F-84F Thunderstreak

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F-84F Thunderstreak jet fighter bomber, on the field at the Pacific Coast Air Museum. Viewed from the left side.

The F-84F Thunderstreak was one of the "Thunder" series of jet aircraft from Republic, starting with the P-47 Thunderbolt in World War II and ending with the F-105 Thunderchief supersonic fighter bomber. The F-84F Thunderstreak differed from its progenitor the F-84D Thunderjet by having swept wings.

F-84F Thunderstreak jet fighter-bomber on the field at the Pacific Coast Air Museum. Viewed from the front left.

The F-84F was a fighter-bomber, designed primarily to attack ground targets. They were used extensively in the Korean War. Early versions of the F-84 had straight wings, but the E, F, and G versions had swept wings in an effort to match the performance of its rival the F-86 Sabre.

F-84F Thunderstreak jet fighter-bomber on the field at the Pacific Coast Air Museum, viewed from the right rear.

The Thunderstreak was powered by a Wright J65-W-3 turbojet of 7,220 lbs thrust. Maximum speed was 685 mph at sea level and 608 mph at 35,000 feet.

F-84F Thunderstreak jet fighter-bomber on the field at the Pacific Coast Air Museum, viewed from the front right.

The Museum's F-84F was deployed to Chambley Air Base in France in response to the "Berlin Crisis" as the Soviet Union isolated East Germany and began to build the Berlin Wall.

Fuselage of the Museum's F-84F jet fighter-bomber, with no wings and with badly faded paint. It sits derelict at a military depot, waiting to be used as a target.

Our F-84F was dropped from the Air Force inventory in 1970 and wound up with the Navy as a practice target. PCAM rescued it in 1997, restored it, and it is now on display on our field.

F-84F Thunderstreak History

Republic Aviation jumped into the jet age with the development of the P-84 “Thunder” Jet series (which kept with the “Thunder” naming theme that brought fame to Republic beginning with the Thunderbolt of WWII). The original series of aircraft had straight wings (XP-84, YP-84, XP-84A, P-84B, P84C which was later changed to F84C, D, E, and G). The first swept wing version was a modified F-84E fuselage which was designated the YF-84F. The production version was designated the F-84F Thunderstreak.

The F-84 series of aircraft made large contributions to military aviation during the 1950’s participating in numerous testing programs. One such program is the FICON program as shown below. The goal was to have the short range fighters carried by long range bombers for protection. The fighters could be released for combat and later “retrieved”.

Our F-84F Thunderstreak 52-6475 was built by Republic Aviation on September 13, 1954 and served with the following units:

1955: 401st Fighter/Bomber Group (TAC) England AFB, LA
1957: 366th Fighter/Bomber Group (TAC) England AFB, LA
1957: 147th Fighter/Interceptor Squadron (ANG) PA
1958: 163rd Tactical Fighter Squadron (ANG) Baer Field IN
1961: 163rd fighter squadron assigned to US Air Forces Europe, Chambley Air Base France in response to the “Berlin Crisis” as the Soviet Union isolated East Germany and began to build the Berlin Wall.

1963: 366th Tactical Fighter Wing (TAC)Holloman AFB NM
1963: 192nd Tactical Fighter Group (ANG) Byrd Field VA
1969: 178th Tactical Fighter Group (ANG) Springfield IL
1970: 149th Tactical Fighter Group (ANG) Kelly AFB TX
1970: Dropped from the inventory and transferred to the US Navy at China Lake NAS for weapons testing.

1997: Recovered by the Pacific Coast Air Museum
2004: Restored and placed on display at Pacific Coast Air Museum

F-84F Thunderstreak Specifications

Dimensions & Weights

Length

43 ft 4.75 in (13.23 m)

Wingspan

33 ft 7.25 in (10.25 m)

Height

14 ft 4.75 in (4.39 m)

Wing area

325 sq ft (30 sq m)

Empty weight

13,830lb (5,200 kg)

Max. takeoff weight

28,000 lb (12,701 kg)

Accommodation

One: Pilot

Performance

Maximum speed

695 mph (604 knots, 1,119 km/h, Mach .91) at sea level

Range

810 mi (704 nmi, 1,304 km) combat radius with two droptanks

Service ceiling

46,000 ft (14,000 m)

Rate of climb

8,200 ft/min (42 m/s)

Powerplant

One Wright J65-W-3 turbojet of 7,220 lbs thrust

Armament (fixed)

Fixed: Six 50 Calibre M-3 guns with 1,800 rounds of ammunition.

Disposable: Bombs/Rockets on external hardpoints. Mk. 6 Nuclear stores.

Crew Chief

Caitlyn Jurin