F-84 in WV

[Chris Brame]

I got the address by Googling "'Mason Dixon Trading Post' consignment"; here's the listing that came up:
http://www.bizapedia.com/people/NORMAN-ROUPE.html
This one's quite a mystery; Forgotten Fighters lists only one F-84F in WV and it's still on display in a park in the town of Vienna. Maybe Leon would know? Paging Woodsy Airfield...

[eze240]

Ok, so here's the big question.....presumably, the air force sold it off and has no control over its disposition..... So, could this be a candidate to rebuild and fly? Obviously after spending lots of money on it of course.....

[JohnB]

Ok, so here's the big question.....presumably, the air force sold it off and has no control over its disposition..... So, could this be a candidate to rebuild and fly? Obviously after spending lots of money on it of course.....

I'm not sure anyone is in the market for a flying F-84F.
Whereas there are plenty of parts and support for Merlins, Allisons and radials, I'm not sure the same could be said about the 84f's power plant.
There was one years ago....

[wendovertom]

I agree with JohnB - The F-84 with Platinum Fighters is still listed and I am thinking it is waaaay more complete than this plane and it is still there. Jets are not cheap to maintain and the early ones are hard to find parts for (so I am told). On the other hand I would really love to see a flying F-84 and or a F-9 panther/cougar

Tom P.

[Hunterfan]

Probably no help, but lots of Streaks in Europe! Belgium, France, Holland, Italy, Germany, Greece (especially Greece...) I don't know if any are for sale, though.

[Fouga23]

The European ones are mostly bought with US money and thus still US property.
But much higher chance of getting a G in the air then an F!

[Chris Brame]

Update - Got this message from Nathan Decker of the Forgotten Jets site a little while ago:

On that WV Thunderstreak, after some serious googling I found what might be the only person in Blacksville with an internet connection. Blacksville seems to be quite, shall we say, provincial. As in 200 people in town...

I'm not good with phones, and I'm sure not driving to West Virginia, so if you want to post the below email from my contact, perhaps someone in your WIX forum can do the work and let us all know.

Nate:
Exciting to hear from you about a little bit of Blacksville history. This is certainly a conversation piece and a great way to give directions into Blacksville. The gentleman who owns the plane is Fred McCoy better known in this area by his nickname Carly. His phone number is (*Ed. note: see below) and I am sure he would be glad to talk with you about the plane. This gentleman is in is late 70's or early 80's maybe older. I doubt very seriously if he even owns a computer. I believe your best bet is to call him and set up a time to meet with him. He may not even have an answering machine. He is an interesting person to talk to. Several years ago it was either the WILD WEST VIRGINIA magazine or GOLDENSEAL did an article on Mr. McCoy and the plane. Mr. McCoy also owns one of the oldest cars in WV. If I can be of any other assistance please let me know.
David L. Cottrell
Principal
Clay - Battelle Middle/High School

I've been reading through all the old Clay-Battelle yearbooks online to see if it might be in a candid shot somewhere - gotten up to 1974 so far; nothing yet.

I get the feeling this F-84F is somewhat a beloved local landmark, for better or worse. Maybe we could help Mr. McCoy find a windscreen for it, and even better, maybe they could get the C-B students to do a clean-up and paint job as a community service/shop class project? Better than having it be a target for the senior class taggers...

*Didn't think I should be posting Mr. McCoy's number here in the open, but you can PM me for it.

[wendovertom]

Actually Chris that is a good idea! by helping to preserve the jet where it is, at some point in the future the ground work for a better solution will have been put in place. A little surface cleaning, complete canopy and a set of "teeth" would look great.

Tom P.

[Nathan]

Update - Got this message from Nathan Decker of the Forgotten Jets site a little while ago:

On that WV Thunderstreak, after some serious googling I found what might be the only person in Blacksville with an internet connection. Blacksville seems to be quite, shall we say, provincial. As in 200 people in town...

I'm not good with phones, and I'm sure not driving to West Virginia, so if you want to post the below email from my contact, perhaps someone in your WIX forum can do the work and let us all know.

