Douglas F4D Skyray

Douglas Aircraft Company · United States · first flew 1951 · fighter

The Douglas F4D Skyray, later redesignated F-6, was an American carrier-based supersonic fighter and interceptor. It was the last fighter built by Douglas before the merger with McDonnell.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Low-mounted, delta
E — Engines	1 × turbojet, fuselage-mounted
F — Fuselage	13.79 m fuselage
T — Tail	No tailplane

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Wide delta wing with long, sharply swept, rounded tips
Thick wing roots containing the air intakes
Single Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet and no separate tailplane

Look for a tailless, manta-shaped delta wing with a single engine and intakes in the wing roots. Armament was four 20 mm cannon in the wings.

Specifications

The Douglas F4D Skyray has a length of 13.79 m (45 ft).
It has a wingspan of 10.21 m (33 ft).
Its maximum speed is 1161 km/h (721 mph).
Typical crew: 1.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Douglas and the US Navy began the design in the late 1940s, and the XF4D-1 first flew on 23 January 1951. It was first designed around the Westinghouse J40 engine, but the J40 was cancelled and the aircraft was redesigned for the Pratt & Whitney J57. Considerable changes followed the first flight of a production-standard aircraft in June 1954.

Variants

The F4D was developed into the F5D Skylancer. A total of 422 Skyrays were built between 1950 and 1958.

Where you'll see it

The Skyray entered service with the US Navy and Marine Corps in April 1956 and was retired in February 1964. It never saw combat, but it held the world absolute speed record of 752.943 mph as the first carrier-launched aircraft to do so.

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