f6skyray

F4D-1, BuNo 134777. Assigned VC-3, codex NP-21 and NP-22, NAS Moffett Field, CA 1956. To VF-23 1957. Crashed 9 May 1957 in a residential area of Santa Clara, CA.

The XFD-1 was a prototype aircraft for the McDonnell FH Phantom. If you read the picture tag it not even a XF4D it is a F4D Douglas.

This actually is one of two Douglas XF4D-1 Skyray prototypes, BuNo 124587. This particular aircraft set a world speed record of 725.9 mph over a 3 km closed-course on 3 October 1953. 3 October 1953: Lieutenant Commander James B. Verdin, United States Navy, flew the second prototype of the Douglas Aircraft Company’s XF4D-1 Skyray, Bu. No. 124587, over a three kilometer course at the Salton Sea, California. Commander Verdin made four passes, two in each direction. He set a new Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Speed over a 3-kilometer course, averaging 1,211.75 kilometers per hour (752.95 miles per hour). This aircraft would go on to serve as a flying testbed for the General Electric J79 jet engine (and its civil CJ805 derivative). See: www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/douglas-xf4d-1-skyray/ This aircraft is still extant, albeit in the need of at least a new coat of paint. Here is a more recent photo of BuNo 124587 at the China Lake Museum of Armament and Technology, China Lake, CA, by Flickr user G. Verver: