Article 7027 of rec.aviation.military:
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From: jfb@usgp1.ih.att.com (Joe Baugher)
Subject: Douglas F-10 Skyknight (1 of 3)
Message-ID: <Czuqp0.BtF@ssbunews.ih.att.com>
Summary:  XF3D-1, F3D-1, F-10A
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Date: Sat, 26 Nov 1994 01:55:48 GMT
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The history of the F3D Skyknight can be traced back to late 1945, 
when Navy representatives began discussions with aircraft 
manufacturers about requirements for a jet-powered carrier-based 
radar-equipped night fighter capable of detecting enemy aircraft at 
distances of up to 125 miles.  The state of radar technology at the 
time was such that an additional crewman would be needed to operate 
such a powerful radar set.  Maximum speed was to be at least 500 mph 
and service ceiling was to be 40,000 feet.  

Curtiss, Douglas, Fleetwings, Grumman, and Douglas were invited to 
submit proposals.  The Douglas team was lead by Ed Heinemann.  The 
preliminary design work began in October of 1945 and the mockup was 
inspected in April of 1946.  Heinemann's team came up with a mid-wing 
design powered by two 3000-lb.st Westinghouse J34 axial-flow turbojets 
installed in semi-external nacelles housed underneath the fuselage 
center section.  A Westinghouse APQ-35 search and target acquisition 
radar was to be carried in the nose.  The large size of this radar 
installation required that a wide fuselage be designed to 
accommodate it, and the team adopted a side-by-side seating arrangement 
for the two crew members.  The fuselage was fairly conventional, with 
a tail section similar in general configuration to that of the 
Skystreak and Skyraider.  Large sideways-opening speed brakes were 
installed on the sides of the rear fuselage.  A conventional tricycle 
landing gear was chosen, with the main landing gear members retracting 
outward into receptacles in the inner wing panels.  An auxiliary 
tailwheel was added to the rear ventral fuselage as a precaution to 
prevent airframe damage during nose-high landings.  A separate carrier 
arrester hook was fitted behind the auxiliary tailwheel.  The wings 
folded upward at mid-span for stowage aboard carriers.  Armament 
consisted of four 20-mm cannon mounted in the lower part of the nose.  

Since the aircraft's seating arrangement would not permit the use of 
the ejector seats that were at that time available, the aircraft was 
provided with a tunnel escape system.  This consisted of a ventral 
exit tunnel behind the cockpit, through which the two crew members 
could slide one at a time, feet first and facing aft.  The tunnel 
exited the aircraft through a hatch located underneath the belly 
between the engines.  The escape sequence was initiated by pulling a 
lever which blew off the aft portion of the belly hatch door, the 
forward part of the hatch door hinging forward to act as a windbreak.  
The crew would then pivot in their seats, grasp a vaulting bar 
attached to the wall behind their seats, kick open the cockpit exit 
door behind their seats, and then jump feet first into the tunnel and 
fall out the bottom of the plane.  

The Navy judged the Douglas proposal as the best of the designs 
submitted, and awarded Douglas a contract for three prototypes under 
the designation XF3D-1 on April 3, 1946.  Serials were 121457/121459.  
The name Skyknight was chosen.  Eight days later, the competing 
Grumman proposal for a four-engined night fighter was awarded a 
contract for two prototypes under the designation XF9F-1, as insurance 
in case the Douglas design ran into difficulty.  In the event, the 
Grumman contract was rewritten so that the four-engined XF9F-1 night 
fighter metamorphosed into the single-engined XF9F-2 day fighter, the 
progenitor of the famous Panther/Cougar line of naval carrier-based 
fighters.  

The first Skyknight prototype was ready for its first flight in early 
1948.  The XF3D-1 was fitted with a pair of Westinghouse J34-WE-22 
axial-flow turbojets, rated at 3000 lb.s.t. each.  The XF3D-1 
prototypes were initially fitted with SCR-720 radar sets, since the 
APQ-35 radar system was not yet available.  The first of three XF3D-1s 
(BuNo 121457) took off on its maiden flight on March 23, 1948, test 
pilot Russ Thaw being at the controls.  The second flew on June 6, 
1948, followed by the third on October 7, 1948.  In October 1948, 
tests of the XF3D-1 at Patuxent River, Maryland demonstrated that the 
SCR-720 radar could detect targets at up to 85 miles away.  The third 
XF3D-1 was fitted with the APQ-35 radar, which was able to meet the 
requirement for detection at a range of 125 miles.  

