Today in History – May 29, 1952 – Aerial Refueling used in combat mission for the 1st time

29 May 1952 – “Aerial refueling is used on a combat mission for the first time, with twelve F-84 Thunderjets of the 159th Fighter Bomber Squadron being refueled by a KB-29 Superfortress on their way to Sariwon.

The F-84 was the first production fighter aircraft to utilize inflight refueling and the first fighter capable of carrying a nuclear weapon, the Mark 7 nuclear bomb. Modified F-84s were used in several unusual projects, including the FICON and Tom-Tom dockings to the B-29 Superfortress and B-36 bomber motherships, and the experimental XF-84H Thunderscreech turboprop.

The F-84 nomenclature can be somewhat confusing. The straight-wing F-84A to F-84E and F-84G models were called the Thunderjet. The F-84F Thunderstreak and RF-84F Thunderflash were different airplanes with swept wings. The XF-84H Thunderscreech (not its official name) was an experimental turboprop version of the F-84F. The F-84F swept wing version was intended to be a small variation of the normal Thunderjet with only a few different parts, so it kept the basic F-84 number. Production delays on the F-84F resulted in another order of the straight-wing version; this was the F-84G.”

 

Source: Wikipedia and Wikipedia:portal:aviation

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