The Quirky US Plane that Pulled Off What Others Couldn't
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 26 авг 2024
- In 1950, the Korean War's skies turned hostile as Soviet MiG-15 fighters challenged the American B-29 bombers, once the unchallenged masters of the air. This new threat forced the USAF to halt their daylight bombing runs as the night skies became the new battleground.
The Douglas F3D Skyknight entered this tense scenario, an unassuming figure against the backdrop of high-stakes air combat. Often overlooked and lacking the sleek allure of its jet-powered contemporaries, this 'sedan of the skies' emerged as an unlikely hero in the heat of conflict.
As the conflict intensified into the summer of 1952, the night skies, once a haven, became fraught with danger. In this new realm of shadowy warfare, the Skyknight began to carve out its niche. This underdog, quietly and effectively, started to make its mark, hinting at an impressive record that would challenge the expectations of friend and foe alike.
---
Join Dark Skies as we explore the world of aviation with cinematic short documentaries featuring the biggest and fastest airplanes ever built, top-secret military projects, and classified missions with hidden untold true stories. Including US, German, and Soviet warplanes, along with aircraft developments that took place during World War I, World War 2, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf War, and special operations mission in between.
As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Skies sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect and soundtracks for emotional impact. We do our best to keep it as visually accurate as possible.
All content on Dark Skies is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas.
Makes me believe it was what led to the Grumman A-6 Intruder.
I agree!
Nope,
The A-6 was the medium/tactical low level bomber that was for long loiter time compared to the A-4 light bomber & the A-5 heavy nuclear bomber
@fullbirdprivate A-6 was a day or night low level intruder bomber, not as a fighter.
And the A-37 was a Cessna design
It was actually the next step for the Marine Corps, my father went from this to the A6A ! My father had combat missions in Vietnam, in the the sky knight ! Vmcj-1
If you imagine the wings and tail swept on the Skykinght you can see a little of the Intruder.
Great video! My dad flew the F3D-2 when he was in the Marine Corps. He used to tell us kids about it. But in those pre-internet days (1960's) I could never find a picture of one and assumed he made it up. But then in his archives I found an article about how he and another Captain being the first Marines to land the F3D on a carrier (the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt). According to his logbooks, this would have been on Feb 18, 1953, when he was with VMF(N) 531. Interesting airplane - you can definitely see the lineage to the Skyraider. (Heinemann was obviously sticking with what he knew). Pleasant surprise to me, they have one here in Pensacola at the National Naval Aviation Museum.
(Interestingly, dad flew the F4U Corsair in WWII and Korea. His last flight in the F3D was on July 1, 1953. On July 13 of that same month, he started helicopter training here in Pensacola. What a "culture shock" that must've been, going from Corsairs to jets to those crude, early Bell helicopters. The Marines were pretty wacky.)
Old marines seldom tell stories much less make them up. Real heroes stay in the background. A salute to your father.
Example of why I really love this channel. Another aircraft I've never seen ot heard of.
I was going to say the exact same thing.
You and me both.
Meee Too!
In 1988 while serving at El Toro, I was tasked with working on a F-3D that was came from the Army flight training school. It was to be set up for Static Display.
We removed the engines, liquid oxygen system and drained the Avgas. Very interesting aircraft and really different to the F/A-18's that we had in our squadron.
Was this the one that was parked on road that went around the runway from main side? Showed a buddy how to get in the aircraft crawling up the escape slide!
"We removed the engines, liquid oxygen system and drained the Avgas..."
Avgas? 😉
@@phillipzx3754
Avgas, I'm guessing is aviation fuel.
Jet engines usually use Jet A1 or JP4 or AVCAT (types of kerosene) not AVGAS which is for piston engines@@itsacityofapes
I love this period of (jet) aviation history. "Anything goes" because jet powered knowledge was the frontier and the tech was rapidly evolving.
1968....shocked to see the F3D still flying out of Cam Rhan Bay...
Actually not a bad looking aircraft. Has wings and a tail section very similar to the Skyraider. Makes sense considering Hienneman designed them both.
That's what I'm saying, looks better than a raider to me, glad I'm not the only one who sees it.
