F-94 nose needed! - UPDATE Nevermind :)

[Spectre_I]

Howdy! Posted this in another thread, however this forum seem to get more views. Pardons in advance for the duplicate

Castle Air Museum is starting restoration to static display a very early F-94A. It's in great condition and will make a very nice display. It's complete, with one minor exception: Someone went and stuck a T-33 nose on our F-94!

We need an F-94A nose.

If anyone happens to know where we might get one, I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks!

Last edited by Spectre_I on Wed Jan 21, 2015 5:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[WIXMOD-Charlie]

Topic moved. It will get more traffic in the main WIX hangar.

[Spectre_I]

Topic moved. It will get more traffic in the main WIX hangar.

Thank you!

Should one turn up in some boneyard, we are looking for an "A" model nose. It had guns only, no rockets.

[Cubs2jets]

Are you sure that's an F-94? Maybe it's the elusive T-33D - the T-33 with an afterburning Allison J-33-A-33!

C2j

[Spectre_I]

Are you sure that's an F-94? Maybe it's the elusive T-33D - the T-33 with an afterburning Allison J-33-A-33!

C2j

An afterburner on a T-Bird...
Positive. The id plates, Tail #, Ser. # agree it's an F-94A. Our curator has done plenty of research on it, and everything he comes up with is that it's an F-94A also. The ID plate inside the nose does say "T-33". The plane also has the wing tip drop tanks indicative of the early models. The plane had an N# for about 9 years in the '80's, so someone at one point was flying it. Our best guess is that's when the nose got swapped out.

We'll be restoring as-is for now, and swap the nose out when we get one. We've already got a T-33 and a P(F)-80 on display, so we'd really like to complete the set.

[Chris Brame]

Have you contacted the Vermont Air National Guard at Burlington International Airport? They have a complete F-94A on outdoor display that looks accessible; maybe somebody back East could take photos and measurements for you (or even make a mold to make a fiberglass copy?)

There's also the crash site of 49-2552 in Massachusetts near the Quabbin Reservoir; most of the wreck was still there as of five years ago (image from millionmonkeytheater.com):

Might be enough for patterns?

[Spectre_I]

Thank you Chris. I will pass this on to TPTB in the morning We're not quite that desperate yet, still hoping to find one intact or we can fix up.

[quemerford]

Are you sure that's an F-94? Maybe it's the elusive T-33D - the T-33 with an afterburning Allison J-33-A-33!

C2j

The plane also has the wing tip drop tanks indicative of the early models. The plane had an N# for about 9 years in the '80's, so someone at one point was flying it. Our best guess is that's when the nose got swapped out.

I suspect that, like many surplus USAF/ANG aircraft, the N# was allotted just as a paperwork exercise - many aircraft donated to trade schools gained an N#, but never flew, or were ever intended to.

Plus I can't recall any F-94s flying in recent years (and I mean '80's as recent!), aside from the Buffalo NY example.

I suspect the civil registration was done in the '60s/'70s.

[quemerford]

Are you sure that's an F-94? Maybe it's the elusive T-33D - the T-33 with an afterburning Allison J-33-A-33!

C2j

The plane also has the wing tip drop tanks indicative of the early models. The plane had an N# for about 9 years in the '80's, so someone at one point was flying it. Our best guess is that's when the nose got swapped out.

I suspect that, like many surplus USAF/ANG aircraft, the N# was allotted just as a paperwork exercise - many aircraft donated to trade schools gained an N#, but never flew, or were ever intended to.

Plus I can't recall any F-94s flying in recent years (and I mean '80's as recent!), aside from the Buffalo NY example.

I suspect the civil registration was done in the '60s/'70s.

I can confirm the above: an FAA DB search reveals registration to Buffalo Board of Education on 16th March 1973.

[Spectre_I]

I suspect that, like many surplus USAF/ANG aircraft, the N# was allotted just as a paperwork exercise - many aircraft donated to trade schools gained an N#, but never flew, or were ever intended to.

Plus I can't recall any F-94s flying in recent years (and I mean '80's as recent!), aside from the Buffalo NY example.

I suspect the civil registration was done in the '60s/'70s.

I can confirm the above: an FAA DB search reveals registration to Buffalo Board of Education on 16th March 1973.

Yup, thanks! We've already contacted them, and they have no clue about the nose either. :/

[marine air]

Just curious, since a P-38 nose will fit perfectly on a T-33 and a T-33 nose will fit acceptably on an F-94, what's the big deal? The aluminum , no doubt manufactured by ALCOA looks pristine, when you add a sourced F-94 nose to it, its going to be faded, discolored, have more dents or have to be painted. What you have now looks really great.
Who knows, maybe someone has an F-94 nose, polished metal, that's a perfect match. Good luck!

[Spectre_I]

Thanks all for your help, but we have solved the mystery!

Thanks to our museum research staff, we have a complete history of this F-94A, and an interesting bird she is! This F-94 was purposely refitted with a T-33 nose to be a test bed for EC instrumentation. We were able to find where someone stenciled "EC-94" on it, but could find no reference to such a variant. We had sorta shrugged that off. Little did we know that was exactly what this plane was. This plane did not see active duty (probably why it looks so good) and was a test plane it's entire life.

As an interesting side note we found out who it's test pilot was. Some feller named "Neil Armstrong"

We will be restoring as-is, and noting it as an experimental "EC-94".

[marine air]

That's good news and it will look great assembled with a nice polish job. You may want to ask Bud Anderson if he flew it as he flew a lot of test work back in the day.

Last edited by marine air on Wed Jan 21, 2015 6:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Cubs]

Never would have guessed an EC-94. I wonder if Mr. Armstrong's personal logbook is accessible to interested parties. A photocopy of his entries for your bird would make for a very interesting display.

[Chris Brame]

Very interesting indeed. What does the "EC" signify? I recall the E signified being loaned out for test work; what was the "C" for? Also I wonder if the full designator would be "ECF-94A"? I recall one of the surviving B-17s carried an "EDB-17G" designation.