McDonnell F2H-4 Banshee

The McDonnell F2H-4 Banshee was the last variant of the Banshee. It was equipped with a Hughes AN/APG-37 radar in the nose, and it was refitted with a more powerful Westinghouse J34-WE-38 which delivered 3600lbf (16Kn) of thrust in power. Those new engines managed to increase the top speed by 30mph (48Km/h) and increased its service ceiling to 17069 meters (56000ft). It was, otherwise, similar to the F2H-3. As the Banshee was being employed as an interim fighter, this variant was barely used by the United States Navy, which were only assigned to some squadrons.
All Banshees were gradually retired and by 1961 they had been retired both from United States Navy Reserve and United States Marine Corps Reserve.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_F2H_Banshee
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

McDonnell F2H-3 Banshee

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

McDonnel F2H-3 Banshee

The F2H-3 was the last significant variant of the Banshee. It had an extended fuselage in order to carry a bigger fuel load and the detachable wingtip fuel tanks were also reduced. However, due to the increased internal capacity, those external ones, barely saw any use. Horizontal stabilizers were moved from the vertical tail down to fuselage incorporating that way, significal dihedral.
It was equipped with a Westinghouse AN/APQ-41 radar turning that way the Banshee into an all-weather fighter. The cannons were moved backwards and downwards, away from the nose, in order to make room for the radar and increase the ammo capacity. Four additional weapon pylons were added under the wings, making it a total of eight of them, increasing that way the bomb load. It also had provisions for aerial refuelling as it had a bolt-on, refueling probewere there was one of the cannons.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_F2H_Banshee
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

McDonnell F2H-3 Canadian users

As the Royal Canadian Navy wanted to replace their obsolete Hawker Sea Furies with Banshees back in 1951 but due to economical reasons the purchase wasn't approved until the production of the Banshee had been shut down in 1953 forcing Canada to adquire second-hand Banshees that were delivered from 1955 to 1958 and flew from the carrier HMCS Bonaventure or as NORAD interceptors.
Initially it had good reputation among the Canadian pilots. However it suffered various problems as one of them was lost after an inflight structural failure of the folding wing mechanism and another one had a brake failure when landing on the carrier, rolling off from it, falling into the ocean and, unfortunately, drowning its pilot.
As the main focus of the Royal Canadian Navy switched to anti-submarine warfare, the Banshees were left ashore and they retired without replacement in 1962 being the only jet-powered carrier-based fighters that served with the RCN.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_F2H_Banshee#Royal_Canadian_Navy
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

McDonnell F2H-2 Banshee B, N and P variants

The Banshee F2H-2B featured strengthened wings and an strengthned inner pylon in order to carry either a 748Kg Mark 7 nuclear bomb or a 1465kg Mark 8 one in the portside. To cope with the vastly increased load, it was fitted with stiffer landing gear struts and a pilot-switcheable power booster for the ailerons which was necessary when the pilots made a roll to the left with such heavy load. One of the 20mm cannons was removed in order to make room for additional electronics needed to arm the nuclear weapons.
The F2H-2N was a night fighter variant with a longer nose that housed an AN/APS-19 radar with the cannons moved rearwards in order to fit the radar. Apparently it wasn't used very widely and McDonnell Corporation used this variant as the basis for the next improved F2H-3 version.
The F2H-2P was a photo-reconnaissance variant with six photo cameras housed in the expanded nose and it was the first jet-powered photo reconnaissance airplane used by the United States Navy. Cameras could be rotated horizontally and vertically by the pilot using remote controls and it could carry also a pair of underwing pods with 20 flash cartridges for night photography. The camera bay was also electronically heated to prevent frost and this variant was considered to be a very valuable asset as it was very difficult to intercept thank to its speed and its maximum operational altitude.
The F2H-2P flew reconnaissance missions with the United States Marine Corps in the Korean war with success as their high altitude and speed made them a very difficult target to hit for conventional anti-air guns. It even operated with escorts from the United States Air Force when flying inside an enemy fighter area.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_F2H_Banshee
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

McDonnell F2H-2 Banshee - Part Two

The F2H-2 served in the Korean War with the United States Navy Task Force 77 and with the Unites States Marine Corps.
Thanks to its good performance at high altittude, it proved to be a good escort fighter for the United States Air Force bombers.
From mid 1950, however, due to various factors, the Banshee was exposuring to enemy fighters very easily, especially when the swept-wing Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 was introduced in November 1950 which redeemed straight wing fighters obsolete. Therefore, the aerial combat was left for the better North-American F-86 Sabre, limiting this way the Banshees to operate behind enemy lines out of enemy fighter's reach. During the Korean war the Banshees didn't score any aerial victory and didn't suffer any aerial losses, but three Banshees were lost to anti-air fire.

Sources:
1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_F2H_Banshee
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

McDonnell F2H-2 Banshee

Even if the previous F2H-1 was accepted into service, it was this model that was more widely used thanks to its higher capabilities. It was powered by the newer version of the Westinghouse jet engines, the Westinghouse J34-WE-34 which had a power of 3250lbf (14.5Kn) of thrust and significally better performance. The wing was strengthened and had provisions for 200gal (760L) wingtip fuel tanks, unlike the contemporary Grumman F9F Panther, those fuel tanks were detachable. It had also two pylons under each wings to carry a load of 1580lb (454kg) and the "kneeling" nose gear was omitted from this model on.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_F2H_Banshee
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters