This long-range fighter was an aircraft of several firsts. Northrop designed the Scorpion as the first jet-powered, all-weather interceptor, and they began flying for the US Air Force in 1955. F-89Hs carried armament in their pronounced launching pods on the wing tips. These pods contained six individual missile bays housing the world’s first guided air-to-air missiles. An F-89J was also the first aircraft equipped with air-to-air nuclear weapons. Soon after Northrop produced the Scorpion, other faster and more advanced aircraft, such as the Convair F-102, entered the interceptor arena and cut the F-89’s active duty career short. By the end of 1959, the US Air Force transferred all F-89 Scorpions to the Air National Guard.
Hill Air Force Base had a close association with the F-89 Scorpion. Throughout the 1950s, the men and women of the installation maintained F-89s, installed modifications and upgrades, and repaired the Scorpion’s powerful J35 turbojet engines.
Northrop delivered the Scorpion on display to the US Air Force in 1956 and it was transferred to the Oregon Air National Guard in 1958. Twenty-three years later, the Hill Aerospace Museum received the aircraft for static display.
On 19 July 1957, an F-89J fired a Genie test rocket from 18,000 feet with a nuclear warhead over Yucca Flats testing range in Nevada. This was the first and only test detonation of a U.S. nuclear-tipped air-to-air rocket.
Serial Number: 54-0322
Manufacturer: Northrop
Primary Function: Air Interceptor
Crew: Two
Engines: Two Allison J35 turbojets
Wingspan: 59 ft 10 in
Length: 53 ft 10 in
Height: 17 ft 6 in
Weight: 47,719 lbs. loaded
Speed: Maximum: 630 mph; Cruising Speed: 465 mph; Thrust: 7,200 lbs. per engine with afterburner
Range: 1,600 miles
Service Ceiling: 45,000 ft
Armament: 3,200 lbs. mixed ordnance or two Genie nuclear rockets
Years of Service: 1950 – 1969
