FORBES FIELD, TOPEKA, KANSAS
Republic F-84-25-RE Thunderstreak

Combat Air Museum acquired this F-84 from Maple Woods Community College, Kansas City, Missouri in June 1980 and has recently been restored to the original markings of the 389th Fighter Bomber Squadron (part of the 366th Fighter Bomber Wing at Alexandria AFB, Louisiana). The Thunderstreak arrived at the Museum under a CH-54 Tarhe helicopter of the 137th Transportation Company, Army National Guard.

Republic Aviation Company built 51-1659 at its Farmingdale, Long Island, New York plant and delivered it to the US Air Force on March 28, 1955.

F-84F Thunderstreaks flew with the US Air Force and Air National Guard from 1954 to 1972. Nine other nations flew the type. The mainstay of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) fighter strength in the 1950s and 1960s, F-84Fs were to fly high-speed, low-level tactical nuclear strikes against military targets deep inside Eastern Europe if war broke out with the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact nations. These missions had little prospect of survival and were viewed as one-way.

Assignments
March 1955 366th Fighter-Bomber Wing Tactical Air Command (TAC),
England Air Force Base (AFB) (Alexandria), Louisiana
May 1956 Mobile Air Materiel Area Brookley AFB (Mobile), Alabama
September 1956 3600th Combat Crew Training Wing, Air Training Command
(ATC), Luke AFB (Glendale), Arizona
May 1957 Mobile Air Materiel Area, Brookley AFB, Alabama
October 1957 162nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (FIS), 178th Group, Ohio
Air National Guard, Springfield Municipal Airport, Ohio
November 1958 162nd FIS became 162nd Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS)
June 1962 12th Fighter Wing, TAC, MacDill AFB (Tampa), Florida
September 1962 15th Fighter Wing, TAC, MacDill AFB, Florida
September 1964 Mobile Air Logistics Center, Brookley AFB, Alabama
January 1965 101st Tactical Fighter Squadron “Irish Squadron”, 102nd
Tactical Fighter Group, Massachusetts Air National Guard,
Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts
August 1968 102nd TFG moved to Otis AFB (near East Falmouth),
Massachusetts
August 1971 Dropped from inventory by transfer to another government
agency
?? – 1980 Maple Woods Community College, Kansas City, Missouri
1980 – present Combat Air Museum

This aircraft is on Conditional Transfer to Combat Air Museum from the Kansas State Agency for Federal Surplus Property
and the General Services Administration

 
TECHNICAL NOTES:
Manufacturer: Republic Aviation Company
Basic Role: Single-seat fighter-bomber
Crew: One
Engines: One 7,220 lb. (3,275kg) static thrust Curtiss-Wright/ Buick J-65-W-3 turbojet (license-built British Sapphire)
Maximum speed: 695 mph (1,118 km/hr) at sea level
Cruising speed: 539 mph (867 km/hr)
Range (combat radius): 860 miles (1,384km)
Max Range: 2,314 miles (3,724 km)
Service Ceiling: 36,150 ft (11,019 m)
Wingspan: 33 ft. 7 in (10.23 m)
Length: 43 ft. 5 in (13.23 m)
Height: 14 ft. 5 in (4.39 m)
Wing Area: 325 sq ft (30.19 sq. m)
Weight (empty): 13,800 lb. (6,260 kg) Combat: 18,700 lb. (8,482 kg)
Armament: Six fixed forward firing 0.50-inch M-3 Browning machine guns, four mounted in the nose and one mounted in each wing root. A radar-ranging A-4 gunsight was provided. A maximum of 6,000lbs (2,721 kg) of external ordinance could be carried, including tactical nuclear weapons.
Serial number: USAF 51-1659		  

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