Historic Aircraft
By Norman Polmar, Author, Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet
The Flying Banshee
By the late 1940s turbojet technology had advanced to the point that the U.S. Navy, which already had some jet fighters in service, began converting all its carrier fighter squadron aircraft to jet power. Comprising this second generation of Navy jet fighters were the Grumman F9F Panther and the McDonnell F2H Banshee. 1 The F2H was a much-improved successor to McDonnell's earlier FH-1 Phantom. The twin-engine F2H was almost twice the weight of its predecessor, had more powerful engines, and was fitted with four 20-mm cannon in place of the FH-1's four .50-caliber machine guns. Still, Herman D. Barkley and his design team retained the proven design of the earlier jet. 2
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