Mcdonnell aircraft

It was founded on July 16, 1939 ^[1] . The founder of the company, engineer James McDonnell, tried to organize the production of personal family airplanes (the company was called JS McDonnell & Associates ) in 1928-1929 ^[2] , but the company went bankrupt due to the onset of the Great Depression ; in the period 1929-1938, McDonnell worked in aircraft manufacturing Corporation and .

The first completed order was the production and delivery of components for reconnaissance for $ 7.5 thousand. World War II was the impetus for the rapid development of the company, the number of employees increased from 15 in the year of foundation to 5 thousand at the end of the war. At that time, the corporation developed a prototype of the XP-67 Bat ^[3] fighter, and created the LBD-1 Gargoyle ^[4] guided missile. In 1943, the company began working on jet aircraft and was invited to participate in a tender for the supply of a new aircraft for the US Navy . The result was the successful FH-1 Phantom , which became the ancestor of the typical McDonnell layout with engines located under the fuselage and nozzles directly behind the wings. Such a scheme can be seen on F2H Banshee , F3H Demon and F-101 Voodoo aircraft.

In 1946, invited to the company as chief aerodynamics specialist. After the war, due to a decrease in the defense order, the staff was significantly reduced, but with the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the company again became a major supplier of fighter jets . Since 1954, under the leadership of Lewis, the development of the F-4 Phantom II fighter began , in 1960 its mass production began. Also in the 1950s, the corporation created several rockets, including the Gargoyle and ADM-20 Quail , conducted experiments with hypersonic structures, aerospace space research, which allowed the company to subsequently receive a significant part of NASA orders as part of the Mercury and Gemini projects. The company grew, but experienced serious problems - in the absence of its own line of civilian products each time the defense order was reduced, the company began to experience financial difficulties.

In 1963, McDonnell and Douglas started merger negotiations, Douglas introduced the formal merger proposal in 1966, and McDonnell accepted it, the deal was closed on April 28, 1967, and as a result, McDonnell Douglas was formed . David Lewis, who headed McDonnell since 1962, was appointed chairman of the board of directors of the Douglas division (in 1969, Lewis became president of the combined McDonnell Douglas).

In August 1997, McDonnell Douglas became part of the Boeing ^[5] . The Boeing Military Space Division is located in St. Louis and is responsible for the development of military and space products and services. The McDonnell Douglas Boeing inherited F-15 Eagle , AV-8B Harrier II , F-18 Hornet and F / A-18E / F Super Hornet aircraft .

• TD2D / KDD / KDH Katydid (1942) ^[6] .
• - an experimental twin-engine screw fighter.
• FH Phantom - twin-engine jet fighter.
• F2H Banshee - twin-engine marine fighter jet.
• The XF-85 Goblin is an experimental fighter jet.
• The XF-88 Voodoo is an experimental twin-engine fighter.
• F3H Demon is a single-engine marine fighter jet.
• F-101 Voodoo is a twin-engine supersonic long-range fighter-bomber fighter (single) and interceptor (double).

• F-4 Phantom II - two-engine twin-engine supersonic long-range all-weather fighter-bomber.
• McDonnell 119/220 - administrative aircraft.
• XV-1 Convertiplane - aircraft vertical take-off and landing.
• XH-20 Little Henry is an experimental helicopter ^[7] .
• XHJD-1 Whirlaway - twin-engine helicopter, 1946 ^[8] .
• Model 120 - an experimental flying crane ^[9] (1957-1960).
• Mercury project lander.
• Gemini project lander.
• space plane .