Ace pilot George Chamberlain Duncan took off from the USS
Midway aircraft carrier in the summer of 1951 as he typically did. This time,
he was participating in the new Grumman F9F Panther's flight tests off the Virginia coast.
The pilot had already made a successful approach and landing, and was catapulted and trapped back
on the deck with no issues. However, his second attempt would not go as smoothly.
As he waited his turn, Duncan flew several circles around the ship. But as footage from the scene
shows, the expert pilot was suddenly caught in an air pocket. Rattled, Duncan managed to pull back
on the stick and lift the Panther's nose, but it wasn't enough to avoid a shocking collision…
The Panther
Near the end of World War 2, the world of aviation was ready to enter the jet era,
and as the first engines emerged, Northrop Grumman began studies for a jet-powered fighter.
In 1946, the company entered the US Navy's competition to develop a night fighter,
but its G-75 prototype came to a drastic end when pitted against the Douglas F3D Skyknight.
Still, the Bureau of Aeronautics did not cancel the G-75 contract but
instead adjusted the wording to include three prototypes of an entirely different model.
Grumman had been working on its own day fighter on the side,
and the G-79 would eventually become the beloved Panther.
The first prototype flew in November of 1947, powered by the specially-imported
Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet with 5,000 pounds of thrust. Pratt & Whitney would then develop the
engine under license for production aircraft, and it was known as J42.
However, Grumman's first jet fighter was thirsty for fuel,
but because there was insufficient space within the airframe,
permanent wingtip tanks were mounted on the aircraft, improving its rate of roll.
In the fall of 1949, the F9F was cleared to launch from aircraft carriers,
officially becoming one of the US Navy's first carrier-based jet-powered fighters.
In contrast with the other branches, the Navy had already switched to
20-millimeter guns by the late 1940s. The Panther was armed with four of them,
as well as underwing air-to-ground rockets and a bombload of up to 2,000 pounds.
A swept-wing version was also considered in 1946 because of the Panthers’ inferiority
against the MiGs roaming the skies of Korea. A conversion known as Design 93 then brought
forward a derivative that retained the Panther's designation number and its legacy: the Cougar.
However, the original model still had much to give.
Operation
The Panther was the primary US Navy jet fighter and ground attack aircraft during the Korean War.
Not only that, but Grumman’s jet was the most used Navy jet fighter in the entire conflict,
flying 78,000 sorties. Notably, the F9F was extensively flown by future astronaut Neil
Armstrong, who once ejected when a wire brought down his fighter.
Fellow astronaut John Glenn and Boston Red Sox all-star baseball
player Ted Williams also used to fly the Panther as Marine Corps pilots.
In the summer of 1950, Lieutenant junior grade Leonard Plog scored the first US Navy
air victory of the war when he shot down a propeller-powered Yak-9 with his F9F.
And while the Panther had a relatively low speed,
pilots claimed seven MiG-15s for the loss of only two F9Fs. Rugged attack aircraft,
namely F9F-2s, F9F-3s, and F9F-5s, sustained operations under heavy anti-aircraft fire.
Moreover, during a UN Command attack in November of 1950 on the Sinuiju bridges near the mouth of
the Yalu River, Lieutenant Commander William Amen of VF-111 downed the very first MiG-15.
That same month, another two examples were also destroyed.
However, no feat was as impressive as that of Lieutenant Royce Williams two years later.
In the span of 35 minutes after taking off from USS Oriskany, the American pilot struck
the port of Hoeryong in North Korea and lost contact with his wingman. Alone and
confronted by half a dozen MiG-15s, Williams defeated four Soviet Naval Aviation pilots.
The exploit was not widely known because the top-secret US National Security Agency planned
the operation. In fact, the Soviet aircraft were intercepted thanks to NSA intelligence.
Upon landing on Oriskany, Williams's Panther had 263 hits, cannon shells, and fragments,
and was deemed beyond repair. Decades later, Russian sources confirmed the pilot's claims.
Routine Tests
The events of June 23, 1951, were recorded for educational and safety purposes, just
as nearly every landing on an aircraft carrier was. But unbeknownst to the crew of USS Midway,
they would witness a miracle that day, and it would be caught on camera with astounding detail.
Hoisted aboard Midway at Norfolk, Virginia,
and carried out into the Atlantic, off the Virginia Capes, ace pilot George Chamberlain
Duncan was to participate in suitability trials for the new Grumman F9F Panther.
Duncan had already landed successfully aboard the carrier that day while flying his assigned
fighter, Bureau number 125228. The pilot conducted a first test flight seamlessly,
catapulted and trapped by the carrier without incident.
But then came a second test flight.
As Duncan was catapulted off the deck to make another approach and land alongside Edward L.
Feightner and his Vought F7U Cutlass, he realized he was carrying too much fuel to land safely.
The pilot then resolved to jettison his tip tanks and fly several circles while
his partner successfully achieved six landings.
Then it was Duncan's turn. When the pilot had burned enough fuel, he approached the carrier,
and his J48 engine provided 7,000 pounds of thrust as he neared the deck. Coming in for
the trap landing, Duncan then lined his fighter up to catch the third wire strung across the deck.
But as the Panther descended, a sudden downdraft just aft of the stern caused the aircraft to dip.
As the F9F was caught in an air pocket, Duncan found himself just below the flight deck,
approaching it at an unstoppable pace. The pilot immediately reacted and pulled back
on the stick with all his might, and flames quickly engulfed the Panther.
A Miracle
As seen in the footage taken that day, Duncan barely managed to kick the nose
upwards just as the fighter smashed into the edge of the ship's deck,
while the ramp strike cut the jet in half as the burning machine glided through the deck.
The front half of the shattered fuselage, from the cockpit to the tip of the nose,
tumbled and rolled down the landing area. Closely behind, the remainder of the airframe containing
the fuel ignited into a fireball that chased the pilot's cockpit down the carrier's deck.
The canopy popped off from the rest of the cockpit upon impact, as did Duncan's helmet.
Astonishingly, however, the pilot stayed safely strapped to his seat.
As the smashed Panther skid to a halt, the crew approached,
and all deckhands rushed to aid the pilot.
After the sailors pulled him out of the smoking remains, they immediately took him to the sickbay.
The pilot had several burns, especially in his ears, but he was remarkably unharmed by the crash.
Duncan was back flying and performing his regular duties within six months,
but it would take him a whole year to completely heal from his injuries.
Five years later, the Panthers were withdrawn from front-line service, but they remained in
training roles until 1958, as well as in the US Naval Air Reserve and Marine Air Reserve. Some
Panthers continued serving in small groups well into the 1960s. And in the fall of 1962, those
still operational were re-designated F-9 within the new combined US triservice nomenclature.
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