F2H Banshee in Detail & Scale, Part 2: F2H-3 and F2H-4 Variants
About this ebook
In 2016, Detail & Scale published F2H Banshee in Detail & Scale, Part 1: Prototypes Through F2H-2 Variants. That book covered the early Banshee variants that, alongside Grumman F9F Panthers, were among the first jet fighters to serve in large numbers and to see combat with the U. S. Navy and Marines. F2H-2 fighters and F2H-2P photo-reconnaissance Banshees were used extensively by both services during the Korean War. This new title in the Detail & Scale Series picks up where that book left off and covers the larger F2H-3 and F2H-4 Banshees that were developed from the earlier Banshee variants, primarily to be all-weather interceptors. Because they were larger in size than the previous variants, the F2H-3 and F2H-4 became known as “Big Banshees,” or more commonly “Big Banjos.”
Although the F2H-3 and F2H-4 were based on the original design and shared many commonalities with their predecessors on the McDonnell production lines, there were noticeable and important differences, both physical and operational. This new title discusses these differences in considerable detail. We begin with a Developmental History that traces how the all-weather Banshees were designed, developed, and produced to fill a pressing need for a jet fighter that could perform the fleet defense mission in any kind of weather, day or night. Changes made to the airframe and features that were added are discussed and illustrated.
The second chapter focuses specifically on the F2H-3 and F2H-4 in separate sections, explaining the major difference between the two variants and covering the squadrons to which they were assigned. A third section in the chapter is devoted to the Canadian F2H-3s flown by the Royal Canadian Navy, the only non-U. S. operator of any Banshee variant. Numerous photographs and art profiles illustrate the markings used by many of the squadrons that flew the “Big Banshees.”
The use of several different paint schemes on the F2H-3 and F2H-4 is a very interesting story itself, and it involves the Navy’s experiment with carrier-based jet fighters in a natural metal finish. This is covered in the third chapter, and the reasons why the multiple schemes were developed, tried, and used operationally are explained and illustrated with both photographs and artwork. The Canadian paint scheme is also covered in this chapter.
As is the case with all titles in the Detail & Scale Series of publications, the details of the aircraft are the primary focus. The Banshee Details chapter includes more than 120 photographs and illustrations covering the aircraft extensively inside and out. Among the nine different sections of this chapter is one on the weapons certified for use on the F2H-3 and F2H-4 as well as the under-wing stations on which they were carried. A large majority of the photographs in the Banshee Details chapter were taken specifically for this publication.
The book concludes with a Modelers Section that reviews and illustrates the model kits of the “Big Banshee” that are available to the scale modeler.
The digital edition of F2H Banshee in Detail &; Scale, Part 2: F2H-3 and F2H-4 Variants has 147 pages with 192 photos, 127 in color, and over three dozen color profiles and illustrations.
Discover more
About the author
Author Bert Kinzey graduated from Virginia Tech in 1968 with a degree in Business Administration. Upon graduation, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U. S. Army and was sent to the Army’s Air Defense School at Fort Bliss, Texas.
During his eight years as an officer, Bert commanded a Hawk guided missile battery just south of the DMZ in Korea. Later he originated, wrote, and taught classes on the air threat, military air power, and air defense suppression at Fort Bliss.
It was during this time that he did his first writing. Bert was dissatisfied with the existing manuals and other materials available for his classes, because they were inaccurate and incomplete. As a result, he wrote his own reference books and other publications. Although he intended for these to be used only in his classes, they were soon placed on the Army’s official publication list and distributed throughout the military.
In 1976, Bert resigned from active duty, but his reputation for being knowledgeable about all aspects of military air power soon led to his taking a civilian position as a subject matter expert on the air threat and world airpower with the Department of Defense. His primary responsibility was to develop a new program to teach the proper identification of both friendly and enemy aircraft, so as to insure the destruction of hostile aircraft and the safety of friendly aircraft. This was the first such program in the world to feature dynamic simulation. Bert has also flown with active, Reserve, and National Guard squadrons on training missions to observe the conduct and procedures of air-to-air and air-to-ground combat. As both an officer and a civilian, Bert often briefed military and political leaders of the United States and other nations on subjects related to air power, the air threat, and air defense.
While he was working for the Department of Defense, Bert started Detail & Scale, a part-time business to produce a new series of books on military aircraft. The Detail & Scale Series of publications was the first to focus on the many details of military aircraft to include cockpits, weapon systems, radars and avionics systems, differences between variants, airframe design, and much more. These books became so successful that Bert resigned from his position with the Department of Defense and began writing and producing books full time. Soon, other well-known aviation writers began writing books for the Detail & Scale Series, so Bert became both an author and an editor. Later Bert added aircraft carriers to the Detail & Scale Series, and he also began a second series called Colors & Markings. Each book in this series focused on a specific aircraft type and illustrated the paint schemes and markings of every unit that had flown that aircraft. Bert also produced a book for McGraw-Hill on the Gulf War entitled “The Fury of Desert Storm: The Air Campaign.” In January 2002, Bert produced his one-hundredth aviation publication.
Bert has always taken many of the photographs that appear in his Detail & Scale Series publications, and he believes that whenever possible, it is best that the author take photos in order to precisely illustrate what is being discussed in the text and captions. His has also done photography for other books, magazine articles, websites, and for research and publicity that has been provided to clients. He owns one of the most extensive collections of aviation photographs in the world. Over the years, Bert has given numerous presentations and speeches about military air power, the air threat, military aviation history, and aircraft types, working these into his busy schedule of writing, editing, doing research, taking photographs, and consulting.
In June 2004, health issues caused Bert to retire from his work, and his two series of aviation books came to an end. But in 2011, the Detail & Scale website was created at www.detailandscale.com, and a Detail & Scale Facebook page was also begun. By the end of 2013, Bert had completed the first new title in the Detail & Scale Series in almost ten years, and more books were planned. Initially, these new titles were made available in digital formats, but in 2017, printed versions for titles in the Detail & Scale Series were also added. This new venture was made possible through a partnership with Rock Roszak.
Bert currently lives in Blacksburg, Virginia, with his wife Lynda. They have two children and five grandchildren.
The illustrator, Colonel Richard S. “Rock” Roszak, is the son of immigrants who came to America from a war-ravaged Europe. He grew up in Staunton, Virginia, and graduated from Virginia Tech in 1971 as a member of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets. He was commissioned into the United States Air Force where he earned his navigator wings and accumulated over 2,000 flying hours, mostly in B-52D/F/G and C-135 aircraft, over a 27-year active duty career. His staff tours included time as a special assistant to the Air Force Chief of Staff, liaison officer for strategic aircraft programs to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, and as the Senior Technical Advisor to the Special Ambassador for assistance agreements to demilitarize strategic nuclear launch vehicles of the former Soviet Union. His final active duty tour was as the Commander, Air Force ROTC Detachment 875 at Virginia Tech, and during his tenure the detachment led the nation in earned scholarships and grew from the 36th to the 8th largest ROTC unit in the country.
After retiring from the Air Force in 1998, Rock spent 14 years on the staff of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, returning to where he began his military career. During those years he established an alumni aviation gallery, which features his artwork of aircraft flown by cadet grads and highlights more than 80 years of military aviation history. An avid modeler in his younger years, he has been a digital artist for over twenty years and has illustrated several books in partnership with his friend, Bert Kinzey. In 2017, Rock’s role at Detail & Scale expanded when he authored one book and co-authored another. He is art director and also responsible for publishing the books in both digital and print formats..
Rock currently lives in Blacksburg, Virginia, with his wife, Patty, two daughters, and six grandchildren.
