HobbyBoss 1/32 F-84G Thunderjet by Guy Goodwin
I
’ve mentioned before my love
of high-end kits – Tamiya,
Wingnut Wings, etc. – so
when I picked up the HobbyBoss
1/32 F-84G Thunderjet from the
editor, I thought I’d probably build
it, but at some later point. But as
I was on a run of metal-finished
kits, this one just seemed to be
too attractive to pass by. I have
not had any experience with
HobbyBoss before and wasn’t
really expecting too much, but
as soon as I looked inside the box
I realised this kit is a beauty!HISTORY
The F-84 Thunderjet was among
the first generation of jet-age
fighters, coming to fame during
the Korean War as a ground-
attack fighter-bomber. Typical of
most early jets, the Thunderjet’s
takeoff performance left much tobe desired. In hot Korean summers
with a full combat load, the aircraft
routinely required 10,000 ft
(3,000 m) of runway for takeoff,
even with the help of Rocket
Assisted Take Off (RATO) bottles.
Early F-84s had to be pulled
off the ground at 160 mph with
the control stick held all the way
back. Landings didn’t prove to be
any less exciting and were made
at a similar speed. Despite the
high landing speeds, however,
the Thunderjet was easy to fly on
instruments, and crosswinds did
not present much of a problem.
Thanks to its wide, straight
wing, the Thunderjet rapidly
reached its Mach 0.82 limitation at
full throttle and low altitude. The
aircraft had sufficient power to
fly faster, but exceeding the Mach
limit at low altitudes resulted in
a violent pitch-up and structural
failure, which could cause the wingsJACKET
Fu l l M e t al
14 • AUGUST 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
BY SACCO DE VRIES
F-84G THUNDERJET
BY GUY GOODWIN
1/014-19-FEAT-Thunderjet-0818.indd 14 12/07/2018 11: