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Italian Air Force F-84F Thunderstreak

Got a hole in an old log? Empty lines in your notebook? Request that missing serial here, hopefully someone can help. Requests over 6 months old only please.
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fatherfaff
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Joined: Fri Jan 19, 2018 12:33 pm
Location: Leeds area

Italian Air Force F-84F Thunderstreak

Post by fatherfaff » Wed Oct 27, 2021 2:23 pm

Anyone know anything about Italian Air Force F-84s?

In my log for 14 August 1976 I came across an F-84 on display in the town of Vedelago (not far from Istrana Air Base north of Venice). It was in silver IAF colours with "36634" on the tail and "51-30" on the nose, apparently outside a fashion shop called Magazzini Pelizzari. This should make it MM53-6634 but I noted that it had USAF serial 53-6646 but not where I found this serial. I've searched the internet and found a historical photo of 36634/51-30 on display with an engine beside it (probably as I saw it) but no US serial is visible anywhere.

Further searching produced a photo of an Italian AF F-84 on display in Cerbaiola, Museo del'Aviazone in orange and silver colours marked as "MM53-6591" but according to the caption is actually 53-6646.

So was the aircraft I saw MM53-6634 as per the tail fin (or some sort of composite with the tail of 6634 and part of 6646)? And what happened to this aircraft?

fatherfaff
Posts: 337
Joined: Fri Jan 19, 2018 12:33 pm
Location: Leeds area

Re: Italian Air Force F-84F Thunderstreak

Post by fatherfaff » Wed Oct 27, 2021 2:34 pm

I googled "Italian F-84F 51-30" and a photo by Gys Hiltermann on Thunderstreaks.com shows the aircraft. In the back ground is a statue of a man with a cross and googling Pelizzari, Vedelago, confirms that this F-84F photo was taken in the car park of the fashion shop.

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Yammer
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Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 3:27 pm

Re: Italian Air Force F-84F Thunderstreak

Post by Yammer » Wed Oct 27, 2021 2:40 pm

The excellent Joe Baugher US Serial website has

6634 to Italian AF. w/o 19 Jul 1956 near Montichiari

6646 to Italian AF as MM-6646, noted Fall 2003 at Museu dell Aviazione, Cerbaiola, Italy painted as '5-36591'


maybe a "bitsa" using the tail from wreck 6634 or maybe painted up to resemble "6634" in honour of the crash pilot......maybe.
Shobdon Blog - Residents photo list

https://shobdonegbsblog.blogspot.com/

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SuperPole
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Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 3:34 pm

Re: Italian Air Force F-84F Thunderstreak

Post by SuperPole » Sat Nov 20, 2021 2:20 pm

fatherfaff wrote:
Wed Oct 27, 2021 2:23 pm
Anyone know anything about Italian Air Force F-84s?

In my log for 14 August 1976 I came across an F-84 on display in the town of Vedelago (not far from Istrana Air Base north of Venice). It was in silver IAF colours with "36634" on the tail and "51-30" on the nose, apparently outside a fashion shop called Magazzini Pelizzari. This should make it MM53-6634 but I noted that it had USAF serial 53-6646 but not where I found this serial. I've searched the internet and found a historical photo of 36634/51-30 on display with an engine beside it (probably as I saw it) but no US serial is visible anywhere.

Further searching produced a photo of an Italian AF F-84 on display in Cerbaiola, Museo del'Aviazone in orange and silver colours marked as "MM53-6591" but according to the caption is actually 53-6646.

So was the aircraft I saw MM53-6634 as per the tail fin (or some sort of composite with the tail of 6634 and part of 6646)? And what happened to this aircraft?
The original edition of European Wrecks and Relics [1989 Mike Bursell] has an entry for this as follows:

Vedelago: "Near a shop in this small town just to the West of Istrana, F-84F Thunderstreak MM53-6646 painted as 36634/51-30 is preserved" The spurious tail serial arises from some swapping of tails in the Castrette scrapyard. By 08/1987 it had been repainted with the code 51-37 applied.

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