McDonnell FH Phantom
The McDonnell FH Phantom is a twinjet fighter aircraft designed and first flown during World War II for the United States Navy. The Phantom was the first purely jet-powered aircraft to land on an American aircraft carrier 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.
| 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) |
| Primary users | United States Navy United States Marine Corps |
| Number built | 62 |
| Developed into | McDonnell F2H Banshee |
McDonnell chose to bring the name back with the Mach 2–class McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, the most versatile and widely used western combat aircraft of the Vietnam War era.
The FH Phantom was originally designated the FD Phantom, but this was changed as the aircraft entered production.