Probably never expected to hear from someone who flew this airplane. Since I flew it and the RF-4B in the same squadron, it wasn't thought of as anything to brag about. But it was the ONLY tactical EW aircraft at the beginning of the Vietnam War. The Douglas EA-3 Skywarrior was flown for the Navy from as far away as Guam until they could get it to come aboard the carriers. VMCJ-1 was stationed at Danang flying both the EF-10 and the RF-4 for all tactical reconnaissance for the Marines. The F-10s later were replaced by the EA-6A Electric Intruders.
The Skyknights had 3400# of thrust on each engine compared to the RF's 10,000#/ea for the J-79-8 engines (17,000# in afterburner). However we did have the EF-10s going 400kts+ down on the deck on some attack profiles. The video showed ejection seats in the F-3D. It never had ejection seats. It was always a manual bailout sliding down the chute between the two engines. My squadron, VMCJ-3, was deployed out of MCAS El Toro on deployment to MCAS Yuma, AZ. Both the EFs and the RFs were deployed and we did a 3 week max training flight schedule. An EF-10 lost an engine in flight and couldn't get it relit. It was difficult to keep it from descending with only one engine. On the way back to base the pilot flew over an unpopulated area and told the ECMO to bailout at 5000' if he was still descending before he got to the runway. At that time the ECMO unstrapped and opened the trap door leading aft and down that was between the two side-by-side seats. He got up with his parachute as a fanny pack, and slid down the chute disappearing in the dark. The pilot kept getting lower but eventually got the aircraft to slow its descent. He heard a lot of banging noises coming for the engines but was still able to get to the runway and land. As he was rolling out down the runway, the ECMO comes climbing back up the chute yelling that he couldn't get the chute door to open despite his kicking and pounding! ;)
We practiced the chute slide regulary on the flight line but as far as I remember no one ever had to actually bailout and deploy his chute. After that incident most briefed they would try to crash land it before they would ever attempt to slide out!
Excellent anecdotes, Marine. Semper Fi!
Excellent factual story, very interesting, thank you.
In 67 I was assigned to VMA(aw) 225 at Cherry Point. Next door was VMCJ-2. They had EF10bs, RF8s, EA-6As and RF4bs. They soon retired the EF10s and the RF 8s. We received new A-6As prior to deployment to westpac in Danang. In 1970 I was with J-2 on USS FORRESTAL, SARATOGA, and AMERICA, all in one Med cruise. We had 4 EA-6As.
@jameseast7966 How old were you in 1970?
@@michaelannen4168 hey Mike, I was 24. I was promoted to SSGT in feb 1972. Why do you ask??
I wouldn't say ugly. I think it has that utilitarian charm
Okay, it's no F-86 Sabre but compare its shape to an FW-190 or a P-47. It's a sleek '50s jet. Looks straight out of a Jonny Quest episode.
Nickname "dirt" by pilot, spell it backwords!
As an A-10 pilot said...
"Nobody's sweetheart is ugly."
Thanks for expanding my knowledge of jet aircraft during the Korean war. Thumbs up and carry on. 👍🇺🇲✌️
IMAGINE designing an aircraft that meets specs…what a shocker!!
The Douglas A-1 Skyraider also fought in both Korea and Vietnam.
Fascinating! Thank you, Dark Skies!
I've seen this former U.S. Marines FD3 Skyknight in Lakewood (Long Beach) California. It's not at a park. It's at a high school just south of Lakewood. It is mounted on a tall metal stand. The Skyknight looks like it's doing a left banking turn. The F3D is the mascot of the high school, "The Knights". I've been meaning to take a photo of this Skyknight. But the sight of a lone adult man snapping photos just outside a high school is going to arouse a lot of negative suspicion these days.
Thanks for covering this aircraft that I had not heard of until today. It's a great example of ingenuity in design and tactics.
This plane was used as electronic warfare plane until better plane took it over.
I was with the Flying Nightmares in the Mid '70s when we had AV8As,
There’s an F-10 Sky Knight on a pedestal at Del Rio Park in Lakewood, California. Really nice one in Gloss Gull Gray over gloss white.
If I had watched until the end I would’ve gotten the name right!
An aircraft that is new to me and I have been an aircraft buff for 68 years.
F-3D: We can do night runs!
SR-71: We got it from here, kid..
Looks like the forerunner to the A6 Intruder
Was going to say the same thing
Called a 'DRUT'..Turd spelled backwards. Bet those early night landings were interesting...
