F-86 Sabre
The F-86 Sabre was a US jet fighter aircraft used by the US Air Force during the Korean War. It was developed and manufactured by the North American Aviation. The prototype, the XP-86, flew for the first time on October 1, 1947. The F-86 was produced both as a fighter-interceptor and fighter-bomber. The USAF Strategic Air Command had F-86 Sabres in service from 1949 through 1950. The fighter-bomber version (F-86H) could carry up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) of bombs, including an external fuel-type tank that could carry napalm.
During the Korean War the F-86 Sabre fought against the Soviet MiG-15 in dogfight aerial combats. Although developed in the late 1940s and outdated by the end of the 1950s, the Sabre proved adaptable and continued as a front line fighter in air forces until the last active front line examples were retired by the Bolivian Air Force in 1994. Its success led to an extended production run of more than 7,800 aircraft between 1949 and 1956, in the United States, Japan and Italy. It was by far the most-produced Western jet fighter, with total production of all variants at 9,860 units. Variants were built in Canada and Australia. The Canadair Sabre added another 1,815 airframes, and the significantly redesigned CAC Sabre had a production run of 112.
Specifications
The F-86F-40-NA was powered by one General Electric J47-GE-27 turbojet, 5,910 lbf (maximum thrust at 7.950 rpm for five min). Its maximum speed was 680 mph at 1,500 ft with 14,212 lb (6,447 kg) combat weight. It had a range of 1,525 miles. The F-86 had a length of 37 ft 1 in (11.4 m) and a wingspan of 37 ft 0 in (11.3 m). Crew: 1 (pilot).
Armament
Guns: 6 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns (1,602 rounds in total)
Rockets: variety of rocket launchers; e.g: 2 × Matra rocket pods with 18× SNEB 68 mm rockets each
Missiles: 2× AIM-9 Sidewinders
Bombs: 5,300 lb (2,400 kg) of payload on four external hardpoints, bombs are usually mounted on outer two pylons as the inner pairs are wet-plumbed pylons for 2 × 200 gallons drop tanks to give the Sabre a useful range. A wide variety of bombs can be carried (max standard loadout being 2 × 1,000 lb bombs plus 2 drop tanks), napalm bomb canisters and can include a tactical nuclear weapon.
F-86 Sabre (Video)
