F-89 Scorpion Illustrated

One of the enduring images of my childhood in the 1940s was a depiction of nuclear devastation upon American cities. The United States had emerged from World War II as the first world superpower, unchallenged in military might, crowned by its sole nuclear capability. That began to change in the late 1940s, as the Soviet Union acquired nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them to America. That threat inspired the ongoing search for weapons to defend from the (presumably) hordes of Soviet bombers headed for CONUS. Bombers were the only means to deliver that nuclear Armageddon before the advent of ICBMs, and the counter to the bomber was the interceptor.The Northrop F-89 Scorpion was America’s first jet interceptor. It was also the first fighter armed with air-to-air nuclear weapons, and among the first U.S. fighters to carry guided missiles. As the first line of defense against those Soviet bombers, the F-89 was flown by 36 active Air Force Units and 17 Air National Guard squadrons. The F-89 was not a fighter in the classical sense of that category of airplane. It was not particularly maneuverable and could in no way be considered sleek….or even pretty. It was designed for one mission, and one mission only. It was not a point defender against a fighter force and it would never carry or deliver air-to-ground weapons in combat. But it was the airplane for the time, and in spite of more advanced fighters coming on line quickly in the explosion of designs at the dawn of jets, the Scorpion soldiered on into the 1960s on the frontiers of freedom, guarding against the threat of Soviet bombers.It may not have been pretty, but it did sport some pretty colorful and innovative markings, all of which are featured herein. The Scorpion innovations were also more than skin deep and they would be the precursors to the ever-expanding air combat world of the second half of the 20th Century. One of the more interesting aspects of the Scorpion story was the astonishing amount of advertising that celebrated the F-89, from Northrop and from many suppliiers of F-89 parts. Many of those ads are includer herein. Read more