Subject: Number Ninety-Four in the Series--Lockheed F-94 Starfire (2 of 3)

From: [email-masked]
Date: 11 Oct 93 13:35:30 GMT

>From [email-masked]

The F-94A/B Starfire all-weather interceptors of the USAF were 
considered only as interim types which would fill in the gap for a 
couple of years until more advanced aircraft could be made available 
in quantity.  The F-94A/B proved to be quite reliable all-weather 
interceptors and were relatively easy to maintain in the field.  
However, the F-94A/B lacked sufficient range and climbing speed to 
make it a really good interceptor, and its armament did not pack 
sufficient punch to be considered really effective against bombers.  

In July 1948, four months before receiving the contract for the first 
batch of F-94As, Lockheed issued a proposal to the USAF for a more 
advanced development of the F-94A concept.  The project was given the 
company designation of L-188.  In order to achieve higher Mach 
numbers, the L-188 featured a completely new wing with reduced 
thickness.  The speed brakes were revised and the fuel capacity was 
increased.  Since more power was clearly needed, a Pratt & Whitney J48 
afterburning turbojet was to be fitted.  This engine was a 
license-built version of the British-designed Rolls-Royce Tay.  With 
afterburning, this engine offered 8750 pounds of thrust.  The 
increased engine thrust required that the air intakes be revised and 
made larger.  A more advanced Hughes E-5 fire control system with 
APG-40 radar was to be used.  The machine gun armament of the F-94A 
was to be replaced by an all-rocket armament mounted in the fuselage 
nose.  

The USAF was initially not all that interested in the Lockheed 
proposal, preferring to concentrate on the North American F-86D Sabre 
and the Northrop F-89 Scorpion.  Nevertheless, the USAF thought enough 
of the proposal that they assigned it a designation of F-97.  A new 
F-number was selected for the Lockheed proposal since it was almost a 
complete redesign of the F-94.  

Undeterred by the USAF's initial lukewarm response to their L-188 
proposal, Lockheed decided in 1949 to go ahead with the construction 
of a company-funded demonstrator aircraft that would combine the L-188 
wing with a F-94A fuselage from which the military armament and fire 
control systems had been omitted.  Since the J48 engine was not yet 
ready, the demonstrator was fitted with an imported non-afterburning 
Rolls-Royce Tay.  

Bearing the civil registration N94C, the unarmed demonstrator flew for 
the first time on January 19, 1950, with test pilot Tony LeVier at the 
controls.  It retained the original nose of the F-94A, and had 
non-standard teardrop-shaped centerline-mounted wingtip tanks.  The 
USAF was sufficiently impressed that in February 1950 they purchased 
the unarmed L-188 demonstrator under the designation YF-97.  The 
military serial number 50-955 replaced the original civil registration 
number.  At the same time, the USAF ordered a fully militarized 
prototype YF-97 under the serial number 50-877.  180 production 
examples were ordered under the designation F-97A.  The company 
designation for the F-97A was Model 880.  

Initial trials with the L-188/YF-97 demonstrator turned up several 
problems which were corrected by progressive modifications.  The wing 
root extension fillet of the original L-188 wing was removed in order 
to improve stall characteristics during landing approach.  The 
original horizontal stabilizer of the F-94 was replaced by 
power-boosted swept surfaces to eliminate an annoying high-frequency 
vibration that took place at high Mach numbers.  Dampers were added to 
correct aileron buzzing.  Spoilers were added to improve roll control.  
The vertical fin was made larger in order to increase directional 
stability at high speeds.  When the American-built Tay finally became 
available, the first YF-97 was re-engined with a J48-P-3 engine, rated 
at 6000 lb.st. dry and 8000 lb.st with afterburning.  

On September 12, 1950, the YF-97 was redesignated YF-94C.  Even though 
the new Starfire was almost a completely new aircraft, it was thought 
wise to pretend that the design was simply a "logical extension" of an 
existing aircraft.  Political considerations often play an important 
role in the choice of aircraft designations.  

The two YF-94Cs continued to be used for tests of the improved fire 
control system and the all-rocket armament.  The all-rocket armament 
consisted of twenty-four 2.75-inch Folding-Fin Aircraft Rockets (FFAR) 
mounted in four groups surrounding the APG-40 radome in the nose.  The 
rockets were covered by snap-action doors which opened immediately 
before firing.  The YF-94Cs were fitted with a revised fuel system 
accommodating 566 US gallons in wing and fuselage tanks, 500 gallons 
in wingtip tanks, and 460 gallons in slipper tanks for a total fuel 
capacity of 1526 gallons.  There were difficulties with the drag 
chute, with the automatic pilot, with the afterburner of the J48, and 
with aileron flutter.  These problems were not fully resolved until 
after the first F-94C production aircraft had been delivered.  

The F-94C production aircraft had initially been ordered under the 
F-97 designation.  The first production F-94C was delivered in July of 
1951.  The production F-94C was powered by the Pratt & Whitney J48-P-5 
engine rated at 6350 lb.st. dry and 8750 lb.st. with afterburning.  
Teething problems delayed the introduction of the F-94C into squadron 
service for almost two years.  The F-94C finally entered service with 
the 437th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Otis AFB in Massachusetts in 
June of 1953.  The F-94C was the second type of fighter serving with 
the Air Defense Command (ADC) to use rockets as its sole armament, the 
North American F-86D Sabre being the first.  

