Polecat wrote:And as a sidestep, I have always wondered why there isn't an airworthy F-84 in europe as many countries flew them and it would be a welcome gueast at airshows throughout Europe...)
Would have liked to see that too... I grew up with them (and "lead sleds"/T-33's) as my parents lived under the approach of the old, east/west runway at Eindhoven
The main reason for this is that the F-84's engine is -or rather, WAS- notoriously unreliable. While that was acceptable in the fifties and sixties in military, Cold War, settings, it would NEVER meet today's airworthyness and safety-requirements (and insurance-requirements, for that matter)
If I remember correctly, they tried to restore an ex-Belgian F-84F in the UK in the late seventies or early eighties, but ran into precisely these problems. To make an F-84 fly safely these days, it would mean re-engining the beast with a more reliable engine. Needless to say, this would mean redesigning the plane somewhat and would be a VERY expensive thing to do.