F3D Skyknight

infobox Aircraft
name= F3D (F-10) Skyknight
type= Fighter aircraft
manufacturer= Douglas Aircraft Company


caption= An EF-10B "Skyknight" of VMCJ-2 "Playboys"
designer=
first flight= 23 March 1948
introduced= 1951
retired= 1970
status=
primary user= United States Navy
more users= United States Marine Corps
produced=
number built=265
unit cost=
variants with their own articles =

The Douglas F3D Skyknight, (later F-10 Skyknight) was a United States twin-engine, midwing jet fighter aircraft manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company in El Segundo, California. The F3D was designed as a carrier-based all-weather aircraft. It saw service with the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps, downing several MiG-15s over Korea, and serving as an electronic warfare platform in the Vietnam conflict. The aircraft is sometimes unofficially called "Skynight", dropping the second "k".

Design and development

The F3D was not a typical sleek and nimble fighter, but as a night fighter packing a powerful radar system and second crew member, it was not intended to be. It originated in 1945 with a U.S. Navy requirement for a jet-powered radar-equipped carrier-based night fighter. The Douglas team led by Ed Heinemann designed around the bulky air intercept radar systems of the time, with side-by-side seating for the pilot and radar operator Donald 1997, p. 365] . The result was an airplane with a broad, deep, and roomy fuselage. Instead of ejection seats, an escape tunnel was used, similar to the A-3 Skywarrior.Power was provided by two Westinghouse J34 turbojets mounted in the roots of then-standard straight wings of the early jet era. The F3D was not much of a dogfighter. Instead, it was a stable platform for its radar system and the four 20 mm cannon mounted in the lower fuselage.Fact|date=February 2007 The U.S. Navy awarded Douglas a contract for three XF3D-1 prototype aircraft on 3 April 1946. (The losing design from Grumman evolved into the F9F Panther.)Fact|date=February 2007

The radar system in the F3D-1 was the Westinghouse AN/APQ-35. The AN/APQ-35 was a combination of three different radars, each performing separate functions: a search radar, a tracking radar, and a tail warning radar.Fact|date=February 2007 The complexity of this radar system, which was produced before the advent of semi-conductor electronics, required intensive maintenance to keep it operating fully.Fact|date=February 2007

First flight of the XF3D-1 occurred on 23 March 1948 [The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft, page 1559] . A production contract for twenty-eight F3D-1 production aircraft soon followed in June 1948. The F3D-1 was followed by the F3D-2, which was first ordered in August 1949. The F3D-2 was intended to have Westinghouse J46 engines in enlarged nacelles to replace the J34--WE-32 engines of the F3D-1. Development problems with the J46 lead to F3D-2 aircraft being fitted with J34-WE-36 engines instead. The F3D-2 also incorporated an improved Westinghouse AN/APQ-36 radar system. A total of 237 F3D-2s were built before production ended on 23 March 1952. A higher performance F3D-3 version with swept wings and J46 engines was planned, but was cancelled when the trouble-plagued J46 engine program was terminated.

Operational history

The few F3D-1 aircraft were used primarily to train F3D crews and did not see combat. F3D-2 aircraft, however, saw extensive service during the Korean War and destroyed more enemy aircraft in Korea than any other Navy or Marine fighter aircraft [http://www.flyingleathernecks.org/jets4.html Douglas F3D-2 "Sky Knight"] Flying Leatherneck Historical Foundation and Aviation Museum. Retrieved: 16 December 2007.] . They were used as escort fighters, accompanying B-29 Superfortress bombers on night raids. They also flew nighttime intercept and interdiction missions. By the end of the war, Skyknights had shot down six enemy aircraft (one Polikarpov Po-2 and five Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15) without a loss. Grossnick, Roy A. and Armstrong William J. "United States Naval Aviation, 1910–1995". Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Historical Center, 1997. ISBN 0-16049-124-X.] The first air-to-air victory occurred on 3 November 1952 in a United States Marine Corps F3D-2 piloted by Major William T. Stratton, Jr. and radar operator Master Sergeant Hans C. Hoglind of VMF(N)-513.

In the years after the Korean War, the F3D was gradually replaced by more powerful aircraft with better radar systems. The F3D's career was not over though; its stability and spacious fuselage made it easily adaptable to other roles. The F3D (under the designations F3D-1M and F3D-2M) was used to support development of a number of air-to-air missile systems during the 1950s, including the Sparrow I, II, and III and Meteor missilesFact|date=February 2007.

The F3D-2M was the first operational Navy jet aircraft to be fitted with an air-to-air missile, the Sparrow I, a missile that used beam riding guidance for the aircrew to control the flight of the missile. Only 38 aircraft (12 F3D-1Ms Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p.183.] , and 16 F3D-2Ms Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p.182.] ) were made able to use the missiles.

