Chasing a Demon

By Dave Trojan, Aviation Archaeologist, davidtrojan@earthlink.net, Oct 2014

McDonnell F3H-2N Demon in flight circa 1956

I was recently down in the San Diego area for the Miramar Air Show and I decided to
locate the crash site of a Navy F3H Demon jet fighter that was assigned to a training
squadron at NAS Miramar. The F3H Demon was like a demon monster during its Navy
service with many accidents. During the hunt the temperatures were pushing into the
mid 90s with hot Santa Ana winds in the forecast. It was unusually hot for this time of
the year in this area and I would say it was HOT as hell. What better time to go looking
for a Demon?
The F3H Demon was a true demon in U.S. Navy service:
The F3H Demon was the Navy's first all-weather swept-wing interceptor with a head-on
Sparrow missile capability. It served from about 1957 until it was replaced by the F-4
Phantom beginning in 1962. The F3H Demon was also one of the worst Navy aircraft of
all time having numerous problems that plagued its service history. The F3H was also
an exceptionally dangerous aircraft that killed many pilots. The F3H was designed as a
successor to the F2H Banshee and was to be powered by the Westinghouse J-40. The
J-40 was promised by Westinghouse to have about twice the thrust of engines then in
Navy service.

McDonnell F3H-2N Demon in afterburner

The J-40 powered F3H-1 fell well short of its promises. The flight test program was
described as "sort of a joke," because everyone knew that the engine would need to be
replaced. The J-40 engine, which promised 10,000 to 11,000 lbs. of thrust in military
and 15,000 lbs in afterburner barely produced 6,800 lbs, and proved unreliable in every
respect. Because of the pressures of the Korean War, aircraft production progressed
during prototype testing. The first sixty F3H-1 production aircraft had the J-40 engine.
Twenty five F3H-1s out of the first sixty never flew and were shipped to Naval Air
Training Centers where they were used as training aids. Of those that flew, 8 were
involved in major accidents, three of which were due directly to engine failures. By the
time construction of the J-40 engine Demons was stopped, $289 million had been
spent, of which $107 million went to Westinghouse for the J-40 engine disaster. The
Navy then switched to the Allison J-71 engine for the 61st and subsequent production
Demons. The J71 powered Demon was also designated the F3H-2N.

F3H-2 Demon and the J-71 engine

The J-71 Allison engine was not much better than the J-40 and had to be modified for
use in the Demon. The J-71 engine was not "all weather" as represented. It tended to
have compressor stalls in visible moisture and flame out in the rain. The fix was to
shave the turbine blades shorter so they wouldn't contact the casing in rain, but that
caused an overall loss in power. Even with the modified J-71, the Demon was still
underpowered and unsafe. The J-71 was so underpowered that it was easy to get into a
position in slow-speed flight that it was impossible to recover from. For instance, on a
hot day at Albuquerque AFB, according to the takeoff distance calculator, the runway
length necessary for takeoff, at military power, was infinity, a bit longer than the 15,000
feet available.

More mechanical problems plagued the Demon. The Demon was the first fighter to
have hydraulically operated control surfaces, without mechanical back-up. In case of
hydraulic failure, a ram air hydraulic pump popped out of the aircraft driving a hydraulic
pump that powered the small emergency-only hydraulic system. In early Demons the
scheme worked fine as long as the aircraft was at higher speeds, but in the landing
pattern the small propeller didn't provide enough energy to support the hydraulic needs
to control the aircraft.
Escaping from a Demon was not an easy task. The early production ejection seats
failed to function properly and caused a number of fatalities. These seats were later
replaced by Martin Baker seats, with much improved reliability and performance. Later
versions of the Demon were more of an all-purpose aircraft than a pure interceptor and
the addition of extra equipment further hampered performance. The aircraft also had
high fuel consumption which shortened its range. One pilot reported that he was
Overjoyed to move up to F-4 Phantoms.

F3H-2 Demons on the flight line

Total F3H Demon production was 519 aircraft and they ultimately served with 22 Navy
squadrons during their short service period. The ugly truth is that VF-124 based at NAS
Miramar lost 6 out of 16 F3H Demons and VF-53 lost 11 Demons and 3 pilots. A pilot in
another squadron said it took only 9 months to lose all 12 Demons from his squadron
along with the loss of five pilots. When VF- 64 deployed aboard the USS Midway in
1959, they lost 7 Demons because of compressor stalls. I talked to one former Demon
pilot who told me that it was not a matter of if you were going to crash in a Demon, but
when. He had survived two accidents in the Demon. The most famous F3H accident
near NAS Miramar occurred on December 4th, 1959. Navy pilot ENS Albert Joe
Hickman crashed his F3H Demon into the adjoining community of Clairemont Mesa.
The pilot stayed with the aircraft to avoid hitting a school and was killed in the accident.
The city named an elementary school in Mira Mesa after him.

