F-84F “Thunderstruck”

Pilots of the 33rd Fighter Wing flew the first F-84Bs assigned to SAC at Roswell Air Force Base in New Mexico. The first five arrived on June 9, 1948, and by the end of the month, 47 F-84Bs were in place. After the December 1, 1948, reassignment of the 33rd Fighter Wing, it was nearly a year before the F-84s were assigned to SAC again.    

In September 1949, the first F-84s began arriving at Bergstrom Air Force Base in Texas for the 27th Fighter-Escort Wing. The F-84E was an improved version of the F-84B. The first F-84G models assigned to SAC went to the 27th Fighter-Escort Wing in September 1951, followed in October by others assigned to the 31st Fighter-Escort Wing.   

The F-84G remained the basic fighter of SAC until mid-1954 when the F-84F began to arrive. The first F-84Fs were assigned to the 506th Strategic Fighter Wing in January 1954. SAC’s last two models of F-84s were the RF-84Fs and RF-84Ks. From January 24, 1955, to July 1, 1957, SAC possessed one strategic reconnaissance fighter wing, the 71st, stationed at Larson Air Force Base in Washington. Two of the three tactical squadrons, the 25th and 82nd, were equipped with RF-84F aircraft. The third squadron, the 91st, was equipped with RF-84K aircraft (FICON). On July 1, 1957, SAC’s fighter units were inactivated or reassigned to TAC.  

The Museum’s F-84 was manufactured by Republic Aviation in Farmingdale, New York, and delivered to the USAF on December 31, 1954.