One thing that McDonnell (later McDonnell-Douglas; later Boeing), is not well known for is mediocre aircraft. Yet that is what they had in the F3H Demon. The Demon stands out amongst other McD aircraft in that it is not a twin engined fighter. Every one of their previous and later designs was a twin engined aircraft. Two engine just make sense in a nautical environment. If one has trouble or quits, the other is usually enough to get you home. In a single engined plane it is time for a dunking.

Where the Demon (and a number of other projects) ran into trouble was the Westinghouse J-40 turbojet. This particular engine was nothing but problems from the very start. Unable to meet the promised amount of power and beset by technical and quality control problems, it was the last engine that Westinghouse ever did. So poor was this engine that over half of the F3Hs fitted with it were never flown. Instead they were used for schools and memorial aircraft. Needless to say, Congress investigated that little fiasco.

In order to save the program, the much more reliable and slightly more powerful J-71 was substituted. This had enough power to make the aircraft a viable, if not sparkling performer. Had the J-79 been installed, the Demon would have lived up to its name and been a spectacular aircraft. However, this was not to be, and the Demon, like the Skyray and the Cutlass, had a relatively short active service life. So little liked was the Demon by McDonnell, that they refused to allow a model kit to be made of it while it was in service!

Steve Ginter has always done a superb job in his books, and this one is no different. There are oodles of drawings, diagrams and pictures of parts of the plane so that modelers will have a good reference. There are also the required stories about the aircraft so that one gets a feel for what the plane was like. In addition, there are photos galore of the Demon in use by every squadron that flew the bird. While most photos are in black and white, there are a number of pages that have the Demon in all its color.

This book is just a superb reference to have on this aircraft. If you have any interest in the F3H, buy this book. You will not be sorry.

Review copy courtesy of your editor. 

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