Photo: Steve Knopp
There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned restoration project. It’s a fun way of taking a once running and driving vehicle and bringing it back to its former glory with blood, sweat, and tears. That is unless, of course, if you’re trying to restore a 60-year-old American fighter jet lying in pieces in a hangar in Northern Illinois.
But that’s precisely the condition we find this Republic F-84 Thunderjet in today, sold as is by private seller Steve Knopp via Courtesyaircraft.com. To say this particular Thuinderjet’s been around the world and back at least a few times would be an understatement. It was first deployed to the 54th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (FIS) in December 1952.
The fighter jet was then transferred to the Air Materiel Command at Hill Air Force Base in Utah before being loaned to the Yugoslavian Air Force, where it would serve as a fighter-bomber with the 88th, 198th, 109th, and 172nd Fighter Bomber Aviation Regiments.
The plane would serve with distinction in the fledgling Yugoslav Air Force until the mid-1970s. At some point between then and now, the plane was transferred to the Museum of Aviation in Belgrade. It was there that Steve Knopp and his wife Norma found the plane. Disassembled and with its components “stored” in crates throughout the museum facility.
Steve’s father, Kenneth, a 40-year Boeing employee, forwarded most of the money to import the plane while the two negotiated a deal with the museum to custom import it back to the states.
The Knopps were able to import the plane and store it in their private hangar at P. Ponk Aviation on Camano Island in Washington. The two made five trips to Yugoslavia between 1989 and 1992 in order to make the sale a reality.
Think you’re up to the challenge of putting this classic airplane back in working order? A check for $100,000 will put the plane in a hangar near you. Best of luck to you; you’ll probably need it.
The fighter jet was then transferred to the Air Materiel Command at Hill Air Force Base in Utah before being loaned to the Yugoslavian Air Force, where it would serve as a fighter-bomber with the 88th, 198th, 109th, and 172nd Fighter Bomber Aviation Regiments.
The plane would serve with distinction in the fledgling Yugoslav Air Force until the mid-1970s. At some point between then and now, the plane was transferred to the Museum of Aviation in Belgrade. It was there that Steve Knopp and his wife Norma found the plane. Disassembled and with its components “stored” in crates throughout the museum facility.
Steve’s father, Kenneth, a 40-year Boeing employee, forwarded most of the money to import the plane while the two negotiated a deal with the museum to custom import it back to the states.
The Knopps were able to import the plane and store it in their private hangar at P. Ponk Aviation on Camano Island in Washington. The two made five trips to Yugoslavia between 1989 and 1992 in order to make the sale a reality.
Think you’re up to the challenge of putting this classic airplane back in working order? A check for $100,000 will put the plane in a hangar near you. Best of luck to you; you’ll probably need it.
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