The F-84, USAF's first post–World War II fighter, began
rolling off the production lines in June 1947. It was the
first Air Force jet fighter capable of carrying a tactical
nuclear weapon and the last subsonic straight-wing
fighter-bomber. The F-84 pioneered the use of aerial
refueling for fighters. The Thunderjets entered service in
Korea in December 1950, were assigned to escort B-29s, and
later were increasingly used for ground operations. F-84s
were used on two significant raids on dams, on May 13 and
16, 1953, causing the loss of all electrical power to North
Korea. In Korea, F-84 pilots flew 86,408 missions, dropped
50,427 tons of bombs, and managed to shoot down or damage
105 MiG-15s. On August 20, 1953, 17 F-84Gs, refueling from
KC-97s, were flown nonstop 4,485 miles from Turner AFB, Ga.,
to RAF Lakenheath, UK, in the longest nonstop mass movement
of fighter-bombers in history to that point and the greatest
distance ever flown nonstop by single-engine jet fighters.
The first sweptwing model, the F-84F, originally designated
YF-96A, was first flown on June 3, 1950. Four Air National
Guard F-84F units were recalled to active duty during the
Berlin crisis of 1961–62. The straight-wing F-84G was the
first airplane used by the Air Force's aerial demonstration
team, the Thunderbirds. F-84s were used in two different
programs to provide protection for B-36 Peacemakers. One
aircraft, the YRF-84F, was designed with a nose-mounted hook
to attach to a trapeze suspended from the bomb bay of a
B-36; another version featured a wingtip-to-wingtip
attachment. Both of these programs were discontinued when
aerial refueling was found to be much more practical. In
addition to being used by the US Air Force, many were
supplied to Allied nations participating in the Mutual
Defense Assistance Program. The last straight-wing F-84s
were retired from the Air National Guard in 1957. The last
Guard F-84Fs were retired in 1971.
| Contractors: |
Republic Aviation Corp. |
| General Motors Fisher Body Division |
| Locations Built: |
Farmingdale, N. Y. |
| Kansas City, Mo. |
| Number Built: (USAF) |
7,524 (4,009) |
| First Flight: |
February 28, 1946 |
| First Flight Model: |
XP-84 |
| First Flight Location: |
Muroc AAF, Calif. |
| First Flight Pilot: |
Maj. Bill Lien |
| Models/Variants: |
F-84B, C, D, E, G. F-84F
Thunderstreak. RF-84F Thunderflash |
| Powerplant: |
One Wright J65-W-3
nonafterburning turbojet of 7,220 lb thrust |
| Wingspan: |
33 ft 7 in. |
| Length: |
43 ft 5 in. |
| Height: |
15 ft 0 in. |
| Weight: |
28,000 lb gross |
| Armament: |
Six .50-cal. machine guns and up
to 6,000 lb of bombs (incl nuclear) or rockets
underwing |
| Accommodation: |
Pilot only |
| Cost: |
$667,608 |
| Max. Speed: |
685 mph |
| Range: |
1,650 mi. |
| Ceiling: |
44,300 ft. |
|
