May Mystery Airplane Contest

James S. McDonnell (1899-1980) qualified as an Army pilot at Brooks Field. With a master's degree from MIT, he worked for Ford, Martin, and Hamilton, before forming McDonnell Aircraft Corporation in St. Louis on 6 July 1939. McDonnell manufactured the Fairchild AT-21 crew trainer under license, but also designed the XP-67 Moonbat fighter for the Army. The XP-67 was not a success, but on 7 January 1943, the Navy ordered the XFD-1 Phantom, which, as the FH-1, became the Navy's first pure jet to operate from a carrier.

Initially, the XFD-1 was to have been powered by six small turbojet engines buried in the wing. With the development of the 1,600-pound thrust Westinghouse 19XB-2B, it was found that two engines would suffice. Confidence in the design was so strong that the prototype, Bu-48235, with Woodward Burke at the controls, made its first flight on 2 January 1945 on just one engine. The Navy ordered 100 aircraft on 7 March 1945 (later reduced to 60). The Phantom had 92 pounds of cockpit armor, four .50 caliber machine guns with 1,600 rounds, and could be fitted with a 295 gallon drop tank. On 21 May 1946, the prototype, piloted by Lt. Cdr. James Davidson, became the first jet to fly from a USN carrier, the U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The first unit to operate the FH-1 was VF-17A aboard the U.S.S. Saipan. The service life of the FH-1 was short, as more sophisticated jets soon replaced it. One of the most famous units to operate it was Marine Squadron VMF-122, which formed a flight demonstration team called the Flying Leathernecks. It was commanded by Lt. Col. Marion Carl, a WWII ace. Eleven Naval Air Reserve units, including NAS Minneapolis (with tail letter "E"), operated Phantoms until July 1953.

The FH-1, Bu-111793, in this 2010 Pensacola photo, was delivered to the Navy on 28 February 1948 and assigned to VMF-122 at Cherry Point, North Carolina. It served only a short time before being struck off charge in 1949. After flying with Progressive Aero in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as N4282A, later N3933N, it came to the Navy in 1983 for display. Two other FH-1 Phantoms exist, one at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Arizona and another ex-VMF-122 aircraft displayed by the National Air & Space Museum.

This month's eagle eye award goes to Ed Wells of Austin, Minnesota. Thanks to Gary Kuhn for remembering the NAS Minneapolis connection. Yes, Gary, I did find a Logan Coombs' Phantom photo courtesy of my colleagues with the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame. A great thank you to everyone who joined us in Buffalo for the Great Minnesota Aviation Gathering. Thanks to Dr. Randy Corfman and crew, we're back! Blue skies.