HMH-Publications LEK-002

Re-printed! Republic F-84F Thunderstreak in French Service (4) 24444 1-PB EC 3/1 Argonne 1956; 29030 3-HK EC 1/3 Navarre Suez 1956; 29003 4-SA EC 1 /4 Dauphine 1966; 29000 4-UF EC 2/4 La Fayette 1966

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US Air National Guard Pt:1 North-American AT-6A Texan NG-290 194th FS California ANG 1950's/60's North-American F-51D Mustang 474825 NG-265 194th FS California ANG 1950's Martin RB-57B Canberra 0-21551 BA-551 165th TRS Kentucky ANG 1950's Lockheed F-104C Starfighter 60929 198th TFS Puerto Rico ANG 1967 Republic F-84F Thunderstreak 0-26616 162nd TFS Ohio ANG 1968 Republic RF-84F Thunderflash 0-11862 106th TRG Alabama ANG Northrop F-89J Scorpion 32465 FV-465 178th FIS North Dakota ANG 1950's/60's

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Air National Guard Republic F-84F Multiple marking options for Air National Guard Republic F-84F Thunderstreaks.

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Republic F-84F Thunderstreak/Thunderflash KLu.

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Republic RF-84F/K Thunderflash (1) 127 TRW Michigan ANG. 27409, 27 or 27254 FICON

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Republic XF-84H Thunderscreech. The XF-84H was derived from the RF-84F as a supersonic propeller test vehicle driven by an afterburning Allison XT-40 turboprop engine. Two aircraft were built and briefly tested as noise produced by the propeller even at idle was too severe for safe ground crew activities. The sickening noise gave the aircraft its nickname "Thunderscreech". It was the 1st U.S. aircraft built with a Ram Air Turbine (RAT) which provided emergency electrical and hydraulic power in subsequent U.S. aircraft, but provided needed power for the XF-84H when landing. Another novel feature was a "take-off fin" or "vortex gate" aft of the cockpit to overcome the effects of the propeller torque. The flight program lasted from June 1955 until October 1956 with the program being taken over by the McDonnell XF-88B which flew until January 1958. The XF-88B had both turbojet and turboprop engines and could taxi and take off without the turboprop operating, thus without subjecting the ground crew to the painful noise. 40-pages, 77 b&w and 4 color photos, 21 drawings

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Republic F-84F Thunderstreak and RF-84F Thunderflash. Fraught with engine and aerodynamic teething problems that resulted in its missing the Korean War for which it was intended, the F-84F Thunderstreak, initially seen as languishing in the shadow of the more well-known and proven F-86 Sabre, matured to become a formidable fighter-bomber that served not only with the USAF's Tactical and Strategic Air Commands, but also with numerous European air forces for many of which it also offered the first experience in swept wing jet fighter operation. It provided a much-needed deterrent during the critical early years of the Cold War and the 1960s, especially with NATO air forces, where it normally replaced its straight-wing predecessor, the F-84 Thunderjet. No fewer than 2,711 examples of the Thunderstreak were built, so that for a time it was the fighter most in widespread use in Europe, becoming the backbone of the Alliance's combat element. In contrast, its service with the USAF was rather short-lived when newer fighters such as the F-100 Super Sabre and F-4 Phantom with superior and supersonic performance supplanted it in service. However, with the outbreak of the Vietnam War, when these modern fighters and the USAF's other more valuable combat aircraft were deployed to Southeast Asia, the USAF recalled the Thunderstreak for another spell of frontline service in defence of mainland United States. It was only the French who used it in anger when it carried out strikes on Egyptian targets during the Suez Crisis of 1956. Sharing the Thunderstreak's main characteristics including its vices and virtues, its offshoot, the RF-84F Thunderflash, was considered to be the best photo-reconnaissance fighter of its time, capable of carrying six cameras in its abundant nose in 15 different combinations. The Thunderflash, too, was exported to most of NATO's air forces, as well as to the Republic of China Air Force where it carried out routine overflights over mainland Communist China in a hostile environment. The French, too, used it in a firing war, again in Suez, while the Turkish Air Force similarly employed it during its brief war with Greece in 1974. Again, the advent of such types as the RF-101 recce Voodoo and the RF-4C Phantom replaced it in USAF service, while the F-104 was the type that most replaced it in NATO air arms. But both the Thunderstreak and Thunderflash remained in service for a long period in some of the European air forces, the last Thunderflash being retired from the Greek Air Force in 1991. This latest Warpaint title gives an account of these two types' service, with detailed lists of serials, squadron service, production and variants in 80 pages of text accompanied by no fewer than 190 colour and B&W photos, eight pages of colour artwork by and foldout scale drawings, describing the development and operational career of these remarkable aircraft. This book is written by Charles Stafrace and is superbly illustrated by Richard J.Caruana.

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