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Description
| Manufacturer: | Northrop | |
| Base model: | F-89 | |
| Designation: | F-89 | |
| Version: | C | |
| Nickname: | Scorpion | |
| Designation System: | U.S. Air Force | |
| Designation Period: | 1948-Present | |
| Basic role: | Fighter | |
| See Also: | ||
Specifications
| Not Yet Available |
Known serial numbers
Recent comments by our visitors
| Don harvey Englewood, FL | In 1952 and 1953 I was a back seat radar officer in the 84th
Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Hamilton Air Force Base, Ca. Flew in the F-89 B and C models. There was a magazine article in 1953 about the Scorpion: http://hamiltonafbhistory.multiply.com/photos/album/64/84th_FIS_Article_March_1953 Don Harvey 05/03/2011 @ 12:34 [ref: 37637] |
| Joe Craig Austin, TX | I was a kid with my Brother and Dad at that airshow outside Detroit. We looked up from the parking lot to see two F89s approaching at a fairly low altitude and fairly slow speed. Suddenly one of the wings snapped off one plane and it began a flat spin until it crashed into some buildings. The announcer was screaming for the pilot to try and clear the audience, but there was no way he had any control. Keroscene drifted down onto cars in the parking lot and set some on fire, but not ours. I couldn't believe I had seen someone die. I was too young. 02/20/2011 @ 10:04 [ref: 36079] |
| Donald Adams (Jr.) Roscommon, MI | My father, Donald Adams, was the pilot of the F-89 Scorpion referenced by Mr. Kelly. Please contact me by e-mail if you wish. 09/28/2010 @ 17:40 [ref: 30735] |
| Brian Kelly Sarasota,, FL | My father was killed in an airshow in michigan flying a F89. Seems the wings had trouble staying on this plane. Pictures of crash were in life magazine in early 50's. They show the wing ripped off and still flying to crash site outside of the area. I beleive a Maj Adams was the pilot and my father capt. Ed F Kelly was radar operator. Years later I was at a friends house and his father asked me about being born in alaska. Seems he was also stationed there while in the USAF. Matts father also flew a F89 and asked if that was what my father was killed in. I said yes and he looked at me and said that is why he left the Air Force he had lost to many close friends because of that plane. His name was Tony Cunningham. Yes this plane has left a wake of misery behind it. regards Brian Kelly 07/23/2010 @ 12:53 [ref: 28382] |
| Carl B. Jordan , FL | Another source of information about the F-89-C crash would be: http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbaf.htm
Enter as much information as you can at this website. It might help you to find what you want. 10/24/2008 @ 11:10 [ref: 22915] |
| Carl B. Jordan , FL | This is in regards to the inquiry from Stewart Anderson regarding the crash of his father. Sorry for the delay, but I just recently came across this website forum.
As a matter of information, there was no "San Angelo AFB." However, there was a "Goodfellow AFB" located at San Angelo, Texas. (I was once based there.) And, it would be a bit rare for an Air Force plane to fly into a Navy base. Pensacola is a Naval Air Station, primarily used to train Naval aviators. But, it's possible that this was where he was headed. (On at least one occasion, I flew an F-89-D into a Naval Air Station at Kodiak, Alaska.) You might be able to obtain a copy of the official Air Force accident report from "Mike" at accireport@comcast.com. You should send him an email including your father's full name, rank, type of aircraft and date and location of the crash. Or, at least as much of that info as you can. You should also explain that he was an RAF pilot posted to duty with the Air Force. Mike might be able to obtain the applicable accident report. (He's found at least six for me that date back to the 1950's.) Good luck! 10/24/2008 @ 05:44 [ref: 22912] |
| stewart andersen london, PA | My father was an RAF pilot who had been seconded to the USAF in 1950. On December 9 1951 he was flying a Northrop F89C Scorpion en route, I believe to his base at Pensacola. He took off, I understand, from San Angelo AFB and the plane then crashed. If anyone has any further information about this, I would be grateful for an e mail, as I have never had any real information about the crash. 02/10/2007 @ 03:10 [ref: 15473] |
| stewart andersen london, PA | My father was an RAF pilot who had been seconded to the USAF in 1950. On December 9 1951 he was flying a Northrop F89C Scorpion en route, I believe to his base at Pensacola. He took off, I understand, from San Angelo AFB and the plane then crashed. If anyone has any further information about this, I would be grateful for an e mail, as I have never had any real information about the crash. 02/10/2007 @ 03:10 [ref: 15472] |
| H. Oechsel putnam, IL | I flew the F-89C while in the 61st FIS prior to transitioning to the "D" model at EHAFB in Newfoundland, Canada. This was 1953-1954. Never had problems with the a/c. The "D" was a better machine yet and the "J" even better. 09/10/2006 @ 15:29 [ref: 14136] |
| George Filer , NJ | Port Huron – Divers from the Great Lakes Dive Company claim to have located a US Air Force F-89 Scorpion jet fighter that disappeared in 1953, over Lake Superior. The F-89 with tail number 51-5853A was piloted by 1st Lt. Felix Moncla, Jr, with Second Lt. Robert L. Wilson as the Radar Intercept Officer. The divers using sophisticated side scan sonar have located two possible aircraft and a third unidentified object in deep water. The wreckage of the plane and object that the F-89 collided with it until now have never been found.
I spoke with a radar operator who worked in the Air Defense Command radar site on November 23, 1953. During the evening radar picked up an unidentified target over Lake Superior. Kinross Air Force Base nearby alerted the 433rd Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Truax Field, in Madison, Wisconsin, and an F-89 C all-weather interceptor was scrambled. U.S. Air Force accident report records indicate that the F-89 was vectored WNW, then W, climbing to 30,000 feet. While on a westerly course, the F-89 was cleared to descend to 7,000 feet, turning ENE and coming steeply down to the unknown target from above. The last radar contact placed the interceptor at 8,000 feet, 70 miles off Keeweenaw Point. The F-89 was trying to intercept and investigate an unusual radar blip when it crashed. Radar operators watched as the "blips" of the UFO and the F-89 merged on their scopes, in an apparent collision, and disappeared. No trace of the plane was ever found. The U.S. Air Force claimed the F-89 was launched to intercept a Royal Canadian Air Force C-47, later the fighter jet had collided with the Canadian transport plane, but the RCAF then, and the CAF today deny any of their planes was over the lake on that date. The same day an F-89 from the same squadron crashed and also had some kind of catastrophe that didn't give the crew time to eject. Despite repeated engine changes, problems persisted, compounded by the discovery of structural problems with the wings that forced a refit of 194 -A, -B, and -C models. When I chased a UFO we flew faster then the red lined speed limit of our aircraft during the thrill of the chase. The underwater F-89 is missing a wing. Great Lakes Dive Company representative Jimenez claims that the plane is mostly intact and lying upright in deep water and in searching the general vicinity of the wreck, we found an unidentified object that apparently hit the F-89. One wing of the aircraft is missing and is likely the point of contact. Jimenez declined to identify the other object. A documentary on the history, search and discovery of the F-89 and the mystery object is being filmed. (www.greatlakesdive.com More data at www.nationalufocenter.com 09/07/2006 @ 19:46 [ref: 14094] |
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