Silent but deadly.
The Whale!!! My father flew it with the Marines for awhile before deploying to Vietnam in the A-4 (VMA311/Chu Lai)!
The most common nick name for the EF-10B was "drut." A common word spelled backwards, referring to the jet's shape.
A plane doesn't need to be beautiful to be respected. For example the A-10.
Douglas A-B26 also served in both Korea and Vietnam. As did the F-86.
Willie the Whale. AIM-7 Sparrow testbed and ECM/ECCM platform. So many modern jets owe their lethality and survivability to this
Never knew of this jet. Thank you.
Image what it would have done if the designers would have taken seriously the flight data from the swept-wing ME 262. The MiG 15s were built with this in mind, and their engines may not have been able to keep up with plane. However, as a night-fighter with its own RADAR, it found its niche and did its part very well. The video didn't show a take-off from an aircraft, so, if post WWII carriers didn't yet have, or couldn't accommodate a steam catapult, This may have been a problem for a swept-wing take-off.
WOW never heard of it very interesting thanks for posting
1:28 - Damn! Those Engineers were stoked to take on the challenge of designing the SkyKnight!
My favorite plane to fly in Warthunder sim! Poor visibility but you just keep its speed up and those cannons make it amazing! And far from ugly I find it to be one hell of a sexy plane!
not the ONLY fighter to fight in Viet Nam.... Skyraiders carried on faithfully Dane
Not ugly...kind of minimalist...
And, if I recall correctly this was around the birth of the Sidewinder AtoA Missile (though I think it was an F-86 which first fired one successfully(?)
Jet powered sky raider.
If memory serves, I read that an F3 Skyknight got a kill credit by flying a MiG it was chasing into the ground...
Ejecting down will bugger you if you get in trouble taking off or landing - the commonest situation.
As pilots of the Lockheed F-104A found out! Succeeding models changed to standard upward ejection. 😀
It wasn't a downward ejection... the crew just had to get out of their seats and slide down a chute while some problem made the aircraft unflyable. Not the greatest scenario, but the same thing was done with the Douglas A-3 Skywarrior. Both aircraft also had a section of the canopy that slid back for boarding and egress, which I would guess would be the preferred technique if the aircraft ended up in the water. I'm just guessing that naval aviators were happy when proper ejection seats evolved.
@@SkyhawkSteve I understand what you mean, I posted my comment before he explained things.
However that technique would be too slow in a near ground incident.
There were planes that did eject downwards like the Navigator in B-47 and the pilot in the f-10 Widow-maker as Lance above points out,
and the Tupelov Man-eater 22
@@flickingbollocks5542 sliding down a chute is lousy, and ejecting down is nearly as lousy! .. or worse?? In the old days, just crawling out on the wing was good enough. With jet engines and airspeeds over 500 knots, that just didn't work. The early ejection seats weren't good enough to be sure that they would clear the T-tail of the 104, so they just went down instead. Until proper zero-zero seats were developed, the aircrew was facing certain situations where they were just SOL. It's a dangerous business!
The upward ejection seat of the time was also useless at low altitude
There was an F6D Missileer variant that never came to be.
Bravo ! Growing up as a kid in the 50s/60s, all we ever knew about were our Sabres !
Years ago I read about an American jet purportedly shooting down a Russian-made Yak-15 near the Chinese-North Korean border. But there was some controversy over whether it really was a Yak-15 or really a MiG-15 or even a Yak-9D. I couldn't remember what type and branch of service of the American jet fighter. Thanks to this video I have the information.
It's possible the Soviets gave several Yak-15 early jet fighters to the Communist Chinese to use as advanced jet trainers. So one of the Chinese pilots may have strayed over North Korea during a training flight.
I remember being i the Navy in 1983 and seeing the full list of Type Equipment Codes (TECs) for all CURRENT navy aircraft and ground support equipment. The F-10 (F3D) was still there because the Army and Raytheon still operated a couple in test programs. 1982. They were still painted in the Navy's standard Gloss Sea Blue overall, but the large white "NAVY" text on the fuselage was replaced with "ARMY."
Skyknight was also featured in the series about Dogfights.
2:30 Well, astutely pleasing was not one of the required traits.
