North American F-86 Sabre
Jet Fighter Plane

The prototype of the North American F-86 Sabre, the XP-86 made it's first flight on the 1st of October 1947 and entered service with the USAF two years later in 1949. The North American F-86 Sabre was the main US fighter during the Korean War where they were regularly engaged in combat with North Korean MiG 15's. The MiG 15 and the Sabre were fairly equal in overall performance but the US pilots had received better training. It is interesting to note that the Sabre had design elements taken directly from Messerschmitt ME 262 captured during WW2, the Sabre used the slat design of the Me 262 and the prototype XP-86 Sabre even used some actual Me 262 track parts!

In the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 the F-86 Sabre was destined to meet a new far smaller adversary, the British Folland Fo 141 Gnat, the F-86 Sabre was to prove to be an easy target for the Folland Gnat, in the first dogfight over East Pakistan in the Battle of Boyra 4 Folland Gnats downed 3 F-86 Sabres in a very short and decisive engagement.

It is of note that the North American F-86 Sabre was also made under licence in Canada under the designation CL-13.

North American F-86A Sabre Specifications:

• Crew: Pilot only

• Length: 37 ft 6 in (11.4 m)

• Wingspan: 37 ft 1 in (11.3 m)

• Height: 14 ft 8 in (4.5 m)

• Maximum weight: 13,791 lb (6,300 kg)

• Engine: Single 5,200 lbf (24 kN) General Electric J47 turbojet

• Maximum speed: 685 mph (1,100 km/h)

• Range: 1,200 miles (1,900 km)

• Service ceiling: 49,000 ft (14,900 m)

Armament:

• Six 0.5 in (12.7 mm) machine guns

• Eight 5 in (127 mm) unguided rockets or 2,000 lb (900 kg) of bombs