Known to its crews as “Willy the Whale” due to its portly demeanor, Douglas’ F3D was the result of a 1945 Navy requirement for a radar-equipped jet night fighter. Wartime experience had shown the need to defend task forces at as long-range as possible, a need that was made even more urgent by the arrival of jet aircraft and guided bombs.
The Douglas XF3D design by veteran designer Ed Heinemann was actually quite conventional, with a mid-mounted unswept wing, two J34 engines in the fuselage, and a tail similar to that the of AD Skyraider and D-558-I. A pilot and radar operator would sit side-by side; like the slightly later A3D, the Skyknight did not have ejection seats, relying on an escape tunnel for the crew. The F3D proved to have problems during carrier trials, and although the Skyknight was eventually qualified for shipboard operations, Whales caused problems during carrier launches, as their angled exhausts tended to set decks afire.
The Skyknight would be fitted with the Westinghouse APQ-35 radar system (the first two aircraft had the older SCR-720) – this was actually comprised of three radars: the APS-21 search set and APG-26 tracking radar in the nose, and the APS-28 tail warning set. Although this did not provide 360° coverage, it did come close, with radar “dead zones” being limited to areas off the wingtips.
The first production Skyknight was the F3D-1, 28 of which were produced. These aircraft were primarily used for training with VC-3, and later with several Marine squadrons. The major production version would be the F3D-2, with better radar and provision for the Westinghouse J46 engine. This would have raised the Skyknight’s performance, but the powerplant never entered service, and the F3D-2 used the J34-6 engine. Even before Korea, it was recognized that the era of the straight-winged jet fighter was coming to a close, and to provide the fleet with a swept-wing type in the near term, Douglas proposed to use the Skyknight as the basis for such an aircraft. The Douglas Model 601 was ordered as the F3D-3, and would have had the J46 engine as well as swept surfaces. The cancellation of the J46 led to the demise of the F3D-3 before any could be completed.
Despite being outclassed in performance by the MiG-15, the Skyknight would prove to be a formidable opponent over the Korean skies, downing six MiGs during the course of the war. The first of these kills, in November 1952, marked the first nighttime jet-vs-jet kill. F3Ds were often used as escorts for B-29s, being preferred for this mission in place of the USAF’s own F-94s.
Post-Korea, the F3D’s available space and load-carrying capability made it an ideal platform for early air to air missile trials. The Sparrow I was tested from F3D-1M / MF-10As, these being able to carry four Sparrows underwing. Sixteen F3D-2M / MF-10Bs were converted to a similar standard.
By the late 1950s, the Skyknight was definitely passe as a fighter, but the Whale was to have an extended second career as an ECM platform for the Marines. Outright performance was not as critical in this role, and there was plenty of space within the F3D airframe for new mission equipment. A total of 55 F3D-2s became F3D-2Qs, and the Corps would still be flying the type in 1962, when it was redesignated as the EF-10B. Other Skynights became TF-10Bs, being used to train F-4 backseaters. The TF-10Bs were finally replaced by early 1965, after delivery of their T-39D Sabreliner replacements had been completed.
VCMJ-1 operated EF-10Bs against North Vietnamese radar networks from 1965 to 1969, operating from Da Nang. The Marine “Electric Whale” crews provided valuable support for US aircrews, despite flying an obsolete, underpowered aircraft with aging engines and maintenance-intensive vacuum-tube avionics. They were finally replaced by EA-6As. Around the time that the Marine Skyknights were leaving service, the Navy was also retiring its last few F-10 testbeds, the service having made good use of the Whale to evaluate new types of weapons and electronic systems. This did not quite end the Skyknight story, as Raytheon flew several aircraft into the 1980s for electronic systems testing.
Skyknight Bibliography
“F3D night fighter powerful” Naval Aviation News May 1950
Holley Carburetor Company ad, with artwork depicting an F3D launching from a (stylized) Essex class carrier Aviation Week October 23, 1950 p.53
Robert Hotz “F3Ds Outfly Red Night Fighters in Korea” Aviation Week February 9, 1953 p.13-14
“Sparrow 1, latest engine revealed” Photo on an F3D carrying four Sparrow 1s underwing Naval Aviation News July 1954
“Last F3D leaves VF(AW)-3 – served as faker for interceptors” Naval Aviation News March 1961. Last F3D retires from NAS North Island after replacement by F4D Skyrays.
Photo: Last F3D-1 retired. Naval Aviation News July 1963 p.37
Photo: “Multi-Mode Radar Evaluated in F3D” Aviation Week & Space Technology December 13, 1965 p.81
Workbench Review: F3D-2 Skyknight in 1/48 scale from Czech Models FineScale Modeler May 2005 p.60
Lloyd S. Jones U.S. Fighters: Army Air Force 1925 to 1980s p.331: scale F3D-2 3-view
Gerry Manning 1000 Preserved Aircraft in Colour p.19 photos F3D-2 displayed aboard Intrepid, F3D-2Q/EF-10B at Quantico
Dana Bell Air War over Vietnam, Volume I p.44-45: large side-view shot of EF-10B BuNo 127060 of VMCJ-1
Enzo Angelucci, Peter Bowers The American Fighter Orion Books, 1987 p.186: F3D-2 and F3D-3 3-views; side view drawings of the XF3D-1, F3D-1, and F3D-2M
Jim Winchester American Military Aircraft: A History of Innovation p.147: color profile of F3D-2 BuNo 124615 (MiG killer) of VMF(N)-513 in all black paint scheme
Walter A. Musciano Warbirds of the Sea p.355: in-flight view of a VMF(N)-513 F3D