After the cease fire of the Korean war, the United States Navy deployed the radar-equipped F2H-3 and F2H-4 as an interim fighter until the much faster Grumman F-9 Cougar, McDonnell F3H Demon and Douglas F4D Skyray could be deployed in significant numbers. These late variants of the Banshee saw, therefore, no action. However, in 1954 a Banshee made a nonstop flight all across the USA, from coast to coast in just four hours, taking-off from NAS Los Alamitos, California to NAS Cecil Field, Florida. The reconnaissance variant, the F2H-2P was the most successful variant of them all, in fact they were chose for the cancelled Operation Steve Brody, which involved the photographic reconnaissance of the Soviet airfields located close to the Black Sea coast. Later, during the first Taiwan crisis in 1954-1955 they made secret recon flights over Chinese mainland coast with escorts, departing from South Korean bases, without any opposition whatsoever.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_F2H_Banshee
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
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