McDonnell FH Phantom

what is it?

The McDonnell FH Phantom is a twinjet, straight-wing, carrier-based fighter aircraft designed and produced by the American aviation firm McDonnell Aircraft. A first-generation jet fighter, the Phantom was the first purely jet-powered aircraft to land on an American aircraft carrier in 1946, as well as being the first jet aircraft to be deployed by the United States Marine Corps. Developed during the latter half of World War II for the United States Navy (USN) to harness the newly-developed turbojet engine, an order for three prototype aircraft was placed in August 1943.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 jet engines · 12.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 813 km/htop speed
• size 5,459 kgmax take-off weight
• built 63made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 81 years ago, in 1945.
• 🏎️Top speed is 6.3× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 12.4 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.4× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1945-01-26

introduced

1947

retired

1949

status

retired

number built

63

role

carrier-based fighter aircraft

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

McDonnell Aircraft Corporation

engines

4× Westinghouse J30-WE-20 (or J30-P20) / Aerojet 14AS-1000 D5

crew

1

length

11.4 m

wingspan

12.4 m

height

4.3 m

max take-off weight

5,459 kg

top speed

813 km/h

cruise speed

399 km/h

range

—

ceiling

12,527 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.