The F-84 Thunderjet was a USAF fighter aircraft developed by the American firm Republic Aviation. Its prototype, the XP-84, performed its first flight on February 28, 1946, just when the Cold War was about to begin. Its straight-wing design resembled the P-80 Shooting Star. The main production versions were the F-84B, F-84C, F-84D, and F-84E, with the F-84F Thunderstreak being a different model, with different wings.
This subsonic jet fighter-bomber was a very reliable aircraft. At the beginning of the Korean War, it played the role of the B-29's escort fighter, also performing very well against piston-engine enemy fighter aircraft. However, the F-84 was not as fast as the Soviet MiG-15. Therefore, in the second and third year of that armed conflict, most of the missions it carried out were in the ground-attack role, attacking armored vehicles and concentration of enemy troops. By the time it had been completely phased out, in 1964, a large number of Thunderjets had been produced, with more than 7,000 units.
Technical Characteristics
The Republic F-84 Thunderjet was a single-seat, single-engine monoplane. It was fitted with straight wings, which were mounted low on the fuselage, which was all-metal. It was equipped with rectractable landing gear, but each one of the three wheels folded up into the belly of fuselage separately. The F-84D variant was powered by one Allison J35-A-17 turbojet engine. The air intake was located in the nose of aircraft.
Specifications
Type: Fighter/escort/attack
Length: 11.61 m (38 ft, 1 in)
Wingspan: 11.1 m (36 ft, 5 in)
Wing Area: 24 sq. m
Height: 3.85 m (12 ft, 7 in)
Crew: 1
Maximum Speed: 1,002 km/h
Range: 1600 km
Armament: six 12.7-mm (.50) Browning machine guns, 127mm rockets, and two 500-kg bombs.
Below, two F-84B version flying over West Germany.
A Thunderjet armed to the teeth right before taking off for another ground attack mission in Korea.
Below, the F-84 profile drawings.