Flight tests were sufficiently favorable that a production contract 
for 28 F3D-1s for the Navy and Marine Corps was issued on May 11, 
1948.  Serials were BuNos 123741/123768.  

In October of 1948, all three XF3D-1s were transferred to Muroc Dry 
Lake (later renamed Edwards AFB) for government trials.  At about the 
same time, the Air Force was experiencing problems with the 
development of its own night fighters.  The Curtiss XP-87 Nighthawk 
had been cancelled outright and the Northrop F-89 Scorpion had run 
into serious developmental problems, so the Air Force tested the 
XF3D-1 as a possible substitute.  However, in the end the Air Force 
opted not to acquire the Skyknight, deciding instead to develop the 
interim Lockheed F-94 Starfire while they ironed out the problems with 
the F-89 Scorpion.  

The production F3D-1 was to be fitted with a pair of Westinghouse 
J34-WE-34s, rated at 3250 lb.s.t.  each.  Since these engines were to 
have a larger diameter than the WE-22s fitted to the XF3D-1, the 
engine nacelles had to be made somewhat larger in order to accommodate 
them.  In addition, the auxiliary tailwheel was beefed up and made 
more robust.  Additional electronic gear was added and internal 
equipment was revised, which increased the gross weight by 5362 
pounds.  The F3D-1 was otherwise quite similar to the XF3D-1.  

The first production F3D-1 flew on February 13, 1950, and was 
delivered to the Navy for testing in August of that year.  Since the 
WE-34 engines were not yet available, the first few aircraft were 
delivered with 3000 lb.s.t J34-WE-32 engines.  The thrust of the 
engines were later increased to 3250 lb.s.t. each, at which time they 
were redesignated J34-WE-34.  

VC-3, based at Moffett Field, California, was the first squadron to 
take delivery of the Skyknight, which got its first planes in December 
of 1950.  Shortly thereafter, F3D-1s were delivered to VMF(N)-542 at 
El Toro, to NATC, and to Point Mugu, California.  Despite the demands 
of the Korean War, all of the F3D-1s were retained in the USA and were 
used for training of pilots and radar operators for fully-operational 
F3D-2s that were soon to be forthcoming.  

In late 1952, XF3D-1 BuNo 121458 was fitted as the first test aircraft 
for the Sparrow I semiactive-homing radar-guided air-to-air missile.  
Air Development Squadron Four (VX-4) was assigned the initial 
development work.  Tests were sufficiently encouraging that at least 
twelve F3D-1s were modified to test Sparrow missiles.  Designated 
F3D-1M, they were fitted with four external stores pylons underneath 
the wing.  

In September of 1962, surviving F3D-1s were redesignated F-10A under 
the new Tri-Service designation system.  The F3D-1M became MF-10A.  

Specification of F3D-1 Skyknight:  

Two Westinghouse J34-WE-34 axial-flow turbojets, each rated at 3250 
lb.s.t. for takeoff.  
Performance:  Maximum speed 530 mph at sea level, 565 mph at 20,000 
feet, 425 mph at 40,000 feet.  Cruising speed 428 mph.  Stalling 
speed 107 mph.  Initial climb rate 1960 feet per minute.  Service 
ceiling 34,000 feet.  Absolute ceiling 44,000 feet.  Normal range 600 
miles.  Maximum range 1318 miles.  
Weights:  14,890 pounds empty, 24,485 pounds gross, 27,362 pounds 
maximum.  
Dimensions:  wingspan 50 feet 0 inches, length 45 feet 5 inches, 
height 16 feet 1 inches, wing area 400 square feet.  
Fuel:  Maximum internal fuel of 1350 US gallons.  Two 150 US gallon 
drop tanks could be carried on underwing pylons, bringing total fuel 
capacity to 1650 US gallons.  
Armament:  Four 20-mm cannon with 800 rounds.  Two underwing pylons 
just inboard of the wing folding point which could carry up to 4000 
pounds of bombs, rockets, or fuel tanks.  

Serials:

121457/121459 Douglas XF3D-1 Skyknight 
123741/123768 Douglas F3D-1 Skyknight 

Sources:

  Douglas F3D Skyknight, Steve Ginter, American Aviation
  Historical Society.

  McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Since 1920: Volume 1, Rene J.
  Francillon, Naval Institute Press, 1988.

  The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers,
  Orion, 1987.


Joe Baugher			  **************************************
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