Initially, the F-94C suffered with some of the same teething troubles 
which had not been completely ironed out during the testing of the 
YF-94Cs.  The E-5 fire control system had reliability problems.  The 
cockpit seal tended to leak, causing electrical short-circuits.  In 
addition, the jet engine tended to flame out when the nose rockets 
were fired.  However, once these difficulties were cleared up, the 
F-94C became popular with its flight and maintenance crews.  The 
rocket armament of the F-94C was considered to be more accurate than 
that of the F-86D Sabre, owing to the use of closed-breech launchers 
by the F-94C which increased the velocity of the rockets.  However, 
the firing of the nose rockets violently shook the F-94C and blinded 
both crew members in exhaust smoke and fire.  

387 F-94C aircraft were built and delivered between July of 1951 and 
May of 1954.  In 1953, F-94Cs were delivered to the 29th, 48th, 
66th,332nd, 438th, and 497th Fighter Interceptor Squadrons.  In 
1954-55, F-94Cs went to the 27th, 39th, 61st, 64th, and 318th 
Squadrons.  Most of these squadrons served in the mainland United 
States, although the 39th did serve for a time in Japan.  

In the course of its production and service life, the F-94C was 
progressively improved and upgraded, with new features continually 
being added in the field.  New and improved ejector seats were 
provided, variable-position dive brakes were fitted, and a better drag 
chute was added.  Beginning with the 100th F-94C leaving the 
production line, a twelve-rocket pod was mounted on each wing leading 
edge, doubling the armament of the Starfire.  These mid-wing rocket 
pods were retrofitted to earlier production machines.  Owing to the 
crew blinding problem during rocket firing, the nose rockets were 
often omitted from F-94Cs in the field, the rocket armament being 
carried exclusively in the mid-wing pods.  

The F-94C Starfire became the first all-weather fighter to break the 
sound barrier, which happened by accident when test pilot Herman 
"Fish" Salmon put his F-94C into a dive from 45,000 feet, rolling over 
in afterburner.  

A single F-94C was used to test the adoption of the Hughes GAR-1 
Falcon missile as part of the basic armament of the Starfire.  This 
aircraft was redesignated DF-94C.  Although the Falcon missile was 
never made part of the Starfire's operational armament, these 
experiments provided data for later generations of ADC interceptors.  

F-94C serial number 50-963 was experimentally fitted with an enlarged 
nose in which reconnaissance cameras were mounted in place of the 
interceptor's radar and rockets.  This plane was redesignated EF-94C, 
the E standing for *Exempt*.  E was used rather than the regular R for 
Reconnaissance because this aircraft was to be used strictly for 
research purposes.  

The service life of the F-94C Starfire with the USAF was quite short, 
most of these aircraft being phased out and replaced by more advanced 
types after only a couple of years of service.  The last F-94C left 
USAF service in February of 1959.  

After leaving USAF service, F-94Cs were passed along to the Air 
National Guard.  With the F-94Cs supplementing the earlier F-94A/B, 
the Starfire equipped twenty-one Fighter Interceptor Squadrons of the 
Air National Guard.  The last F-94Cs were phased out of ANG service by 
the 179th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at the Duluth Municipal 
Airport, Minnesota during the summer of 1959.  

Serials of the F-94C Starfire 

50-877 		Lockheed YF-97 Starfire -- later redesignated YF-94C 
50-955 		Lockheed YF-97 Starfire -- later redesignated YF-94C 
50-956/1063 	Lockheed F-94C-1-LO Starfire 
51-5513/5698 	Lockheed F-94C-1-LO Starfire 
51-13511/13603 	Lockheed F-94C-1-LO Starfire 

Specification of the F-94C: 

One Pratt & Whitney J48-P-5 turbojet engine rated at 6350 lb.st.  dry 
and 8750 lb.st.  with afterburning.  Wingspan 42 feet 5 inches with 
wingtip tanks, length 44 feet 6 inches, height 14 feet 11 inches, wing 
area 232.8 square feet.  Weights: 12,708 pounds empty, 18,300 pounds 
loaded, 24,184 pound maximum.  Maximum speed: 640 mph at sea level, 
585 mph at 22,000 feet, 578 mph at 40,000 fee.  Initial climb rate 
7980 feet per minute.  Service ceiling 51,400 feet.  Normal range 805 
miles, maximum range 1275 miles.  Armed with twenty-four 2.75-inch 
Mighty Mouse FFARs in nose, plus twelve FFARs in each of two wing 
leading-edge pods.  

Sources:

  Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913, Rene J. Francillon, Naval Institute Press,
  1987.

  Fighters of the United States Air Force, Robert F. Dorr and David Donald,
  Temple Press Aerospace, 1990.

  The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.

Joe Baugher		AT&T Bell Laboratories   	
2000 North Naperville Road      Naperville, Illinois 60566-7033