North American F-100 Super Sabre

North American Aviation · United States · first flew 1953 · fighter

The first of the USAF Century Series and the first American fighter able to go supersonic in level flight, the F-100 Super Sabre served as a fighter and ground-attack aircraft for decades.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Low-mounted, swept
E — Engines	1 × turbojet, fuselage-mounted
F — Fuselage	15.2 m fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Sharply swept low wings with an oval shark-mouth nose intake
Low-set swept tailplane well below the wing line
Tall swept fin and a large ventral airbrake

Look for the low swept wing, the flat oval shark-mouth intake under the nose and the low-mounted swept tailplane. The big ventral airbrake and tall fin round out the profile.

Specifications

The North American F-100 Super Sabre has a length of 15.2 m (50 ft).
It has a wingspan of 11.81 m (39 ft).
Its maximum speed is 1390 km/h (864 mph).
Typical crew: 1.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

North American's prototype first flew in 1953 and the definitive F-100D entered service in 1956, evolving the Sabre into a larger, more powerful supersonic machine with a 45-degree swept wing and J57 afterburning engine. It earned the nickname Hun.

Variants

The F-100A day fighter was followed by the F-100C fighter-bomber, the definitive ground-attack F-100D and the two-seat F-100F, which also served as an early Wild Weasel. A reconnaissance RF-100A was also built.

Where you'll see it

Chiefly a US Air Force and Air National Guard aircraft, the Super Sabre also served France, Turkey, Taiwan and Denmark, and flew heavily in Vietnam. It is not a British type, but preserved F-100s can be seen in the UK at the American Air Museum, Duxford.

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