This is the place where the majority of the warbird (aircraft that have survived military service) discussions will take place. Specialized forums may be added in the new future
Post a reply

Minnesota F-94 Mystery

Wed Mar 21, 2012 1:30 pm

I have been trying to nail down the movement of a F-94 in Minnesota. It has appeared to have been displayed at one location, then moved to another and possibly to a third location. I am starting to question the possibly that there may actually be two F-94s in play here.

For example I believe an F-94 was once displayed here...
ImageAerial Visuals - Location Dossier - Chisholm, Minnesota, United States -
...and it was moved to here...
ImageAerial Visuals - Location Dossier - American Legion Post 247 / Iron World Discovery Center - F-94, UH-1

Now, there is, or WAS, a F-94 displayed at the Air Guard museum...
ImageAerial Visuals - Location Dossier - Minnesota Air National Guard Museum - 10 airframes
...and the museum website indicates they do have an F-94 on display...
http://www.mnangmuseum.org/exhibits/starfighter.html

(note: you can follow the Aerial Visuals links for the Google satellite images and street view features)

Now I have the F-94 attriubted to these three locations as one airframe...
ImageAerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - F-94C Starfire, s/n 51-13560 USAF, c/n 880-8394
...but the street view and satellite images indicate there are F-94s currently displayed at the locations represented by the second and third links above.

I would like to sort this out as I believe there are two airframes currently displayed. The one airframe dossier linked above may need to be split into two. I am hoping there is at least one Minnesota based WIXer that can check out these locations and get photos to help sort this out. Any volunteers?

Photos can be uploaded here for now...
ImageAerial Visuals - Airframe Photo Upload - F-94C Starfire, s/n 51-13560 USAF, c/n 880-8394
...and I can sort it out later if it is confirmed there are two F-94s.

Over to the WIX brain trust.

Mike

Re: Minnesota F-94 Mystery

Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:34 pm

Lots of luck with that.

A couple of years ago I tried to sort out the survivors for the Wiki entry.
I found no proof that a F-94 is the Iron World Discovery Center.
I sent an email that was never answered.
Also I think the former Duluth park jet is at the Minn ANG Museum.

BTW: Notice on their website the call the F-94 the "Starfighter"?
Rookies... :D

Re: Minnesota F-94 Mystery

Wed Mar 21, 2012 3:47 pm

Hi Mike...I'm mostly a lurker here but I think I can help. Ill make a call to my bro who works at MSP and have him check that one out. And I get up to northern MN quite a bit on fishing trips..so Ill check the one out up there. Theres also a jet on display in Proctor...cant remember what is though. Hope that helps!

Joe

Re: Minnesota F-94 Mystery

Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:15 pm

Michael Blaugher's Guide To Over 900 Aircraft Museums - both the 21st & 25th editions list F-94C's at the Minnesota Air Guard Museum and at Chisholm. Leslie Hunt's Veteran And Vintage Aircraft publication - 4th edition (1974) lists F-94C 51-13560 at Chisolm and F-94C 51-13566 mounted in small park on main highway in West Duluth - no mention of Air Guard Museum F-94....Leon

Re: Minnesota F-94 Mystery

Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:44 pm

I found this photo online of the Chisholm bird:
Image

This is from the MN ANG Museum's Website of their F-94:
Image

It sure looks like the MSP example is now in Chisholm. I'll try and shoot over to the Museum on one of the upcoming open weekends and see if they still have an F-94

Re: Minnesota F-94 Mystery

Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:01 pm

Hi Mike,

There are actually two F-94's on display and both are marked as 51-13560 and they are in pretty much the exact same paint schemes as shown in Bryan's post above. I have seen them both and I have pics of each, but my photos aren't much different then what Bryan has posted.

I think Andy Marden has hinted to the possibility of the Minn ANG Museum example as actually being 51-13563, although I think he lists it as one time being marked as 51-3570. Apparently the one in Chisholm is the actual 51-13560.

The example in Chisholm is indeed displayed across from the Iron World Discovery Center along with the Huey.

I can certainly post pics of these birds if someone is interested, but again, they aren't much different than those posted above.

John B, the F-94 displayed in the Duluth park was marked as "13556" (I have pics of that one too), but I have not been able to track it down once it was removed from the park.

Hope this helps clear up any questions.

Steve :wink:

Re: Minnesota F-94 Mystery

Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:32 pm

The F-94 at MSP is still there. Just saw it.

Re: Minnesota F-94 Mystery

Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:04 pm

Here's the list from Wikipedia I mentioned.

No sign of the Duluth ship. I had heard (or assumed, I can't recal) that it went to the MNANG museum.
I wonder if the NMSAF or Davis-Monthan has records of it?

