrier-based fighter aircraft |
| Manufacturer | McDonnell Aircraft |
| First flight | 26 January 1945 |
| Introduction | August 1947 |
| Retired | 1949 (USN, USMC) July 1954 (USNR)[1] |
| Primary users | United States Navy United States Marine Corps |
| Number built | 62 |
| Developed into | McDonnell F2H Banshee |
The McDonnell FH Phantom is a twinjet, straight-wing, carrier-based fighter aircraft designed and first flown during late World War II for the United States Navy. As a first-generation jet fighter, the Phantom was the first purely jet-powered aircraft to land on an American aircraft carrier[2][N 1] and the first jet deployed by the United States Marine Corps. Although only 62 FH-1s were built it helped prove the viability of carrier-based jet fighters. As McDonnell's first successful fighter, it led to the development of the follow-on F2H Banshee, which was one of the two most important naval jet fighters of the Korean War; combined, the two established McDonnell as an important supplier of navy aircraft.[4]
McDonnell chose to bring the name back with the third-generation, Mach 2-capable McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, the most versatile and widely-used Western combat aircraft of the Vietnam War era.[5]
The FH Phantom was originally designated the FD Phantom, but this was changed as the aircraft entered production.
- ^ Mills 1991, pp. 226-227.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Angel p298was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "First Jet Landing". Naval Aviation News, United States Navy, March 1946, p. 6.
- ^ USN F-4 Phantom II vs VPAF MiG-17/19: Vietnam 1965–73. Osprey Publishing.
- ^ "USAF McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II Penguin Random House Books". Archived from the original on 2015-09-03. Retrieved 2015-09-03.
Cite error: There are <ref group=N> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=N}} template (see the help page).