Short Straw is a tremendous book written by Captain Bernard
W. Peterson about the Korean War and the The McDonnell
F2 Banshee.
The Banshee is 48' 2" long, 13' 11"
high and has a wingspan of 41' 8". The F2 Banshee has an empty weight
of 13,183 lbs and a maximum weight of 28,500 lbs. It has 2 Westinghouse
J34-WE-34 jet engines producing 3,250 lbs each. The Banshee has a
cruise speed of 461 mph, a maximum speed of 527 mph, a maximum climb rate
of 5,900 feet per min. and a maximum range of 1,170 miles.
Made its appearance in 1949, having a longer
fuselage than earlier versions in order to accommodate more fuel in the
fuselage as well as as fixed wingtip tanks. They produced 334 under
two contracts between Aug '49 and Sep '52, making this the most popular
of all Banshee variants used by the U.S. Navy and Marines. Two J34-WE-34,
3150 lb thrust jet engines powered this fighter. It was equipped
with four 20mm cannons, and some variants had refueling probes and cameras.
I personally remember the Marine Banshee squadrons in Korea being used
for photographic missions.
Excerpt from "Short
Straw," by Captain Bernard Peterson..
Why is it important to look at airplanes?
Airplanes, especially planes like the
P-47 thunderbolt show the rapid growth
of technology in the world and in the United States that provided us with
the great freedom that we enjoy today. With this freedom comes responsibility.
The responsibility to learn all we can not only about airplanes or history,
but about technology. Technology is the most important product of
the United States has today. To keep our country on top of the worlds
technology requires us to have the most trained workforce anywhere.
Aviation is important because aviation and aerospace both exhibit the limits
of our technology. If our students learn about aviation they will be able
to understand any field of work. We must ensure that aviation, airplanes,
aircraft and aerospace are words on all of our children's lips.
Airplanes create dreams.
Dreams of leaving the restriction of a two dimensional world. Dreams
of having freedom to travel anywhere, in any direction at any time and
any distance. Aircraft give us the big advantage to do all of these things
in only a short while. When we dream of airplanes, we lift our heads
to the sky. We feel the pride of having limitless capabilities.
We don't pick up airplanes, airplanes lift us up and our minds are launched
into new horizons. We need airplanes and we need to keep airplanes
in all of our minds. Aviation gives our people an upward mobility
that no other branch of technology can ever do. As long as we feed
our dreams, we have someplace to go.