YF-94A, s/n 48-0356, is in storage for the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum at Edwards Air Force Base in California. For many years it was displayed at Lackland AFB, Texas.
F-94A, s/n 49-2498, is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. It was transferred from active inventory to the Museum in May 1957.[14]
F-94A, s/n 49-2500, is on display at the Niagara Aerospace Museum in Niagara Falls, New York
F-94A, s/n 49-2517, is on display at the Burlington Air National Guard Base at Burlington International Airport in Burlington, Vermont. Formerly displayed at the Pima Air and Space Museum adjacent to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona.
YF-97/F-94C Starfire, s/n 50-0877, is on display at the Syracuse, New York airport.
F-94C Starfire, s/n 50-0980, is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. It is displayed as 50-1054.
F-94C Starfire, s/n 50-1006, is on display at the Peterson Air & Space Museum at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
F-94C Starfire, s/n 51-5576, is on display in Bessemer City, North Carolina since 1988. Formerly displayed outside VFW Post 670 in Fayetteville, NC.
F-94C Starfire, s/n 51-5605, is on display by the North Dakota Air National Guard at their base at Hector International Airport, Fargo, North Dakota.
F-94C Starfire, s/n 51-5623, is on display at the Pima Air and Space Museum adjacent to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona
F-94C Starfire, s/n 51-5671, is on display in the "Erie County Memorial Gardens" cemetery at Erie, Pennsylvania. It was first put on display in 1971 and subsequently left to deteriorate. It was refurbished in 2005.
F-94C Starfire, s/n 51-13560, is on display at the Minnesota Air National Guard Museum at Minneapolis, Minnesota.
F-94C Starfire, s/n 51-13563, is reportedly displayed in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
F-94C Starfire, s/n 51-13570, is on display at the Ironworld Discovery Center in Chisholm, Minnesota. It is marked as 51-13560, the plane in the MN ANG collection.
F-94C Starfire, s/n 51-13575, is under restoration at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. It was previously on display at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut and moved to Evergreen in 2010.
F-94C Starfire, s/n "unknown", is on display on the grounds of the former Otis AFB (currently Otis Air National Guard Base), on the Massachusetts Military Reservation on Cape Cod.

Re: Minnesota F-94 Mystery

Thu Mar 22, 2012 5:05 am

John,
Thanks for posting the Wikipedia list. It broadly agrees with my own notes, except that I do not believe that there is an F-94 at Otis.
Also, the mention of 51-13563 is part of the confusion above.
Current thinking is that the MN ANG Museum has the real 51-13560, with the Chisholm machine being 51-13570. Perhaps someone local can ask the ANG museum for their thoughts on the subject?
One possible addition is 48-0373, which was found in a private yard on Long Island in June 1991. However, I have no more accurate information as to its whereabouts, so this one may prove difficult to track down.
Regards,
Andy Marden

USAMOOS

Re: Minnesota F-94 Mystery

Fri Mar 23, 2012 6:14 pm

Thanks for the correction Andy. It looks like I had the location of the "real" 51-13560 reversed.

John, here are a couple of scans of extremely poor pictures I took way back in the late 1900's of the Duluth bird clearly marked as "13556". After it disappeared, I asked one of the locals what happened to it, they said they thought it went out to a museum in the Dakotas. The only F-94 I have seen in either of the Dakotas was 51-5605 at the Fargo ND ANG base. I would love to solve the mystery of where this one really did end up.

Image

Image

Steve :wink:

Re: Minnesota F-94 Mystery

Sat Mar 24, 2012 1:23 pm

I've sent an email (and one of the photos above) to the Duluth Parks & Recreation department...they might know what happened.

BTW: anyone know anything more about this possible survivor?
F-94C Starfire, s/n 51-13563, is reportedly displayed in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Likewise, any idea if there really is one at Otis ANG base?
Looking at Google maps, I see a static T-33, F-100 and F-15, along with a Coast Guard HU-16, but no sign of a F-94.

Re: Minnesota F-94 Mystery

Sat Mar 24, 2012 3:43 pm

I think I heard that the one in Erie was either moved or going to be moved to an air museum. Has anyone heard anything?

Re: Minnesota F-94 Mystery

Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:55 am

mustang10 wrote:Hi Mike...I'm mostly a lurker here but I think I can help. Ill make a call to my bro who works at MSP and have him check that one out. And I get up to northern MN quite a bit on fishing trips..so Ill check the one out up there. Theres also a jet on display in Proctor...cant remember what is though. Hope that helps!

Joe



Maybe a Vodoo?

http://www.coastcomp.com/av/pres/can-f101.htm

Re: Minnesota F-94 Mystery

Mon Mar 26, 2012 12:21 pm

Versatile wrote:
mustang10 wrote:Hi Mike...I'm mostly a lurker here but I think I can help. Ill make a call to my bro who works at MSP and have him check that one out. And I get up to northern MN quite a bit on fishing trips..so Ill check the one out up there. Theres also a jet on display in Proctor...cant remember what is though. Hope that helps!

Joe



Maybe a Vodoo?

http://www.coastcomp.com/av/pres/can-f101.htm

Yep, it is this one:
Image

Re: Minnesota F-94 Mystery

Tue Mar 27, 2012 11:35 am

Thanks gents!

I have arranged the airframes dossiers has follows...

Chisholm:
ImageAerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - F-94C-1-LO Starfire, s/n 51-13570 USAF, c/n 880-8354
ImageAerial Visuals - Airframe Photo Upload - F-94C-1-LO Starfire, s/n 51-13570 USAF, c/n 880-8354

ANG Museum:
ImageAerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - F-94C-1-LO Starfire, s/n 51-13560 USAF, c/n 880-8344
ImageAerial Visuals - Airframe Photo Upload - F-94C-1-LO Starfire, s/n 51-13560 USAF, c/n 880-8344
Image



If anyone has photos of the Chisholm F-94 they can upload the link is provided above. Pics in ealier paint schemes would also be appreciated. This would go a long way to help fill in the history of the airframes.

Mike
Post a reply