Many aircraft over the years made their way out to Muroc/Edwards AFB for flight testing, and the Douglas Aircraft Company was a constant presence out at the lake as their inventory of aircraft and test flight programs grew over the years.

One such aircraft that today is pretty much in the shadows was the F3D Skyknight.

A very tough old bird showing a lot of wear on its airframe. (Courtesy photograph)

The Skyknight was not intended to be a typical sleek and nimble dogfighter, but as a standoff night fighter, packing a powerful radar system and a second crewmember. It originated in 1945 with a U.S. Navy requirement for a jet-powered, radar-equipped, carrier-based night fighter.

Pictures of my dad at the base from back then show one of the prototypes behind the flight-test crew and pilots, back when the trips to the base from Clover Field, Long Beach and El Segundo required temporary housing and long trips back and forth on the old two-lane road out to the base.

The first flight of the XF3D-1 was on March 23, 1948, at the Douglas El Segundo, Calif., facility with test pilot Russell Thaw at the controls. Further flight-testing followed at El Segundo until October 1948.

Three prototypes were then taken to Muroc Air Force Base for service trials. These units were powered by two Westinghouse J34-WE-24 turbojets of 3,000 lbs thrust, mounted under the roots of then-standard straight wings of the early jet era. A production contract for 28 F3D-1 J34-WE-32 powered production aircraft was issued in June 1948 with the first production aircraft flying on Feb. 13, 1950.

The F3D-1 had a very successful test program and with another war brewing over in Korea, the design started to get some real hard looks from the Navy and Marines. The changing landscape of aerial warfare was taking a new direction and a jet nightfighter was needed to offset the development of next-generation jet fighters from foreign nations.

At the time, the Skyknight and those developing it probably didn’t realize their creation would play a part in over two decades of American combat involvement.

The Douglas F3D Skyknight entered its first combat service during the Korean War, where it served extensively. The aircraft was mostly pitted against the propeller-driven fighters as well as normal jet-power fighters of the era. When it was not used for nighttime patrols or striking missions, it was used as an escort for the Boeing B-29 Superfortress.

For the standard armament configuration, the Douglas F3D Skyknight was fitted with four of the 20 mm Hispano-Suiza M2 Cannons that were fitted in its lower fuselage’s forward section.

The world’s very first jet-powered nighttime fighter kill was recorded on Nov. 3, 1952, by a U.S. Marine Corps Douglas F3D Skyknight. The aircraft went on to destroy four of the Soviet-built MiG-15 Fagot jet fighters.

Douglas produced 268 Skyknights, including several conversions to special-duty variants. One Marine Corps night fighter squadron went on to rack up the best nightfighter record of the Korean conflict.

After 1953, Skyknights were converted as trainers for radar intercept officers and for use as electronic reconnaissance and countermeasure aircraft during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. The Skyknight was the only Navy/Marine fighter to fly combat missions in both Korea and Vietnam, and the last was retired in 1978.

Being a Navy Marine aircraft for its operational life towards the end of its career, I bet it never thought it would end up flying the colors of another branch of the military, but it did.

In 1968, three Skyknights were transferred to the U.S. Army. These aircraft were operated by the Raytheon Corporation at Holloman AFB, N.M., where they were used for testing at the White Sands Missile Range into the 1980s; they were the last flyable Skyknights.

My dad and the flight test crew at Edwards with the Skyknight. (Courtesy photograph)

Looking back at the old bird, the sleek lines of evolving aircraft after World War II made this design gain the nickname Willie the Whale. But its design proved to be the correct one as it met all the requirements the Navy was looking for in one package. It would never win a beauty pageant, but it sure won a lot of air-to-air victories and had an outstanding record of bringing its crews home safe.

The Edwards Flight Test Museum has tucked away one of the few survivors of the Skyknight program to someday become part of their new museum complex. Willie the Whale didn’t have sexy lines like many of those futuristic looking craft at the base. But this old survivor that never really got much press, became one of the most successful aircraft designs ever to fly in defense of our country.

The production of the Douglas F3D Skyknight started back in 1949, and the day it retired there were only a total of 265 of these manufactured in all their variant forms. The reason for developing the Douglas Skyknight in such low numbers was that it was not exported outside of the United States, and truly became an American-only champion of the sky and another part of our local history at Edwards that flew in our skies as it stretched its wings.