Flightdeck Fridays
Presented today is the F3H Demon:
being the Westinghouse J-40.
Unfortunately, many promising designs for the Navy and USAF were based on the in-development Westinghouse J-40, which was proposed as producing11,000 lbs basic thrust with an AB version to follow at 14,400 lbs – a BIG engine for that era.In addition to the Demon, Navy hopes included the F4D Skyray and the A3D Skywarrior.The J-40 never came close to the Westinghousepromise (some sources say it got up to 6800 lbs), and was failure prone to the point of being totally unsafe.The J-40 program was ultimately cancelled, and soon caused the demise of Westinghouse as a jet engine manufacturer.It also strung out several aircraft development programs due to their need to find a new power plant, and adapt those designs to that alternative.
Initial work on the F3H series had been laid out in 1949, and a prototype flight of the original F3H-1Ntook place in August,1951, powered by the J-40. However, during this design / construction period, McDonnell and the Navy became seriously concerned that the J-40 program was so far behind that both deliveries and performance hopes were totally unrealistic.
McDonnell took it on their own initiative to propose a redesigned “Demon” based on the Allison J-71 engine, which, though still in development , was progressing well toward full production with the promise of meeting performance goals.The Navy agreed to the plan as a fallback, and the J-71 proposal was subsequently designated the F3H-2(N).
(h/t to Mike Concannon of the DC Tailhook Assoc.)
Next Friday: Two Props and a Jet…(or How To Stage a Nuke Off a Carrier, 50’s -style)
One Comment
Comments are closed.