Nate:
Exciting to hear from you about a little bit of Blacksville history. This is certainly a conversation piece and a great way to give directions into Blacksville. The gentleman who owns the plane is Fred McCoy better known in this area by his nickname Carly. His phone number is (*Ed. note: see below) and I am sure he would be glad to talk with you about the plane. This gentleman is in is late 70's or early 80's maybe older. I doubt very seriously if he even owns a computer. I believe your best bet is to call him and set up a time to meet with him. He may not even have an answering machine. He is an interesting person to talk to. Several years ago it was either the WILD WEST VIRGINIA magazine or GOLDENSEAL did an article on Mr. McCoy and the plane. Mr. McCoy also owns one of the oldest cars in WV. If I can be of any other assistance please let me know.
David L. Cottrell
Principal
Clay - Battelle Middle/High School

I've been reading through all the old Clay-Battelle yearbooks online to see if it might be in a candid shot somewhere - gotten up to 1974 so far; nothing yet.

I get the feeling this F-84F is somewhat a beloved local landmark, for better or worse. Maybe we could help Mr. McCoy find a windscreen for it, and even better, maybe they could get the C-B students to do a clean-up and paint job as a community service/shop class project? Better than having it be a target for the senior class taggers...

*Didn't think I should be posting Mr. McCoy's number here in the open, but you can PM me for it.

Hi Chris,

I sent you a PM.

Thanks,
Nate

[Nathan]

Both the straight wing and swept wing F-84's had very poor take off performance(like most jets of the era). Required runway length- 8500 feet.

[Nathan]

I just got off the phone with Fred McCoy. What a really friendly guy. He is 87 years old and was a Marine during the Korean war. He said he bought the F-84 from Morgantown back in 1963. He said a man that used to fly the same airplane shows up every so often to say allow. The pilot calls the F-84 "iron belly".


I will be making the trip soon to say hello to Fred.


Cheers,
Nate

[cooper9411]

I just got off the phone with Fred McCoy. What a really friendly guy. He is 87 years old and was a Marine during the Korean war. He said he bought the F-84 from Morgantown back in 1963. He said a man that used to fly the same airplane shows up every so often to say allow. The pilot calls the F-84 "iron belly".


I will be making the trip soon to say hello to Fred.


Cheers,
Nate

1) Any chance he would be interested in selling it? 2) Let me know when your going, I may meet you there.

[cooper9411]

Spoke with Fred yesterday evening. Very knowledgeable and friendly person. His words " every thing I have is for sale"! So guess I'll be heading that way and see what is there. He said the engine that was in the F-84 was sold long time ago and is now somewhere in Florida. Fred says from what he recalls the cockpit is there(?) but hasn't seen the inside in about 25-30 years. The plane is sitting in the cradle and can be lifted off with no problems.

[RandolphB]

Spoke with Fred yesterday evening. Very knowledgeable and friendly person. His words " every thing I have is for sale"! So guess I'll be heading that way and see what is there. He said the engine that was in the F-84 was sold long time ago and is now somewhere in Florida. Fred says from what he recalls the cockpit is there(?) but hasn't seen the inside in about 25-30 years. The plane is sitting in the cradle and can be lifted off with no problems.

Other than maybe the power lines 10 feet directly over it......cranes and power lines don't play well with each other.

[Chris Brame]

Thread from the dead, and an update. The Blacksville F-84 has had some sprucing-up done since the last post; Google Street View from 2021:


As it looked in service, from the Archive.org copy of the Forgotten Jets site:

F-84F-1-RE s/n 51-1349
*1954: AFFTC.
*USAF 6515 TG.
*USAF 6511 TG.
*3/1958: Disposed of by Class 26 at NAF El Centro, CA.

If that's the correct serial number, 51-1349 was the seventh F-84F produced and the second oldest surviving Thunderstreak (after 51-1346 at Rickenbacker ANGB). Anyone know who was behind the repaint and the plaque added below it?