The Republic Aviation Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer based in Farmingdale, New York, on Long Island.

While the contract was awarded to the Curtiss P-40, the USAAC was impressed with the high-altitude performance of the AP-4 and ordered 13 additional aircraft for testing,[1] as the XP-43.

The board, led by financier Paul Moore, voted W. Wallace Kellett to replace him as president, and in September 1939 the company was reorganized as the Republic Aviation Corporation.

Unfortunately, it was capable of carrying no more fuel than the P-43, and the Double Wasp engine was far more thirsty, significantly limiting the aircraft's range.

[2][3] As the air war in Europe progressed, the Army was discovering that what it really needed was a long-range fighter capable of escorting bombers into Germany.

Alexander Kartveli was called to the Army's Experimental Aircraft division and told of the new requirements, and that the P-44 would not be ordered in its current configuration.

Eventually this proved inadequate, and in November 1942, the Army authorized the construction of a new factory adjacent to the Evansville, Indiana airport.

He convinced the Republic board of the need for a light sport plane to meet a demand for private aircraft from pilots returning from World War II.

The first YP-84A Thunderjet flew on February 28, 1946, but the aircraft was plagued with so many developmental problems that the first F-84B didn't enter Air Force service until 1949.

The final straight-wing version, known as the F-84G, was a holdover design for Republic while the J-65 engine for the swept wing F-84F was still being developed.

The F-84F and RF-84F were both used by several foreign operators including Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Denmark (one squadron of RF-84F that were phased out in 1971).

By the time the mock-up was completed in October 1953, the aircraft had grown so large that a more powerful engine was needed; the Pratt & Whitney J75 was finally selected.

Although it had only one engine, the F-105 could carry a larger bomb load than a four-engine World War II bomber, and travel a greater distance at much higher speed.

The F-105 would become the primary ground attack aircraft of the Vietnam War, flying over 20,000 missions until replaced by the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II in November 1970.

In 1960, Republic Aviation acquired a minority interest in the Dutch aircraft company Fokker, and attempted to market a Fokker-designed attack plane (Fokker/Republic D-24 Alliance variable sweep wing VTOL) to the Air Force, but the Air Force showed little interest in the foreign design and no contracts were offered.

Republic's naming system was carried forward by Fairchild Hiller with the A-10 Thunderbolt II, which first flew in May 1972.

In addition to the continued front-line use of the A-10, a number of flying and static restorations have served to sustain public awareness of Republic's role in aviation history.

Joshua Stoff, the curator of the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island, wrote in Air & Space Magazine that, upon being invited to have a last look at the archives, he surreptitiously took one document with him.

It also maintains an extensive collection of archival photos, artifacts, corporate documents, and news articles on Republic.