North American F-86A Sabre

As the combatant nations of World War II began crash programs to develop jet fighters, the USAAF issued a requirement for a high-altitude escort fighter in 1944 to supplement the P-80 Shooting Star. North American, which was already working on a similar aircraft for the US Navy, the FJ-1 Fury, submitted a stripped-down Fury as the XP-86. While North American initially though the XP-86 would be able to reach nearly 600 mph—almost the speed of sound—the straight wing limited performance, and indeed the XP-86 was no faster or maneuverable than the P-80 or Republic’s offer to the USAAF, the XP-84 Thunderjet.

With the project under threat of cancellation, North American looked for a solution and found one: the prewar German research into swept wings. By sweeping the wings back, this lessened drag and increased performance. Using the Messerschmitt 262 as a basis, the XP-86 was modified with a 35-degree wing sweep, leading edge slats, and a movable tailplane. When it first flew on 1 October 1947, it nearly reached the speed of sound. The newly-independent USAF quickly put the XP-86—now designated F-86A Sabre—into production as its primary day fighter, entering service in 1949. Pilots favorably compared the F-86 to an earlier North American product, the P-51 Mustang: like the Mustang, the Sabre was long-ranged, very maneuverable, easy to fly, and had superb visibility from its bubble canopy.

The USAF would not have long to wait to see the Sabre’s prowess in combat. As the Korean War entered its sixth month with UN forces closing on the Chinese border at the Yalu River, UN air units began coming under attack from Chinese, North Korean, and—secretly—Soviet MiG-15s. The USAF’s propeller-driven F-51s and F-82s, and the straight wing F-80s and F-84s were outclassed by the swept wing MiG, so the F-86 was rushed to Korea and entered combat in December 1950. While the MiG-15 was more maneuverable and could outclimb the F-86A, the Sabre was superior in the dive and at altitudes below 25,000 feet. North American quickly began production on new Sabre models designed to take on the MiG-15, namely the F-86E, with an “all-moving” tailplane and boosted controls, and the F-86F, which had a larger wing and slats for better low-speed maneuverability. While still unable to climb with the MiG-15, the F-86E/F allowed the Sabre pilots to better dogfight them, though the F-86’s armament of six .50 caliber machine guns was found to be inadequate against the cannon-armed MiG-15.

Nonetheless, the higher skill of American F-86 pilots, improved Sabre variants, and a radar-ranging gunsight allowed Sabres to contest air superiority over “MiG Alley,” the valley of the Yalu River. USAF sources state a kill ratio of 12 to 1 over the MiG, while more recent research lowers that ratio as low as 2 to 1, at least against Soviet MiG pilots. Whatever the actual figures, 41 Americans became aces in the F-86; this was helped by the fact that nearly half the F-86 pilots in Korea had seen service in World War II, including Glenn Eagleston, Vermont Garrison, and Francis Gabreski.

Korea was not the last combat outing for the F-86. Sabres would see continual service well into the 1970s, seeing combat with the air forces of Pakistan, Portugal, and Taiwan. The latter introduced Sidewinder-armed F-86s, which caught Chinese MiG-15s by surprise in 1958; Pakistani F-86s were superior or equal to anything in India’s inventory in the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War until the introduction of the Folland Gnat. One Pakistani pilot, Muhammad Alam, scored 11 kills in the Sabre, five of them in thirty seconds. The F-86’s flying qualities made it extremely popular, and the aircraft was exported to no less than 25 nations, both in the F-86 day fighter version and the F-86D Sabre Dog radar-equipped and rocket-armed interceptor.

The USAF did not retire the F-86 until 1970, while Bolivia kept its F-86Fs in service until 1994. Besides North American production, the Sabre was also license-built in Australia, Japan, Italy, and Canada; Canadair Sabres, equipped with a more powerful Orenda engine and the aerodynamic improvements of the F-86F, were considered the most manueverable of the Sabre variants. 9860 F-86s were produced, including the license-built aircraft; today nearly a hundred survive in museums with a few airworthy examples.

This F-86A on display at the Calgary AeroSpace Museum is the second oldest Sabre in existence (second only to this aircraft, www.flickr.com/photos/31469080@N07/16075542202/in/datepos…), Built as a P-86A in 1947, it never saw combat; most of its career, it was used as a chase aircraft at Edwards AFB. It was retired in 1955 after its last assignment with the California ANG, and passed through various private owners before arriving in Seattle in 1972. It was donated to the Museum of Flight in 1990, but stripped to provide parts to another Sabre. In this condition, it was bought by the AeroSpace Museum in 1997, and completely restored to resemble a Canadair Sabre Mk.6 in RCAF service.

(Note that this was originally listed in this album as a Canadair Sabre–I assumed any Sabre on display in Canada is a Canadian-built example!)

Posted by The Roving Aircraft Historian on 2014-12-22 02:44:51

Tagged: , NorthAmerican , F-86 , Sabre , RCAF , CanadianAirForce , CalgaryAerospaceMuseum