The Republic F-84 Thunderjet is an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) proposal for a "day fighter", the F-84 first flew in 1946.

[1] [2] The Tip Tow aircraft consisted of a specially modified ETB-29A (serial number 44-62093) and two EF-84D (serial numbers 48-641 and 48-661). A number of flights were undertaken, with several successful cycles of attachment and detachment, using at first a single aircraft, then two.

F-84D, 48-641, was officially delivered to the Air Force on May 16, 1949, but it remained in the possession of Republic at Farmingdale until August 1950. Its designation was changed to EF-84D in April 1950. Personnel Major C. E. “Bud” Anderson and Major John Davis were selected to fly the Thunderjets. Anderson was the primary

The nose of the EF-84D broke away from the rest of the airplane. The B-29 went into a steep spiral and crashed into Peconic Bay, Long Island, NY and the F-84 crashed shortly thereafter. John Davis and five crew members aboard the EB-29A were killed in the accident.

EF-84D. Two F-84Ds, EF-84D 48-641 and EF-84D 48-661 were modified with coupling devices; 641 starboard wing, 661 port wing for "Tip-Tow Project MX106 Wing Coupling Experiments." An EB-29A 44-62093 was modified with coupling devices on both wings.

Dec 14, 2017 · Over the following months, many more coupling flights were made under various conditions, even at night, enough to prove to the Air Force brass that the concept might just work. The next step was...

Sep 6, 2022 · Project Tip-Tow used a modified ETB-29A Superfortress with two Republic EF-84Ds attached to its wings. The idea was that the bomber could turn off its engines and rely on the fuel of the smaller fighter-bombers, thus increasing its range.

Dec 1, 2017 · The next step was to scale it up to operational level, with a Boeing ETB-29A bomber and two Republic EF-84D Thunderjets. The Air Force awarded Republic Aviation a contract to undertake Project Tip-Tow (so named because the fighters were towed on the wingtips) in 1950.

Aug 6, 2019 · D esigned by Republic Aviation Corporation engineer Alex Kartveli — progenitor of the P-47 Thunderbolt — the F-84 Thunderjet became the US Air Force’s second operational jet fighter but the first...

EF-84D Two F-84Ds, EF-84D 48-641 and EF-84D 48-661 were modified with wing-tip coupling devices to allow them to link in-flight with the wingtips of a B-29 bomber and extend the range of the fighters. The B-29 and one of the EF-84s were lost in an accident on 24 April 1953, when the F-84s automatic flight controls were activated after link-up.