McDonnell F2H Banshee
The McDonnell F2H Banshee was a single-seat, twin-jet carrier fighter designed and produced by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation in St. Louis. A larger development of the FH Phantom, the Navy's first carrier jet, it first flew on 11 January 1947 and entered service in 1948. Production ended in September 1953 after 895 aircraft: the F2H-1 and the widely used F2H-2 — including the nuclear-capable F2H-2B, the F2H-2N night fighter and the F2H-2P photo-reconnaissance version — then the lengthened, radar-equipped F2H-3 and F2H-4. With the F9F Panther it was one of the U.S. Navy's primary fighters in the Korean War, flying escort, close air support, interdiction and reconnaissance. The Royal Canadian Navy flew 39 second-hand F2H-3s from 1955 to 1962, its only jet fighters. Ten Banshees survive on museum display.