{"id":538,"date":"2026-06-21T22:04:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T02:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviation.christophermreed.net\/?page_id=538"},"modified":"2026-08-30T02:12:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T02:12:26","slug":"f-94c-starfire","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/christophermreed.net\/aviation\/f-94c-starfire\/","title":{"rendered":"F-94C Starfire"},"content":{"rendered":"

The final combatant evolution of the Shooting Star<\/a> series, the F-94C was a quite different bird from previous Starfires, and in fact was at first designated as the F-97. The C-model featured an entirely new and thinner wing, sweptback horizontal tail, and an afterburning Pratt & Whitney J48-P-5\/5A. Recognizing that the F-94A\/B’s machine gun armament was grossly inadequate for dealing with Soviet heavy bombers, the F-94C had all-rocket weaponry, initially consisting of an array of 24 FFAR launchers around the nose radome (for the AN\/APG-40 radar) and a pair of wing pods each with a further dozen rockets. In practice, the nose rockets would blind the pilot after firing, as well as often snuffing the engine out, so those launchers were seldom used.<\/p>\n

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Aside from a pair of F-94Bs converted as prototypes, Lockheed built 387 production C-models. The F-94D would have been a single seater fighter-bomber model; the YF-94D prototype was later used as a testbed for the M61 Vulcan 20mm cannon, but the 112 production machines on order were cancelled. A single EF-94C, 50-96, flew with a revised nose intended for a reconnaissance version that remained unbuilt.<\/p>\n

The 319th FIS was the last frontline USAF unit to fly the F-94C, phasing out the type in late 1957, while the Minnesota ANG’s 179th FIS retired the last Guard F-94Cs two years later as the unit converted to F-89Js.<\/p>\n

For many years, C-model Starfires were not well represented in the model world, as the elderly Revell and Linberg kits are far from today’s standards. Recently, Kitty Hawk Models has released a much superior 1\/48 scale version.<\/p>\n

F-94C Bibliography:<\/h3>\n