McDonnell F2H Banshee - Design and Development

Design and Development

The Banshee was a development of the FH Phantom, although it was being planned before the Phantom went into production. McDonnell engineers originally intended the aircraft to be a modified Phantom that shared many parts with the earlier aircraft, but it soon became clear that the need for heavier armament, greater internal fuel capacity, and other improvements would make the idea infeasible.

The new aircraft would use much larger and more powerful engines, pair of Westinghouse turbojets, raising power from 1,600 lbf (7 kN) to 3,000 lbf (13 kN) each; since the larger engines had to fit within the wing roots, this required a larger and thicker wing with a span of 41 ft 6 in (12.65 m) rather than the Phantom’s span of 40 ft 0 in (12.19 m). The more powerful engines required greater fuel capacity, so the fuselage was enlarged and strengthened. Navy leaders decided to move away from the World War II standard .50-caliber (12.7 mm) machine gun to 20 mm (0.79 in) cannon; four of the guns were mounted low on the nose to prevent pilots from being blinded by muzzle flash when firing the guns at night, a problem that vexed the Phantom with its top-mounted guns. The Banshee was designed to accommodate an ejection seat, a capability the Phantom lacked, and it incorporated a large number of improvements to other aircraft systems. The cockpit was fully pressurized and air-conditioned, and the flaps, landing gear, folding wings, canopy, and air brakes were electrically operated rather than pneumatically operated. The front of the canopy was made of bulletproof glass that was electrically heated to prevent frost.

The aircraft incorporated a novel design feature: “kneeling” nose gear consisting of a pair of very small wheels forward of the regular nosewheel. The nosewheel could be retracted so the aircraft rested on the smaller wheels, allowing it to taxi with its tail high in the air. This was intended to ease hangaring and enhance safety by directing the hot jet blast upwards while taxiing. The feature was found to be of little use operationally, however, and was omitted from later Banshee variants.

A mock-up of the new fighter, designated XF2D-1, was completed in April 1945. The project survived the end of the war, but development work was slowed and the first of three prototypes was not built until late 1946. The aircraft made its maiden flight on the 11 January 1947 from Lambert Field, St. Louis, Missouri; test pilot was Woodward Burke. During the first test flight, the aircraft demonstrated a climb rate of 9,000 ft/min (2,743 m/min), twice the climb rate of the F8F Bearcat, the Navy’s primary fleet-defense interceptor at the time. The Navy redesignated the aircraft as the XF2H-1 when it ordered a jet fighter from Douglas, a Navy contractor that was also assigned the manufacturer's letter "D". An order for 56 craft was placed on May 1947.

Similarities to the FH-1 meant McDonnell was able to complete the first F2H-1 in August 1948, a mere three months after the last FH-1 rolled off the assembly line. Relative to the XF2D-1, the fuselage was extended about 12 inches forward of the wing and fuel capacity was increased by 29 gallons to 877 gallons. The empennage was slightly redesigned, reducing the size of the vertical tailplane fairing and eliminating dihedral from the horizontal stabilizer. The wing and tail thickness ratio was also reduced to increase the critical Mach number. The F2H-1 was retrofitted with 3,150 lbf (14 kN) thrust engines as they became available.

Despite the Navy's accepting the F2H-1, it was the more capable F2H-2 that was most widely used. With newer Westinghouse J34-WE-34 3,250 lbf (14.5 kN) thrust engines, it had improved performance. The wing was modified and strengthened to add provisions for 200 gal (760 l) wingtip fuel tanks; unlike the contemporary USN F9F Panther, the Banshee's wingtip tanks were detachable. Two armament pylons were added under each stub and outboard wing, for a total of eight, allowing the aircraft to carry a maximum stores load of 1,580 lb (454 kg), consisting of four 250 lb (113 kg) bombs and four 5-in (12.7 cm) unguided rockets. The “kneeling” nose gear was omitted from the F2H-2 and most other subsequent Banshee variants.

The F2H-2 was the foundation for three minor variants of the Banshee. The first, the F2H-2B, had strengthened wings and a strengthened inner pylon under the port-side wing to allow the craft to carry a 1,650 lb (748 kg) Mark 7 nuclear bomb or a 3,230 lb (1,465 kg) Mark 8 nuclear bomb. In order to compensate for the vastly increased load, the F2H-2B was fitted with stiffer landing gear struts and a pilot-switchable power booster for the ailerons; the latter was necessary so pilots could control a roll to the left with a heavy Mark 8 nuclear bomb fitted on the left-hand pylon. One 20 mm cannon was omitted to make room for additional electronics to arm the nuclear weapon.

The F2H-2N was a night fighter variant outfitted with a 2 ft 10 in (0.86 m) longer nose that housed a Sperry Corporation AN/APS-19 radar unit. The cannons were moved rearwards in the nose to make room for the radar. One F2H-2N, BuNo 123311, was eventually returned to McDonnell to serve as the prototype for the enlarged and enhanced F2H-3 and F2H-4 series. A handful of F2H-2Ns retained the "kneeling" nose feature of the earlier F2H-1.

The F2H-2P was a photo-reconnaissance version with six cameras housed in a 2 ft 5 in (0.74 m) longer nose; it was the first jet-powered reconnaissance aircraft used by the USN. Remote controls allowed the pilot to rotate the cameras in the vertical and horizontal planes, and the aircraft could be fitted with a pair of underwing pods that each contained 20 flash cartridges for night photography. The camera bay was electrically heated to prevent frost. The F2H-2P was considered a valuable photo-reconnaissance asset due to its long maximum range for a jet aircraft, maximum operational altitude of 48,500 feet, combined with its speed that made it extremely difficult to intercept by other combat jet aircraft of the early 1950s era.

The F2H-3 was the last significant alteration. The fuselage was extended by 8 ft 0 in (2.44 m) to increase internal fuel load to 1,102 gal (4,172 l). The detachable wingtip fuel tanks were reduced in size to 170 gal (644 l) each, but due to the aircraft’s increased internal fuel capacity, these tanks were seldom used in service. The horizontal stabilizer was moved from the vertical tail down to the fuselage and incorporated significant dihedral. The F2H-3 was fitted with a Westinghouse AN/APQ-41 radar unit, enabling the fighter to be used for all-weather missions, and the cannons were moved downwards and rearwards away from the nose to accommodate the radar and increase ammunition capacity from 150 rounds per gun to 220 rounds for each upper gun and 250 rounds for each lower gun. Another four weapons pylons were added under the wings for a total of eight, and the bomb load was increased to 3,000 lb (1,361 kg). The F2H-3 also added provisions for aerial refueling consisting of a bolt-on, readily removable refueling kit that replaced the upper port-side cannon with a refueling probe. These changes resulted in a longer, larger airplane that looked significantly different from its predecessors.

The last variant was the F2H-4. It had a Hughes AN/APG-37 radar and slightly more powerful Westinghouse J34-WE-38 3,600 lbf (16 kN) thrust engines that increased top speed by 30 mph (48 km/h) and dramatically increased the aircraft’s service ceiling to 56,000 ft (17,069 m). The F2H-4 was otherwise similar to the F2H-3.

A proposed F2H-3P photo-reconnaissance variant was canceled before reaching production. Unlike many other early jet fighters, no two-seat version was ever produced. A proposal to increase the aircraft’s speed by adding afterburners was canceled after a test aircraft suffered extensive damage to the wing roots and tail structure when the afterburners were actuated. A much faster swept-wing version of the Banshee was canceled before it left the drawing boards.

Production ended on 24 September 1953 after a total of 895 aircraft were delivered. The F2H-3 and F2H-4 were given the new designations F-2C and F-2D respectively under the 1962 unified designation system. The designations F-2A and F-2B presumably referred to the F2H-1 and F2H-2, but these variants had already been withdrawn from service. No Banshees ever flew under the new designations; the last ones in USNR service were placed in storage before the new designations went into effect.