Warbird Information Exchange

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Magister Aviation
It's all in my book

Would love to see more early jets back into the air: P/F-80, 59, 84, Panther, Fury, Banshee, etc.

This "project" would appear to be daunting, especially with the hulk being dumped outside, in Maine....

How cool is that? I've always liked the straight-winged Thunderjets. Making it flyable would take deep pockets and a lot of dedication, but it certainly could be built up into a great static display aircraft.

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

I don't have enough patience for this - I would want to buy it and have it at Ezell's the week after that to get it going!

Tom P.

When did the last one fly? Wasn't there a civilian one flyable in the '80s?

Yes, this F-84F:


IIRC this was in the mid-to-late '70s; it gets mentioned now and then on the board - suffered an engine failure/fire and then the NMUSAF took it back. Any other Thunderjets/Thunderstreaks with N-numbers had them applied when they were donated to trade schools.

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Absolutely, but on the other hand, I'm sure there is nothing hi-tech in it. If you can rebuild a P-47, this wouldn't be much worse.

I'd love to see one fly, my father was in a F-84 unit in Korea.

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

I know of at least one group that has been interested in acquiring a F-84 project to restore to flying condition. Here's hoping this airframe provides that group with the starting point for that project. I'd love to see a flying F-84 some day.

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Matt

Found another picture

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remember the Oogahonk!
old school enthusiast of Civiltary Warbirds and Air Racers

Interesting question: I doubt the world has seen an airworthy Thunderjet since the '60's. It would be great to see one flying and not a very complex type. But that J35 was not renowned for its reliability...

I guess if someone was gonna restore one of these, since it would be classified as Experimental anyway, it would probably be worth the effort to upgrade the engine to something more reliable, more efficient, and more available. There must be some modern engine that would fit in that fuselage. Man, it would be so cool to see a Thunderjet fly!

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

Is this the F-84 project that was on Platinum fighters for awhile?
There was also a pair of F9F's on there, but they seem to have disappeared now...

Lots of engineering and testing for something of limited value when you are done. Not sure if it is worthwhile for one aircraft. The Me-262 project could at least amortize the engine swap over more than one airframe and there are lots of enthusiasts clamoring to see one fly, or even fly in one.

You would think there would be plenty of these airframes around.

Over 7500 of the straight-wing variants with the J-35 were built and some were operational until 1974.

Over 3400 of the swept-wing versions were built with the J-69 engine and some were operational until 1991.

Planes of Fame has an RF-84F that could be rebuilt I suppose.

It would probably be better to wait until everybody who remembers what it was like to fly one has passed on. These were severely overbuilt and underpowered aircraft, nicknamed the Repulsive Blunderjet by pilots and crew. It is hard to find anyone associated with them who liked them, and some pilots transitioning from F-80s refused to fly them, including pilots whose WWII combat records left no doubt about their courage.

August

The F-84G is actually the type of which the RNoAF lost the most pilots and planes of all the aircraft used post- war. I seem to remember from Bill Lear Jr.'s book that he wasn't too thrilled with it either!

T J

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Make my day, punk!