North American F-86 Sabre
North American Aviation · United States · first flew 1947 · fighter
The iconic Western swept-wing fighter of the Korean War, the F-86 Sabre dueled MiG-15s over MiG Alley and equipped air forces across the world.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Low-mounted, swept |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × turbojet, fuselage-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Bubble canopy set well forward over a slim fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Cleanly swept wings and tail, the classic early-jet swept look
- Single oval nose intake feeding one turbojet
- Bubble canopy set well forward over a slim fuselage
Note the evenly swept wings and tail, the single round nose intake and the forward bubble canopy. Its balanced swept planform distinguishes it from the straight-winged Meteor and the twin-boom Vampire.
Specifications
- The North American F-86 Sabre has a length of 11.4 m (37 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 11.3 m (37 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 1106 km/h (687 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
North American's XP-86 first flew in 1947, its 35-degree swept wing drawing on captured German research, and entered USAF service in 1949. The definitive F-86F day fighter combined an uprated J47 engine with an improved hard-edge wing and armed itself with six .50 calibre machine guns.
Variants
Production ran from the F-86A through the all-flying-tail F-86E to the most-built F-86F, with the radar-equipped F-86D and F-86L all-weather interceptors and the F-86H fighter-bomber alongside. Licence-built Canadair and CAC Sabres were made in Canada and Australia.
Where you'll see it
Primarily an American aircraft, the Sabre was nonetheless flown by the RAF, which operated several hundred Canadair-built examples in the early 1950s as an interim swept-wing fighter pending the Hawker Hunter. Preserved Sabres can be seen in UK collections including the American Air Museum at Duxford.
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- Hawker Sea Fury FB.11
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