First Flight in the Desert
After the prototypes were trucked out to the site, Douglas test pilot Larry Peyton flew Allison J35-A-17-powered XF4D-1 prototype number 1 for the first time from Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) on 23 January 1951. Peyton reported a tendency for the Skyray to pitch up with trim unable to resolve it and overall handing to be suspect. It mostly boiled down to inertial coupling, a new phenomenon to Douglas but experienced during the development of the North American F-100 Super Sabre.
Turning a Weakness Into a Strength
Weight distribution- the heavy engine in the tail and swept wings, contributed to the problem. The surprising thing is that the tendency was never really engineered out of the design. Pilots were trained how to recover instead, even resorting to liberal use of placards in the cockpit to remind them of handling/speed restrictions. But the handling qualities of the jet were soon seen as an advantage rather than a weakness.
High Praise From the Marine Ace Himself
Testing and evaluation continued. In 1952, the Skyray, quickly and inevitably nicknamed the Ford, was evaluated by several Navy and Marine Corps pilots at Edwards AFB. They pilots were fully briefed about the tendencies of the aircraft but when they flew it they liked its positives more than feared its foibles. Of note was their unanimous impression that the jet, at least in part due to its inherent instability, would out-turn anything in the air. The story goes that Marine Corps Major Marion Carl flew the jet and went on record as saying if the Corps had the Skyray in Korea they’d be consistently scoring MiG kills with it.
Award-Winning Design Team
The second prototype XF4D-1 was being checked out at the Naval Air Test Center (NATC) at NAS Patuxent River in Maryland while prototype number 1 was being tested at Edwards. In December of 1953, Douglas engineer Ed Heinemann was awarded the Collier Trophy in recognition of his design work on the F4D Skyray. Heinemann shared the honors for the first supersonic fighter with Hames H. “Dutch” Kindleberger of North American Aviation for their also-supersonic F-100 Super Sabre. Even though the accolades were there, it took several more years and the development of the J57 engine-powered version of the aircraft until the first F4D-1 was delivered to VC-3. Production of the F4D-1 began in 1954.
The Navy Joins NORAD
In 1958 the Fleet All Weather Training Unit- Pacific (FAWTUPAC) at NAS North Island in San Diego was redesignated as All Weather Fighter Squadron THREE (VF[AW]-3), retasked, and equipped with F4D-1s. The Blue Nemesis then became the only Navy squadron assigned to the US Air Force North American Air Defense Command (NORAD), normally consisting of US Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) units. Less than a year after VC-3 received their first F4D-1s, Marine Corps Fighter Squadron VMF-115 Able Eagles became the first Leatherneck Ford fliers. VF-74 Bedevilers were the first Navy squadron to deploy with the Ford, going to sea with Carrier Air Group SIX (CVG-6) aboard the Essex-class carrier USS Intrepid (CVA-11) in February of 1959.
One Trick Pony Gets Left Behind
A Skyray set a world time-to-climb record of 2 minutes 36.05 seconds to reach an altitude of 49,213 feet from a standing start in 1958. The first delta-winged aircraft to reach supersonic speeds, the F4D-1 rewrote many of the closed-course speed records at Edwards later that year. Fords would go on to equip thirteen Navy and eight Marine Corps fighter squadrons. When the aircraft designation system was re-swizzled in 1962 the F4D-1 Skyray was redesignated the F-6A Skyray. But as a dedicated supersonic high-altitude interceptor with no multi-mission capabilities soon expected of Naval and Marine Corps carrier-based aircraft, the career of the Ford was short.
Legend in Waiting
The beginning of the McDonnell-Douglas F-4H Phantom II was in essence the end for the Skyray. A true one-trick pony, the Ford was phasing out of service in many cases after only six or seven years of operational use. Marine Corps squadron VMF(AW)-542 Tigers were the last active-duty squadron to fly the Skyray. VC-3 Blue Nemesis ceremonially retired the last operational Skyrays in the fleet on 16 October 1964. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and later the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) used four F-6As for testing until 1969. The Skyray was the last fighter aircraft designed and produced by Douglas before their merger with McDonnell, thereafter known as McDonnell-Douglas.
Bonus Video
This Skyray operating procedures training film from 1956 was uploaded to YouTube by Raymond Norton.
[youtube id=”_rusjPIVk3s” width=”800″ height=”454″ position=”left”]
Watched the F4D’s fly as a Marine at El Toro from 1956-1959. Great airplane but what happened to the F5D?
Just wanna point out that the VF-74 Be-Devilers deployed in the fall of 1957 in the Skyray to the Med on the Midway Class Roosevelt. You can check the cruise book. They may also have deployed with the Skyray in 1956, but I couldn’t find a reference.