The last F3H Demon departs NAS Miramar, CA 1964

Because of its short service history and developmental problems it was an aircraft that
is remembered by very few and many would just as soon forget. However, I had not
forgotten about the F3H Demon. I knew that many crashed in and around the San
Diego area and I was determined to visit the crash site of one of them.
F3H-2 BuNo 136973 accident May 15 th, 1961

Mishap aircraft F3H-2, BuNo 136973 when it was assigned to VF-114

Mishap aircraft F3H-2N Demon BuNo 136973 assigned to VF-114 at NAS Miramar
Information provided from the official accident report: At approximately 2314 on 15 May
1961, LTJG Thomas Allen Ryan, 23 years old, took off from NAS Miramar in F3H-2,
BuNo 136973, call sign Swapout 130, as number two man in a flight of two for a
scheduled night intercept mission. The flight leader LT D. A. Pedersen had briefed the
flight on mission details, emergency and lost communications procedures. This was the
second intercept flight for each pilot this night. (Both pilots were from Fighter Squadron
VF-121, the Replacement Air Group training squadron at NAS Miramar). The intercept
mission was completed satisfactorily until the aircraft were being rendezvoused for
return to the Miramar holding fix for penetration and landing. When asked for a state
report enroute to the fix, LTJG Ryan did not answer, and did not answer 10 subsequent
radio calls on the GCI control frequency. There had been no prior indications of any
UHF radio difficulties up to this point during the two intercept flights. The flight leader
then called LTJG Ryan on the standard Approach Control Frequency and then GUARD
and told him to flash his lights if he received. Before finishing the Guard transmission,
the flight leader counted what he thought were 5 keyed light flashes which he
interpreted to mean a radio failure as they had briefed.
Since the flight had received and acknowledged the NAS Miramar weather report prior
to the radio difficulty, and since the pilots had penetrated approximately the same
weather conditions about 2 hours earlier, the flight leader elected to make the
penetration with Swapout 130 on his wing. The Miramar weather was reported to be a
measured 1600 feet overcast with ten miles visibility. The tops of the clouds were 28003000 feet. San Diego Approach Control (RATTC) was advised that Swapout 130 had no
radio and the flight was cleared for a TACAN #1 approach. The Approach was normal,
with 130 following the leader in lowering gear and flaps, until the flight was passed to
final control. Because the top of the cloud layer was about 3000 feet, the leader elected
to remain on top in the clear rather than descend to the prescribed level of 2400 feet.
This was done so the wingman could more easily transition to the glide slope and
RATTC was advised of this decision.

Two F3H-2 Demon aircraft of VF-141 in flight over NAS Miramar, CA 1961
As the leader was leveling off on top of the clouds, he passed through a puff of clouds,
and upon looking back, found that his wingman was not there. Upon enquiry, the final
controller advised the leader that the wingman was breaking away to the right at 5
oclock position. Very shortly thereafter, the leader saw a flash off his right rear.
Swapout 130 had crashed into the hills approximately 054 9 miles from NAS Miramar
at 0045T. The pilot did not eject and received fatal injuries in the crash.
The most probable cause of this accident was considered to be pilot disorientation
beginning just after the flight leader leveled off at 3000 feet on top of the clouds. Other
contributing factors in the accident were considered to be the weather and the radio
failure.
The hunt for the Demon:
The crash site had been hidden by thick brush for many years until the Cedar
Fire in 2003 when the wreckage was suddenly visible. I first heard about a Demon
wreck in a canyon from a blog post from two guys who found the engine. They gave an
approximant location in their report. Another local wreck chaser used their information to
find the crash site and confirm the identity of the Demon.

The Demon was hiding in these mountains

On the hot day and with some help from the local wreck chaser we headed out to the
area to find the Demon. The F3H-2N Demon crashed near Goodan Ranch in Sycamore
Canyon in mountainous terrain. We hiked down into the very rough, rocky, and very dry
terrain. It was a perfect place for a Demon to hide because he could be behind the next
rock or over the next hill. As we hiked down into the depths of the canyon, we had to
watch out for other monsters like rattle snakes and other dangers that guarded the
Demon. One false move and the Demon could have claimed another victim.
At last we found our first piece of the Demon. It was a piece that was at least a couple
of feet long and had jagged sharp edges ready to take a bite of anyone who touched it. I
carefully inspected the piece, making sure nothing was hiding beneath it before I picked
it up. We then hiked further into the Demons den and soon picked up the trail of debris.
We followed the Demons trail up the hill towards the engine that we spotted in the
distance. The Demon impacted lower down on the side of the mountain and the engine
was hurled up towards the top, sitting precariously and plainly in sight. Aircraft
debris covered a half-mile area.

