Lockheed EF-94A Starfire
The threat of Soviet bomber attacks on the United States put the US Air Force into an unenviable position in the late 1940s: it lacked a jet all-weather interceptor. The only interceptor then in service was the F-82 Twin Mustang, which could not be expected to keep up with any jet bomber project the Soviet Union might be developing. Both Curtiss and Northrop were working on new aircraft, the XF-87 Blackhawk and XF-89 Scorpion, but the former was cancelled due to poor performance and the latter was plagued with problems. The USAF needed interceptors in a hurry, so a crash program was started to convert existing fighter designs, culminating in the F-95 (later F-86D) Sabre Dog and the F-94 Starfire.
Of the two, the F-94 was considered the easier conversion. The successful T-33A Shooting Star trainer would be the basis for the design, as it could easily accommodate the electronics needed for the all-weather interceptor mission. It lacked a radar, but this could be mounted in an extended nose; armament would be similar to the F-80 fighter, with four machine guns. As the design progressed, however, Lockheed’s chief designer, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, realized that the J33 engine of the T-33 simply would not get the much heavier F-94 into the air. An afterburner had to be installed in the J33, which meant a complete redesign of the rear fuselage, which also meant lengthening the fuselage, enlarging the tail, and changing the nose profile. The result was indeed a completely new aircraft.
Nonetheless, it was ready nearly as quickly as hoped, with the first YF-94A flying in April 1949. After a few minor modifications to the engine, the Starfire was placed in production with an initial order of 109 aircraft; after the detonation of the first Soviet atomic bomb later that year, procurement was raised to 368 aircraft.
In service, the F-94A was loathed by its crews. The engine was subject to catastrophic failure, the fuel system was unreliable, and the fire control system was worse. Ejecting from the narrow-cockpit F-94A was often lethal, as the seats barely cleared the sides of the aircraft and sometimes did not clear the higher tail. Finally, the Starfire was difficult to control at altitude and had a tendency to go into spins. Luckily, the F-94B solved the majority of these problems, with an upgraded engine, better fire control, and wider cockpit. Performance was still limited, but it was all that was available.
When North Korean and Chinese propeller fighters began night harassment attacks against American bases in South Korea during the latter years of the Korean War, F-94Bs were deployed to Japan and South Korea to deal with these aircraft. While the Starfires were able to score some successes, they were simply too fast for the job: it was very difficult for a near-supersonic fighter to shoot down Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes that could barely reach a hundred miles an hour; one F-94 was lost when it accidentally collided with the Po-2 it was trying to shoot down. As a result, US Navy F4U Corsairs had to be brought in to finally end these attacks.
Since the gun armament of the F-94A/B was considered inadequate against large bombers, Lockheed proposed an all-rocket armed version, the F-94C. The company went further than revising the armament: it was virtually a new aircraft, with a thinner wing, revised tail, more fuel, upgraded radar, dragchute (the first fitted to an American aircraft), and most importantly, a much larger and efficient J48 engine. The 24 rockets were clustered around the radar.
At first, the USAF was not interested, as the F-89 and F-86D was entering service, but Lockheed persisted, developing the aircraft at the company’s own expense, and the performance of the prototype in January 1950 was enough for the USAF to purchase it as the F-97—though this was later changed back to F-94C to avoid the program being cut by Congress (which was more reluctant to fund a new aircraft). While the F-94C was not without its problems—the rockets tended to cause the engine to flame out when fired and would blind the pilot if fired at night—it benefited from all the lessons learned in the F-94A/B series, and was popular with its crews. To further increase its armament, two wing pods were added with yet more rockets, raising the number to 48.
F-94Cs replaced earlier variants beginning in 1951, and was reliable enough that it would serve for eight years, which was a considerably long time in the 1950s, when many aircraft did not serve for long due to the rapid progress of technology. It began to be retired in 1958 in favor of the F-102 and F-106, with the last F-94C leaving the Air National Guard in 1960. 855 Starfires were built; 17 survive today in museums and as gate guards.
49-2500 is a F-94A...sort of. It never served in any USAF frontline or ANG unit; it was delivered directly to the Air Research and Development Center (ARDC) at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio as a testbed, then loaned to Cornell University to test stability at high speeds--because the F-94A was so unstable, it was well suited to this work. Possibly for this reason, it was fitted with the nose and cockpit section of a T-33A, making 49-2500 a Frankenstein. During its time at Cornell, it was flown by several test pilots, including Neil Armstrong.
In 1958, no longer needed, 49-2500 was donated to the Buffalo, New York city government and turned into a playground. Some years later, it was salvaged and restored by the Niagara Falls Aerospace Museum, and was possibly also displayed at the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB, Georgia. Finally, it made its way to the Castle Air Museum, where 49-2500 resides today.
At first I had no idea what this was--a T-33 with a F-94 tail, or a F-94 with a T-33 nose? Luckily for posterity, this odd aircraft has been preserved in the markings of ARDC.
