Post war jet design moved quickly and changed often. Models released from 1945 until 1960 normally had a short shelf life, due to this they are relatively unknown but still important to the history of aviation. Included in this mix is the Republic F-84 Thunderjet
F-84 sending HVAR rockets downrange
F-84 Thunderjet
Starting in 1944 the US Air Force asked Republic for a jet powered replacement for the P-47. What they developed would be produced in higher numbers and last longer then most other jet’s of the immediate postwar period.
The Thunderjet would start it’s life as an under powered P-84 and would end it 7500+ copies later as the swept wing F-84 Thunderstreak. In between these two points the Thunderjet would be used fill in many different roles for the US Air Force. Chief among these as to fill the role of fighter bomber during the Korean conflict.
F-84 Thunderjet at the MidAtlantic Air Museum
The Thunderjet offered a platform that was surprisingly easy to modify and that would allow many different modifications. One of the more elaborate was it’s use in the Fight Conveyance role. In the days before refueling there was no means of fighter support for the long range bombers. To build a fighter with that kind of range would create one to heavy to have any sort of maneuverability.
This only left one option that they could see which was to carry the fighter in the bomb bay and deploy it only in times when needed. Additionally they could bring a fighter along configured with camera’s and employ it as a super long range reconnaissance aircraft. Two aircraft where developed to meet this requirement.
One was the XF-85 Goblin designed to fit inside a bomb bay and the other is the F-84 designed to fly flush in the belly of the aircraft, and to be released via a trapeze when needed.The real surprise here is that it was successful enough for a squadron to be formed and to fly these modified F-84′s
B-36 releasing a FICON F-84
Next up in the development of the F-84 was for the plane to be given swept wings and an improved engine with the F-84F Thunderstreak. The Thunderstreak benefitted from ever increasing power being provided by the latest jet engines. The F-84 series started with 3700 lbf of thrust and would nearly double that when the last F-84G rolled off the lines.
F-84's flying with the US Thunderbirds
In the US the final F-84 was retired in 1972 after 25 years of service. The last country to fly the F-84 was Greece who retired theirs in 1991. The legacy of the F-84 was to pave the way for the nations attack aircraft of the present and future.
One thing that I especially like about that era of aircraft development is the names that they gave their planes. They just seem iconic.
This name is supposed to make you think of World War 2 iron. Then you learn the F-94's official name, Starfire,and you really start to question your military
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/F-84s_scrap_AMARC_NAN6-80.jpg">
They were made in abundance!
That is a depressing picture especially considering the condition of ours in Reading Pennsylvania. Although this is in black and white I don't think it's any newer then the late 60s. Since the wing of the F there says "ANG" for Air National Guard
By the way I need to find a bigger version of that image. I saw the one on WIki you found and posted here. There are a few thigns I spotted in there and want to really look it over closer
I did a quick look around and couldnt find a bigger image. Good luck with your local F-84!
I don't feel any real attachment to the F-84 but that is a sad-making picture.
My attachment comes from looking at it for several years at my local air museum and seeing this
<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pIxxbcWeSBY/Tymjamac5LI/AAAAAAAAMtg/lqY-kgo1gaA/s1024/DSC_0137.JPG" width=600>
I know it's odd but I feel I have seen the World War 2 stuff and want to see some Korean War metal flying around. That this plane needs at least enough work to make it look display worthy. I just don't have the skills to do it myself
It's weird how numerous the F-84 was but it's vanished almost without a trace. Meanwhile you can still see the P-80 Shooting Star relative, the T-33, at airfields all over North America.
It's kind of like how the T-6 Texan is the most common flying hardware you see from WWII. First training aircraft are used longer then their front line cousins. They are used hard and put away wet. So they tend to get a lot of abuse before being put out to pasture. Although I wonder if training aircraft weren't counted towards SALT as well
Heck, there's a T-33 parked outside my hometown's VFW, a mile from the airport (and just across US-14 from the world's largest pheasant.)
A Greek airfield I flew out of in the '90's had 20-30 F 84's shoved together on a disused taxiway. I suspect they are Coke cans now.
That's because there is a large piece of metal missing. This F-84 has seen better days and decades
Do the entire surfaces pivot, or are there elevator and rudder flaps?—
It should just be the elevator and rudder flaps. Flying tails would come along later
And then there was the propeller version, with a supersonic propeller so loud that ground tests could be heard from 40 km away…
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Republic_XF-84H_in_flight.jpg/800px-Republic_XF-84H_in_flight.jpg" width="500">
I'm trying to think of another P- or F- designation that had such different versions. F-18 and F-35 come to mind, but even then there are similarities in the fundamental design features of the aircraft, while "F-84" covered both straight-wing and swept versions (and also the oddball turboprop H version.)
That would be the F-84 Thunderscreech. No I am not making that name up. Since the propellers went supersonic it caused the crew to get bad cases of nausea. Sounds like a fun place to work. It's a shame it failed because it did accomplish the goals of range and power that it was after. Just a small matter of that sound issue
Sounds like amped-up rum from Newfoundland.
<img src="http://www.upalong.org/images/Screech_02.jpg" />