Douglas F3D Skyknight Model Airplane

 

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Douglas F3D Skyknight Model Airplane

Item#: FD9-1050

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Wing Span: 17.64"
Length: 15.81"

Manufacturer: Douglas Aircraft Company

 

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Douglas F3D Skyknight Model Airplane

Introducing Factory Direct Model’s custom made Douglas F3D Skyknight Model Airplane. This Douglas F3D Skyknight Model was hand crafted using the finest Philippine Mahogany and sealed to last for generations. From our collection of blueprints, reference materials and customer’s photographs Factory Direct Models master artisans hand crafted this famous Douglas F3D Skyknight into an amazingly detailed Display Model.

This Douglas F3D Skyknight Airplane Model comes with a customized detachable stand, a personalized inscriptions plaque and a laminated VMA-542 logo that adds magnificence into this detailed Display Model.

Douglas F3D Skyknight History:

The Douglas F3D Skyknight, (later F-10 Skyknight) was a United States twin-engine, midwing jet fighter aircraft manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company in El Segundo, California. The F3D was designed as a carrier-based all-weather aircraft. It saw service with the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps, downing several MiG-15s over Korea, and serving as an electronic warfare platform in the Vietnam conflict. The aircraft is sometimes unofficially called "Skynight", dropping the second "k".

The F3D was not a typical sleek and nimble fighter, but as a night fighter packing a powerful radar system and second crew member, it was not intended to be. It originated in 1945 with a U.S. Navy requirement for a jet-powered radar-equipped carrier-based night fighter. The Douglas team led by Ed Heinemann designed around the bulky air intercept radar systems of the time, with side-by-side seating for the pilot and radar operator. The result was an airplane with a broad, deep, and roomy fuselage. Instead of ejection seats, an escape tunnel was used, similar to the A-3 Skywarrior.

Maintenance on an APQ-35 radar of a F3D-2 in Korea, 1953

Power was provided by two Westinghouse J34 turbojets mounted in the roots of then-standard straight wings of the early jet era. The F3D was not much of a dogfighter. Instead, it was a stable platform for its radar system and the four 20 mm cannon mounted in the lower fuselage. The U.S. Navy awarded Douglas a contract for three XF3D-1 prototype aircraft on 3 April 1946. (The losing design from Grumman evolved into the F9F Panther.)