Lockheed EF-94A Starfire
The threat of Soviet bomber attacks on the United States put the US Air Force into an unenviable position in the late 1940s: it lacked a jet all-weather interceptor. The only interceptor then in service was the F-82 Twin Mustang, which could not be expected to keep up with any jet bomber project the Soviet Union might be developing. Both Curtiss and Northrop were working on new aircraft, the XF-87 Blackhawk and XF-89 Scorpion, but the former was cancelled due to poor performance and the latter was plagued with problems. The USAF needed interceptors in a hurry, so a crash program was started to convert existing fighter designs, culminating in the F-95 (later F-86D) Sabre Dog and the F-94 Starfire.
Of the two, the F-94 was considered the easier conversion. The successful T-33A Shooting Star trainer would be the basis for the design, as it could easily accommodate the electronics needed for the all-weather interceptor mission. It lacked a radar, but this could be mounted in an extended nose; armament would be similar to the F-80 fighter, with four machine guns. As the design progressed, however, Lockheed’s chief designer, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, realized that the J33 engine of the T-33 simply would not get the much heavier F-94 into the air. An afterburner had to be installed in the J33, which meant a complete redesign of the rear fuselage, which also meant lengthening the fuselage, enlarging the tail, and changing the nose profile. The result was indeed a completely new aircraft.
Nonetheless, it was ready nearly as quickly as hoped, with the first YF-94A flying in April 1949. After a few minor modifications to the engine, the Starfire was placed in production with an initial order of 109 aircraft; after the detonation of the first Soviet atomic bomb later that year, procurement was raised to 368 aircraft.
In service, the F-94A was loathed by its crews. The engine was subject to catastrophic failure, the fuel system was unreliable, and the fire control system was worse. Ejecting from the narrow-cockpit F-94A was often lethal, as the seats barely cleared the sides of the aircraft and sometimes did not clear the higher tail. Finally, the Starfire was difficult to control at altitude and had a tendency to go into spins. Luckily, the F-94B solved the majority of these problems, with an upgraded engine, better fire control, and wider cockpit. Performance was still limited, but it was all that was available.
When North Korean and Chinese propeller fighters began night harassment attacks against American bases in South Korea during the latter years of the Korean War, F-94Bs were deployed to Japan and South Korea to deal with these aircraft. While the Starfires were able to score some successes, they were simply too fast for the job: it was very difficult for a near-supersonic fighter to shoot down Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes that could barely reach a hundred miles an hour; one F-94 was lost when it accidentally collided with the Po-2 it was trying to shoot down. As a result, US Navy F4U Corsairs had to be brought in to finally end these attacks.
Since the gun armament of the F-94A/B was considered inadequate against large bombers, Lockheed proposed an all-rocket armed version, the F-94C. The company went further than revising the armament: it was virtually a new aircraft, with a thinner wing, revised tail, more fuel, upgraded radar, dragchute (the first fitted to an American aircraft), and most importantly, a much larger and efficient J48 engine. The 24 rockets were clustered around the radar.
At first, the USAF was not interested, as the F-89 and F-86D was entering service, but Lockheed persisted, developing the aircraft at the company’s own expense, and the performance of the prototype in January 1950 was enough for the USAF to purchase it as the F-97—though this was later changed back to F-94C to avoid the program being cut by Congress (which was more reluctant to fund a new aircraft). While the F-94C was not without its problems—the rockets tended to cause the engine to flame out when fired and would blind the pilot if fired at night—it benefited from all the lessons learned in the F-94A/B series, and was popular with its crews. To further increase its armament, two wing pods were added with yet more rockets, raising the number to 48.
F-94Cs replaced earlier variants beginning in 1951, and was reliable enough that it would serve for eight years, which was a considerably long time in the 1950s, when many aircraft did not serve for long due to the rapid progress of technology. It began to be retired in 1958 in favor of the F-102 and F-106, with the last F-94C leaving the Air National Guard in 1960. 855 Starfires were built; 17 survive today in museums and as gate guards.
49-2500 is a F-94A...sort of. It never served in any USAF frontline or ANG unit; it was delivered directly to the Air Research and Development Center (ARDC) at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio as a testbed, then loaned to Cornell University to test stability at high speeds--because the F-94A was so unstable, it was well suited to this work. Possibly for this reason, it was fitted with the nose and cockpit section of a T-33A, making 49-2500 a Frankenstein. During its time at Cornell, it was flown by several test pilots, including Neil Armstrong.
In 1958, no longer needed, 49-2500 was donated to the Buffalo, New York city government and turned into a playground. Some years later, it was salvaged and restored by the Niagara Falls Aerospace Museum, and was possibly also displayed at the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB, Georgia. Finally, it made its way to the Castle Air Museum, where 49-2500 resides today.
At first I had no idea what this was--a T-33 with a F-94 tail, or a F-94 with a T-33 nose? Luckily for posterity, this odd aircraft has been preserved in the markings of ARDC.