From 1959 to 1993, Larsen Park hosted three different retired Navy jets, each donated to serve as imaginative play structures for the children of the Parkside District. The first was a Grumman F-9 Cougar reconnaissance plane from Squadron VC-61, driven up from Moffett Field in Mountain View with the cooperation of the California Highway Patrol and all the police department jurisdictions in between. The second jet, a Navy F-J Fury, replaced the Grumman in 1967. Both jets had ladders added to help kids climb into the cockpits. The third, and perhaps best-remembered jet, as it occupied the park for eighteen years from 1975 to 1993, was an F-8 Crusader.
But even though old-timers wish a real Navy plane could have been obtained, modern safety regulations and the prohibitive expense in taking on and remediating a real jet just made it impossible, even if the government had aircraft to give.
Also, San Francisco isn’t the Navy town it once was—many people object strongly to having an instrument of war in a public playground.
So now, something has been made to look the part, hopefully not just made of Nerf material, and the kids don't really seem to mind the lack of authentic airtime.
But a Helicopter with blades? They'd go bonkers for a CH53 in the park, you just know it. Too bad the military wasted all those bombers and choppers in the graveyard in Arizona, instead of offereing them to public parks across the country for kids, and adults, to play in and on.
http://www.outsidelands.org/larsen_park_jets.php
https://www.sfparksalliance.org/our-work/park-partners/larsen-playground-friends
https://archives.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/larsen-playground-project-in-sf-revives-iconic-playground-jet/Content?oid=2852218
https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Hopes-soar-for-new-Larsen-Park-jet-4288327.php
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