# Developing The Banshee



## MIflyer (May 20, 2018)

From the 31 Oct 1949 issue of Aviation Week.


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## R Leonard (May 24, 2018)

In the "Banshees in the News" section . . . all these events were flown by VF-171. "R S Laird" mentioned should be D S Laird, Dean S "Diz" Laird, the only USN ace with credits against both the Germans and the Japanese. 
During the period described VF-171 was commanded by my father, then, Commander William N Leonard, CO from July 1948 to October 1950. VF-171 was the first USN jet squadron to fully carrier qualify.

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## Zipper730 (Jun 8, 2018)

Does anybody have drawings of the early blueprints of the design (no I'm not planning on doing drawings, I just want to see a comparison).


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## GrauGeist (Jun 8, 2018)

R Leonard said:


> In the "Banshees in the News" section . . . all these events were flown by VF-171. "R S Laird" mentioned should be D S Laird, Dean S "Diz" Laird, the only USN ace with credits against both the Germans and the Japanese.
> During the period described VF-171 was commanded by my father, then, Commander William N Leonard, CO from July 1948 to October 1950. VF-171 was the first USN jet squadron to fully carrier qualify.


I recall my Uncle Bill (Captain William Johnson, USN) talking about the Banshee and the Panther being his favorites when I was a kid. Sadly, he was lost in Vietnam (MIA) in '69, so I was never able to learn more about them from his perspective.

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## fubar57 (Jun 8, 2018)




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## Zipper730 (Jun 9, 2018)

GrauGeist said:


> I recall my Uncle Bill (Captain William Johnson, USN) talking about the Banshee and the Panther being his favorites when I was a kid.


The F2H while certainly not the fastest was one of the highest flying fighters of ours. I'm not sure how routinely it could hit 52,000 feet but that might have beaten the F-86 and was getting close to the MiG-15.


> Sadly, he was lost in Vietnam (MIA) in '69


Sorry about that

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## GrauGeist (Jun 9, 2018)

While I am not certain of the F9F type he flew, I know for sure that he flew the F2H-2, as he gave me a Hawk model kit of it (1968-ish) and told me that was "his bird".

The kit (and box) are long gone after all these many years, but I remember it well - after a short search online, I found the exact kit:


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## Capt. Vick (Jun 9, 2018)

Nice


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## Zipper730 (Jun 9, 2018)

GrauGeist,

What was he flying in Vietnam?


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## GrauGeist (Jun 9, 2018)

Zipper730 said:


> GrauGeist,
> 
> What was he flying in Vietnam?


Details are a little thin, because it was supposed to be an "eyes on" flight in an area where we (and Vietnamese) weren't supposed to be, but I understand it was an A-4 "Skyhawk".

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## Zipper730 (Jun 9, 2018)

GrauGeist said:


> Details are a little thin, because it was supposed to be an "eyes on" flight in an area where we (and Vietnamese) weren't supposed to be, but I understand it was an A-4 "Skyhawk".


Okay, cool


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