Republic F-84F Thunderstreak - Flying The Thunderstreak

Flying The Thunderstreak

The Thunderstreak suffered from the same poor takeoff performance as the straight-wing Thunderjets despite having a more powerful engine. In reality, almost 700 pounds-force (3.11 kN) or 10 percent of total thrust was lost because the J65 was installed at an angle and its exhaust had a prominent kink. On a hot day, 7,500 feet (2,285 m) of runway were required for takeoff roll. A typical takeoff speed was 160 knots (185 mph, 300 km/h). Like the Thunderjet, the Thunderstreak excelled at cruise and had predictable handling characteristics within its performance envelope. Like its predecessor, it also suffered from accelerated stall pitch-up and potential resulting separation of wings from the airplane. In addition, spins in the F-84F were practically unrecoverable and ejection was the only recourse below 10,000 feet (3,000 m).

With the appearance of Republic's F-105 Thunderchief, which also used wing-root mounted air intakes, the Thunderstreak became known as the Thud's Mother. The earlier F-84A had been nicknamed the "Hog" and the F-84F "Super Hog," the F-105 becoming the "Ultra Hog."

March 9, 1955: Lt. Col. Robert R. Scott, in a F-84F Thunderstreak, set a three hour, 44-minute and 53-second record for the 2,446 mile flight from Los Angeles to New York."Week In History". U.S. Air Force. Retrieved 4 March 2013.

By the mid-1960s, the F-84F was replaced by the North American F-100 Super Sabre and the RF-84F by the RF-101 Voodoo in USAF units, being relegated to duty in the Air National Guard. The last F-84F Thunderflash retired from the ANG in 1971. Three Hellenic Air Force RF-84Fs that were retired in 1991 were the last operational F-84s.

Richard Bach, who later wrote the bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull, was an ANG F-84F pilot who was once activated for duty in Europe. His first book, Stranger to the Ground, described in detail what it was like to fly the Thunderstreak in the course of an operational flight at night from England to France in adverse weather.