First part of the F3H Demon found

The aircraft parts looked like they had been violently ripped apart in a tremendous
explosion. I wondered if maybe the Demon met another stronger monster who
destroyed the Demon and won the battle. Many interesting parts of the Demon were
found spread across the canyon. Back tracking from the engine we searched lower into
the canyon searching for the point of impact. We came upon the unmistakable impact
point by finding very small pieces of melted debris and discolored ground. At the point of
impact, the terrain elevation was approximately forty-five degrees, approximately fourhundred feet up the slope of a 1,200 foot mountain.

F3H Demon J-71 Engine debris found furthest from impact point

Before leaving we noted that the apparent direction of flight looked like it was not
heading in the direction to NAS Miramar. We were puzzled by this heading until we reread the accident report. The right hand turn made by LTJG Ryan was not made as
any signal to the flight leader that he wished to leave the formation. It more likely
resulted from overshooting on the level off, and subsequent disorientation. He was
making that right turn when he became disorientated and impacted the mountain. The
transition from formation flying to instrument flying at night is a killer. The pilot became a
victim of the Demon.

Parts found in the area

Avionics found at the crash site

According to the report and confirmed by us was the fact that the aircraft appeared to
have contacted the mountain side in a nose high attitude. The aircraft exploded
immediately on impact, scattering wreckage in a fan pattern farther up the slope to
within two-hundred feet of the crest of the mountain to where the engine ended up. After
examining much of the wreckage we headed back out of the canyon, safe in the
knowledge that we had met the Demon and survived.
Prior to this accident, the question of night formation flying in the F3H had long been
discussed, both pro and con. It was noted very early on that the Demon's external
lighting was not ideally suited for night formation, a defect in the Demon that was
known prior to this accident. In one Miramar squadron, a Demon flew into the ocean just
off La Jolla during a night formation takeoff and they never did another one again.
However, night formation flying was practiced in VF-121 to assist in just such a case as
radio failure. But in this case, it seems that yet another defect in the F3H Demon led to
the death of another fine pilot. Rest in peace LTJG Thomas Allen Ryan.

GHOSTRIDERS IN THE SKY

By Dwight Williams

A Demon Driver mounted up one dark and stormy night,

Upon the cat he waited as he checked in with his flight,
Then all at once a mighty shove, those "surly bonds" cut free,
And hurled him toward those ragged skies.

Yippee ay yaaaaaayyyyyyy, Yippee ay yyooooooo, Ghostriders in the sky

The seas were rough, the bow crashed down and threw him from his rack,
Our skipper bold, whose deeds are told, the legend Daddy Jack,
Decisions he must make today were made, his mind was clear,
To wear my silk scarf, or my hat, or maybe have a beer.

Yippee ay yaaaaaayyyyyyy, Yippee ay yyooooooo, Ghostriders in the sky

He hurried to the ready room, his boys were waiting there,

Bribery, persuasion, lies might get some in the air,
A bolt of fear went thru him as he walked in thru the door,
For he saw his pilots sound asleep and heard their awful snore.

Yippee ay yaaaaaayyyyyy, Yippee ay yyooooooo, Ghostriders in the sky

Their faces gaunt, their eyes were puffed, their flight suits soaked with sweat,
They're trying hard to catch their breath but they ain't caught it yet,
Cause they gotta fly forever in their planes up in the sky,
In Demons snortin' fire, as they fly on hear their cry.

Yippee ay yaaaaaayyyyyyy, Yippee ay yyooooooo, Ghostriders in the sky

Now some of us have gone ahead and some we cannot find,

Our duty's to remember them and keep them in our mind,
Let's drink a toast, about them boast and raise our glasses high,
To Chuck and Pappy, Stan and Bill, GHOSTRIDERS IN THE SKY!!!!

F3H-2N Demon BuNo 133573 assigned to VF-121, March 1956

F3H-2 Demon BuNo 145270 assigned to VF-213 at NAS Miramar, CA.

F3B Demon BuNo 143487 assigned to VF-13 at NAF Litchfield Park AZ