Republic F-84F Thunderstreak
Since the straight-wing F-84E Thunderjet could not reach the performance of the rival swept-wing North American F-86 Sabre, Republic converted a F-84E with all swept control surfaces and an uprated engine. Further design changes were made when the engine was replaced by a license-built British Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphire turbojet, requiring the fuselage to be redesigned and the speedbrakes moved to the fuselage sides. As a result, the F-84F was significantly delayed, not entering production until 1952. Even then, it suffered from control issues that would not be solved until 1954; the F-84F, renamed Thunderstreak, would not be operational until after the Korean War was over.
While it possessed better maneuverability and range than the straight-wing F-84, the Thunderstreak still had considerable problems operationally--the engine tended to flameout in bad weather, it took seemingly forever to get off the ground, and spin recovery was near impossible. It remained in service because nothing else was available, but the USAF began looking for a replacement almost as soon as the F-84F entered service. This would be another Republic project--the F-105 Thunderchief--but delays to that aircraft kept the Thunderstreak in service much longer than the USAF would have liked. After 1961, F-84Fs were relegated to Air National Guard units, while some entered NATO service. The reconnaissance variant, the RF-84F Thunderflash, was more successful: it was practically a new aircraft, and RF-84Fs would soldier on with the Hellenic Greek Air Force until 1991.
This worn F-84F is 51-9524, a Thunderstreak originally built as a long-range escort fighter and delivered to the 508th Strategic Fighter Wing at Turner AFB, Georgia in 1952. It arrived in time to participate in the longest nonstop single-engined fighter flight in history, when the wing deployed from Turner to RAF Lakenheath, in a show of force appropriately named Operation Long Stride. 51-9524 left active duty for the 165th Tactical Fighter Wing (Georgia ANG) at Savannah, and finished its career with the 182nd TFW (Illinois ANG) at Peoria. After retirement in 1964, it ended up at a community college in Ottumwa, Iowa as a ground trainer. When the college decided to scrap the aircraft in 2010, the Russell Military Museum bought 51-9524.
51-9524 is showing the effects of decades of open storage, with most of its canopy missing and holes in the fuselage. However, the layout of the F-84F is definitely intact, and it still retains its faded USAF Southeast Asia camouflage applied to the Thunderstreak fleet shortly before retirement.
Republic F-84F Thunderstreak
Since the straight-wing F-84E Thunderjet could not reach the performance of the rival swept-wing North American F-86 Sabre, Republic converted a F-84E with all swept control surfaces and an uprated engine. Further design changes were made when the engine was replaced by a license-built British Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphire turbojet, requiring the fuselage to be redesigned and the speedbrakes moved to the fuselage sides. As a result, the F-84F was significantly delayed, not entering production until 1952. Even then, it suffered from control issues that would not be solved until 1954; the F-84F, renamed Thunderstreak, would not be operational until after the Korean War was over.
While it possessed better maneuverability and range than the straight-wing F-84, the Thunderstreak still had considerable problems operationally--the engine tended to flameout in bad weather, it took seemingly forever to get off the ground, and spin recovery was near impossible. It remained in service because nothing else was available, but the USAF began looking for a replacement almost as soon as the F-84F entered service. This would be another Republic project--the F-105 Thunderchief--but delays to that aircraft kept the Thunderstreak in service much longer than the USAF would have liked. After 1961, F-84Fs were relegated to Air National Guard units, while some entered NATO service. The reconnaissance variant, the RF-84F Thunderflash, was more successful: it was practically a new aircraft, and RF-84Fs would soldier on with the Hellenic Greek Air Force until 1991.
This worn F-84F is 51-9524, a Thunderstreak originally built as a long-range escort fighter and delivered to the 508th Strategic Fighter Wing at Turner AFB, Georgia in 1952. It arrived in time to participate in the longest nonstop single-engined fighter flight in history, when the wing deployed from Turner to RAF Lakenheath, in a show of force appropriately named Operation Long Stride. 51-9524 left active duty for the 165th Tactical Fighter Wing (Georgia ANG) at Savannah, and finished its career with the 182nd TFW (Illinois ANG) at Peoria. After retirement in 1964, it ended up at a community college in Ottumwa, Iowa as a ground trainer. When the college decided to scrap the aircraft in 2010, the Russell Military Museum bought 51-9524.
51-9524 is showing the effects of decades of open storage, with most of its canopy missing and holes in the fuselage. However, the layout of the F-84F is definitely intact, and it still retains its faded USAF Southeast Asia camouflage applied to the Thunderstreak fleet shortly before retirement.