Republic XF-84H Thunderscreech

History of the Republic XF-84H Thunderscreech

The Republic XF-84H is an experimental airframe based on the Republic F-84F Thunderstreak jet-powered single-seat fighter. The development of the XF-84H sought to combine the existing Republic fighter airframe with a turbo engine setup using a supersonic propeller system to create a fast combat platform to replace the fuel-guzzling, underpowered turbojet competition of the time. Such an effort, however, was plagued with problems, the program resulted in the construction of only two problematic prototypes, and neither was tested by USAF test pilots until the complex program was aborted.

The noise produced by the powerful turboprop enginereportedly audible up to 25 miles awayhas earned the XF-84H the "Thunder" moniker, in keeping with the "Thunder" nomenclature of the original Republic fighter line.

The Republic rose to prominence during World War II thanks to the development of the P-47 Thunderbolt. When it came to attacking ground targets in Europe and the Pacific, the aircraft proved both a competent dog-fighting (which accounted for many pilots' ace) and a stable firing platform (trains proved to be the most powerful in the European theater of operations) popular). As great as it was, the plane was immediately decommissioned during the major military purges of postwar U.S. peacetime.

By the time of the Korean War, the Republic had released the F-84 Thunderstreak, a single-seat fighter jet powered by a turbojet with straight monoplane wings. The arrival of the single-seat Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 "Fagot" quickly overtook the aircraft, and attempts to improve the Republic F-84 led to its own swept-wing version - the F-84F.

Despite the limitations, some 7,500 F-84s were eventually built and used heavily as fighter-bombers over the Korean peninsula during the war.

Throughout the program, only two prototypes were produced for the XF-84H - these were serial number 51-17059 (FS-059) and serial number 51-17060 (FS-060). The first prototype made a total of 11 flights, but at least 10 of them ended in emergency landings. At one point, even a Republican test pilot refused to fly the XF-84H again.

The second prototype managed only one flight. After doing the math, only 12 flights were reported between the two. The inherent danger of airframe instabilitycombined with a complex and irritable enginemeans that the XF-84H is doomed to a short lifespan. The program was officially terminated by the U.S.

Air Force in September 1956.

After the Thunderscreech program was cancelled, Prototype 51-17059 spent its days as a "janitor" outside Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield, California. She is attached to a boom and appears prominently on the ground as if in flight - her propellers are actually controlled by mounted electric motors.

In 1992, the plane was removed from its pod and targeted by Ohio Air National Guard volunteers who believed it could be restored to museum form. After approximately 3,000 hours of renovation, the XF-84H was handed over to its new owner, where it is on permanent display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, where it remains to this day.

Prototype 51-17060 was said to be scrapped at the end of the project, and their Allison XT40-A-1 turboprop was reportedly used during the development of the Douglas A2D Skyshark.

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