McDonnell F2H Banshee Nose Landing Gear

McDonnell redesigned the nose landing gear of the F2H-1/2 Banshee for the heavier F2H-3/4 so that the strut could be extended for a catapult launch at a higher initial angle of attack.

The -1/2 nose gear was a trailing-arm configuration with no separate scissors to keep the upper and lower sections of the shock strut aligned. The -3/4 had a separate scissors with the nose gear fork swiveling on a bearing mounted on the front of the shock strut.

The nose wheels were the same diameter. The redesign resulted in it being located farther forward relative to the nose wheel well.

Note that the nose wheel axle is located directly under the shock strut on the -3/4 Banshee rather than significantly behind it as on the -1/2.

The shimmy damper was relocated to the lower side of the shock strut and a shrink strut was added to compress the shock strut as the landing gear retracted.

Most of this detail was hidden by the nose gear doors when the airplane was on the ground.