Excellent stuff bro
Looks like the A6 Intruder
Its crazy how planes in the 50s went through design production and entire service period quicker than a plane can be designed today.
🙏 The Douglas F3D Skynight might not as sleek looking as other fighters , but done us proud for saving many lives when utilized as Night Fighters in the later part of the Korean War & in the early Vietnam War ... 🙏 Respect & Salute to the Unsung Hero but under appreciated Douglas F3D Skynight Fighters & Crew! 🌷🌿🌏✌💜🕊🇺🇸
THIS AIRCRAFT WAS A FANTASTIC AIRCRAFT..
A great aircraft. It fit i's role and did it's duty. You cannot expect an aircraft to go beyond it's capabilities of it's era. When you use it in it's capabilities it will perform perfectly
What do you know a dedicated radar equipped night fighter dominated against faster visual only day Fighters when fighting in the dark.
At 0:22 - when mentioning high stakes air combat always splice in clips of Bf-109 & FW-190...always...
No swept wings limited speed.
This aircraft wasn't really a "fighter" in the conventional sense of the word. It was more of an interceptor designed to fire radar guided forward firing missiles, something which was brand new at the time and quite revolutionary. It had a huge radar antenna and a second crew member acting as the Radar Intercept Officer. It, like the F-4, was not intended to ever engage in a classical "dog fight" with enemy fighters. The F-4 was much more capable of course, and served as an interceptor, fighter, and attack aircraft. The F-3 was not nearly as capable and that partly explains why so many people never heard of it.
The video claims that it was nicknamed "Willey the Whale", but everyone I know always called the "DRUT". Hint: Spell it backwards.
Later designated as the F-10 and converted to an electronic warfare aircraft, Marine EF-10s were used in an attempt to jam some of the North Vietnamese radar sites when I flew Alpha Strikes into North Vietnam. It was impossible to tell if they did any good or not, but I made it home safe and sound after 153 combat missions in North Vietnam, so I like to think they were a part of that. Of course, the guys who got bagged, might have a different opinion.
Finally, unlike what some claim, it had nothing to do with the Grumman A-6, an attack aircraft designed to deliver bombs and other air-to-ground weapons in all weather. A completely different aircraft, completely different role, and a completely different company. True, they both had a side-by-side cockpit layout, but so does the Boeing 777.
Soooo...a Jet fighter took out a bi-plane. That just seems crazy to me. Like bringing pepper spray to Machine gun fight crazy. Yes, I know a bi-plane took out the Bismark and all that, but still nuts.
“Sedan of the sky” brutal lmaooo
Reminds me of an A6 Intruder
Forgotten War my arse!
A friend of mine flew 1 in Korea.
Nice looking plane to me ❤
I see a resemblance to the A6
Ugly?! It is a cool looking plane.
I love this plane but the first non-visual kill being on a biplane at night is so fkn funny to me. I'm just picturing myself in war thunder going "ANOTHER UPTIER?!" Like that poor biplane was likely chugging along and then BOOM no fkn warning or chance
Marines EF-10 were used as FAC over lower North Viet Nam and Upper South Viet Nam.
Weirdest carrier launch system I ever saw!😱👍😂🇺🇸
11:07 Zigzag?
That bottom exit for bailing out as opposed to ejecting would not work well in an out of control flight like a lost wing. I wonder of those lost in combat how many succeeded in bailing out? We had a similar aircraft in my day called the A3D jokingly saying it stood for all 3 dead.
Able dog fought in both theaters of war! Check your history!
The U.S. Marines called the F3 the DRUT.
Is this the predecessor to the A-6/AE-6?
Why do they call it the forgotten war? When i went to school back in the 2000's it was 1 of the most taught wars besides ww2 and Vietnam, and you had to request Vietnam with parental permission.
Our church treasurer flew crew in these in Korea escorting B29`s and other missions.
I think the Sky Knight was a lovely aircraft, it just wanted a hug or two. Why was it called "the Cuban Missile Crisis" when it was the US Jupiter IRBMs stationed in Turkey that were the problem?
I assume you've changed subjects mid-paragraph, the F-3D had nothing to do with the Cuban Missile Crisis. The EF-10B version was the ELINT aircraft doing Electronic Reconnaissance and the Photo Reconnaissance was done by the RF-8G during that short conflict. Both aircraft were asigned to VMCJ-2 at MCAS Cherry Point, NC, at that time. It was called that because the crisis was a close trigger to a major conflict between the US and the, then, Soviet Union, over them sending their intermediate range missiles to Cuba to threaten about 60% of the the US land mass. A first strike was too tempting for the USSR because it would only give maybe 10-15 minutes warning after a detected launch before a missile would impact a major city. We lost a LOT of leverage in our negotiations when it was discovered that we still had OUR IRBMs in Turkey! They were supposed to be removed for treaty compliance but we were taking our time. It did turn out to be a propaganda victory for the USSR. But both countries removed their missiles.
I Think? I may know a person Involved "Jim Turpin". I Have Pics of a few Prop Plane that has a very Similar, or the same Wings, and Tail section with the cabin to scale, all Aluminum with Jim and Others from Post WWII in Palm Springs and other So Cal locations.
Is it just me? I think they're beautiful.
Dark Skies covering a night fighter, haha.
Way to smoke that biplane!
Nickname the "durt" , you've got to spell it backwards to get it! Certainly sounds similar to a Warthog with smaller guns!
First. Love your channel sir
It was a miracle the world didn't explode then in nuclear war.
Great. But was it a Yak 15 or a MiG 15? I read that the little Yak (and the Yak 23) 15 did not fly in Korea. Anyone?
A Marines Skyknight was credited with shooting down a YAK-15 on November 3, 1952.
I have never heard of a successful aircraft with a Westinghouse engine. The X-3 would have made Mach 2 if it was not for them.
Another fascinating mish-mash of unrelated video….
Seems you're not immune to scam commercials too. But skip and watch on.
3:30 the P-47 had a tail warning radar so how is such a thing in the Skyknight "innovative?"
The single seat, Republic P-47 never had a "tail warning radar."
why didn't you make it's wing swept?
Better wing loading. And it was not capable of supersonic flight.
Willy the Whale…
That was the nickname I remember it called. The VMCJs all had EF1Os. (Marine Composite Reconisance Squadron). Semper Fi.
They used missles in Korea?
The comment about North Korean pilots is not necessarily accurate. It is known that many of the pilots who flew the Migs over North Korea were actually Russian and later Chinese pilots. That was why they never flew over any South Korean or United Nations controlled areas.
Why do aircraft engineers ever consider downward ejection seats?
Because the early seats didn’t have the power to clear the tail assembly.
This aircraft did NOT have ejection seats despite the depictions of them. It was a bailout situation (downwards)! The B-52 did have the B/N & the EWO ejecting out of the bottom of the aircraft. They had altitude/airspeed/climbout restrictions on their abilities to survive an ejection.
8:25 - it's "yak-fifteen", not "Y-A-K-fifteen", just as it's NASA (or "NATO"), not "en-ey-es-ey" (or "en-ey-tee-oh").
There were no Yak 15's in korea, it might have been a prop fighter relative of the Yak 15
Most probably , if IT was Jet aircraft - IT was a Yak-23 fighter. If not - IT can be Yak-9 .
@@Turloghan I think it could have been a Yak-9T or Yak-11
@@troygroomes104 I agree, in fact they was a most common NK planes used at night .
@@Turloghan those and PO-2's & maybe modified mig-15bombers
According to the book, "Douglas F3D Skyknight" by Steve Ginter, on November 3, 1952, Maj. Wm. Stratton Jr. of Marines squadron VFM(N)-513, shot down a YAK-15 with his F3D-2 (the only YAK-15 kill, the other six were MiG-15s).
Forgotten war??? By who?
Deng do you love to show La-15 that did not se any combat.
Did they use Raspberry jam???
A-1 Skyraiders faight in both Korea and Vietnam.
Am i the only one who thinks the Skyknight resembles an obese skyraider with elephantiasis?
The a-1 skyraider fought in both Korea & Vietnam
Ejection facing rearward?? I'm confused. How did the crew get turned around?
Here's how it worked on the F3D Skyknight according to one book on the F3D: "The escape sequence was activated by pulling a lever which would jettison the aft portion of the escape door and trigger the forward half to act as a windbreak. The crew would then pivot in their seats, grasp the vaulting bar atop the shoot and egress feet first out the bottom of the plane (through an escape tunnel/slide).