First Flight:
The F2H-2P’s first flight occurred on October 12, 1950.

A Navy First:
The Navy modified an example of the successful F2H Banshee fighter to served as the sea service’s first jet-powered reconnaissance platform. Designated F2H-2Ps, a total of 89 of these aircraft entered service, differing from the fighter version in the fact that they were unarmed and featured a longer nose section to house six aerial cameras. Since the airplane operated at such high altitudes, the compartment housing the cameras was heated to prevent frost from forming on the windows through which the photographs were taken. With their K-38 cameras featuring a 36-in, focal length, Banshees could achieve more coverage at higher altitude in less passes over the target.

Mission:
“In a newspaper, they say a pictured is worth a thousand words,” read an article about the formation of the Marine Corps’  third photoreconnaissance squadron equipped with the F2H-2P Banshee. “In a war, a picture may be worth a thousand lives.” In Korea, the jet covered a wide range of target stretching north to the Yalu River near China, While its ability to reach high altitude limited the threat of anti-aircraft fire, F2H-2P pilots frequently encountered enemy MiG-15s, which added an element of danger to their missions and necessitated fighter protection for the unarmed jets that wielded only cameras.

Service:
In Korea, the F2H-2P operated from U.S. Seventh Fleet carriers in VC-61. Ashore, the Marine Corps operated the type in VMJ-1. One carrier action report noted that its “speed, maneuverability, visibility, range, and endurance” made the F2H-2P the “finest photo plane in service.” The exposed film shot by VMJ-1 jets over Korea would circle the Earth at the equator six and a half times! 

Spying Eyes:
Such were the capabilities of the F2H-2P that the U.S. contemplated their use on a photoreconnaissance mission over the Soviet Union in 1952. In 1955, Marine aircraft conducted sorties from Taiwan overflying areas of Communist China to determine if invasion preparations were underway to attack the island nation. 

The Museum’s Aircraft:
The last F2H-2P Banshee retired from service in 1959. Around that time, a barge carried the museum’s aircraft down the Indian River to Vero Beach, FL, where the retired jet was placed in a municipal park with its wheels removed. City workers later filled its interior with concrete. For nearly three decades children pretended to fly the airplane during visits to the playground. Removed in 1988, it was painstakingly restored by Black Shadow Aviation, Inc., of Jacksonville before delivery to the museum. It is painted in the Korean War markings of VMJ-1.