In the late 1950s, a number of the Marine F3D-2 aircraft were re-configured as electronic warfare aircraft and were designated F3D-2Q (later EF-10B). Also, a few aircraft were converted for use as trainers and were designated F3D-2T.Skyknights continued service through the 1960s in gull white color scheme, when their contemporaries had long since been retired. In 1962, when the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force unified their designation systems, the F3D-1 was redesignated F-10A and the F3D-2 was redesignated F-10B. EF-10Bs served in the electronic countermeasures role during the Vietnam War until 1969. The U.S. Marine Corps retired its last EF-10Bs in 1970. Some aircraft continued flying as testbeds for Raytheon until the 1980s. [ [http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/intrepidmuseum/aircraft/item.php?id=21 Douglas F3D-2 Skyknight] "Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum." Retrieved 06 March 2008]

When the U.S. Navy issued a requirement for a fleet defense missile fighter in 1959, Douglas responded with the F6D Missileer, essentially an updated and enlarged F3D that would carry the AAM-N-10 Eagle long-range missile with the most important characteristics being able to carry a large load of fuel, crew of two, and sophisticated electronics rather than speed or maneuverability. This concept was soon cancelled, but the missile system would later evolve into the AWG-9/Phoenix by the F-14 Tomcat which could swing its wing straight forward for loiter. The general engine and wing configuration would also re-appear on the Northrop YA-9 contender for the A-X "Attack Experimental" program.

Although relatively obscure by comparison with the Sabre or MiG-15, it was the subject of a Dogfights television episode in 2007, where one downed a MiG-15 at night on an escort mission.

Operators

*United States Marine Corps
*United States Navy

pecifications (F3D-2)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=jet

ref=Standard Aircraft Characteristics F3D-2 "Skyknight" [ [http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/hist-ac/f3d-2.pdf] "Standard Aircraft Characteristics F3D-2 "Skyknight" Naval Historical Centre, Access date: 23 June 2007 ]

crew=2
length main=45 ft 5 in
length alt=13.85 m
span main=50 ft 0 in
span alt=15.24 m
span more= 26 ft 10 in (8.18 m) folded
height main=16 ft 1 in
height alt=4.90 m
area main=400 ft²
area alt=37.2 m²
empty weight main=14,989 lb
empty weight alt=6,813 kg
loaded weight main=21,374 lb
loaded weight alt=9,715 kg
max takeoff weight main=26,731 lb
max takeoff weight alt=12,151 kg

engine (jet)=Westinghouse J34-WE-36
type of jet=turbojets
number of jets=2
thrust main=3,400 lbf
thrust alt=15.1 kN

max speed main=460 knots
max speed alt= 529 mph, 852 km/h
cruise speed main= 395 knots
cruise speed alt=454 mph, 731 km/h
stall speed main=80.6 knots
stall speed alt=93 mph, 149 km/h
stall speed more(with approach power)
range main=1,195 nm
range alt=1,374 mi, 2,212 km
range more= (with 2 x 150 gallon tanks)
ceiling main=36,700 ft
ceiling alt=11,200 m
loading main=53.4 lb/ft²
loading alt=383 kg/m²
thrust/weight=0.32
climb rate main=2,970 ft/min
climb rate alt=15.1 m/s

guns=4× 20 mm (0.787 in) Hispano-Suiza M2 cannon, 200 rounds/gun
bombs= 2 x 2000 lb (909 kg) bombs
missiles=4× Sparrow I air-to-air missiles (F3D-2M)

ee also

aircontent

related=
* F6D Missileer

similar aircraft=
* De Havilland Sea Vixen
* F-89 Scorpion

sequence=
* "pre-1962 U.S Navy:" XFD - (FD) - (F2D) - F3D - F4D - F5D - F6D
* "post-1962 Tri-Service:" YF-7 - F-8 - F-9 - F-10 - F-11 - YF-12 - F-14

lists=
* List of fighter aircraft
* List of military aircraft of the United States
* List of military aircraft of the United States (naval)
see also=

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Andrade, John M. "U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909". Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Counties Publications, 1979, ISBN 0-904597-22-9.
* Donald, David, ed. "The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft". London: Aerospace Publishing, 1997. ISBN 1-85605-375-X.
* Francillon, René. "McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Since 1920: Volume I". London: Putnam, 1979. ISBN 0-87021-428-4.
* Goebel, Greg. "The Douglas F3D Skyknight". Vectorsite. [http://www.vectorsite.net/avskykt.html] Access date: 19 October 2005.
* Heinemann, Edward H. and Rausa, Rosario. "Ed Heinemann: Combat Aircraft Designer". Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1980. ISBN 0-87021-797-6.
* "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft" (Part Work 1982-1985). London: Orbis Publishing, 1985.
* Jones, Lloyd. "U.S. Naval Fighters: 1922 to 1980s". Fallbrook, California: Aero Publishers, 1977. ISBN 0-8168-9254-7.
* Jones, Lloyd. "U.S. Fighters: Army-Air Force 1925 to 1980s". Fallbrook, California: Aero Publishers, 1975. ISBN 0-8168-9200-8.
* Swanborough, Gordon and Bowers, Peter M. "United States Navy Aircraft since 1911". London:Putnam, Second edition, 1976. ISBN 0 370 10054 9.

External links

* [http://www.boeing.com/history/mdc/skyknight.htm Boeing "McDonnell Douglas History, Skyknight, F3D (F-10)"]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/f-10.htm GlobalSecurity "F3D (F-10) Skyknight"]