While the Korean War was the high point in the history of the F-86, the Sabre soldiered on for some time afterwards. It formed the core of the USAF fighter force in the mid-1950s, equipping more fighter wings than any other fighter type from 1953 until supplanted by North American’s F-100 in 1957. Beginning in 1954, F-86s flew more than half a million flying hours each year for five consecutive years, a feat unmatched by any other post–World War II American fighter. In the half-century since 1950, only the F-4 and F-16 have logged more total flying time.1 Other measures of its importance are the facts that it equipped so many air forces (thirty-seven) throughout the world for so long and that factories in the United States and four other countries turned out almost ten thousand Sabres, a record for a western jet fighter.2 In these ways, it dominated the air forces of the non-Communist countries in the 1950s.
While our story has been of the Korean War and the three Sabre models that flew there (A, E, and F), the F-86’s saga does not end with those models or with the Korean War. Other versions of the fighter took to the air in much larger numbers than those seen over Korea. And although Korea was the largest demonstration of jet aerial combat, the Sabre fought in other places as well.
The linear descendent of the Korean War F-86 was the F-86H. Although it was not next in either alphabetical or chronological order, it was more akin to the A, E, and F models than either the Air Force’s D or the Navy’s FJ series. North American began development of a fighter-bomber version of the Sabre in March 1951. Built around a new General Electric J73 engine that generated 8,920 pounds of thrust, it had a considerable increase over the 6,000 pounds of thrust generated by the F-86F’s J47engine.3 The new engine’s requirement for more air flow necessitated a redesign to deepen the fighter’s fuselage, thereby creating more volume and allowing an increase of internal fuel from 435 gallons to 562 gallons. (The J73 had higher fuel consumption than the J47, but with the added fuel the H had the same range as the earlier versions.) The aircraft retained the original F-86F wing with slats, along with its landing gear, which was strengthened. Thus it had the same general look as the A, E, and F. The new Sabre was to be armed with four 20-mm cannon; however, the first 115 off the production line mounted the tried and true six .50s. North American fitted four pylons to the H, as in the later F models, and borrowed the clamshell canopy, ejection seat, and single-slab horizontal flying tail without dihedral from the F-86D. Beginning with the fifteenth aircraft, the builder installed the 6-3 wing, without slats, and extended the wingspan to increase wing area. The last ten production F-86Hs added slats, a change retrofitted into the series. From the outset of production models, North American equipped the fighter to carry a 1,200-pound Mk 12 nuclear bomb.4
The prototype F-86H made its initial flight in April 1953 and soon encountered problems. First, a shortage of engines delayed delivery of the planes; however, a rash of accidents created more serious difficulties.5 The first major accident occurred in May 1954, but it was the crash and death of the top American Korean War ace, Joseph McConnell, in August 1954 that focused attention on the program. This high-visibility accident was followed a few days later by another accident when Maj. John Armstrong, who had just set a world speed record for a 500 km distance at the September National Air Races (649 mph) with the F-86H, died attempting to set another record. In 1954, thirty-three major F-86H accidents killed nine pilots and wrecked sixteen aircraft.6 There were difficulties with both the pilots and the aircraft. One factor was the rapid buildup of Air Force fighter units during the mid-1950s that flooded the H outfits with an influx of brand new pilots. Their lack of experience, combined with limited training in the F-86H, created problems and caused accidents. In addition to difficulties with pilots, another factor was that the aircraft was beset by inadvertent ejections, engine failures, and fires. Firing the guns cracked parts of the structure, and the fighter had a tendency to shed nose wheel doors.
All of these problems did not happen at once; in fairness, all new aircraft are subject to teething difficulties. Nevertheless, it can be argued that the H was hardly a new aircraft, since North American had considerable experience with the Sabre by this time. Therefore, the introduction of the new model should have gone more smoothly. On the other hand, one study states “the F-86H in mid-1956 already encountered fewer operational problems than the F-84F.”7 While this may be true, the F-84F was a troublesome aircraft, hardly a paradigm of success.
The F-86H went into service in November 1954 and garnered a mixed reputation. It was considered inferior to the F in the air-to-air role because it could not sustain tight turns at altitude and because, despite the added power, it was no faster since the aircraft’s speed was limited by its airframe. The H was, however, better than the F in the fighter-bomber mode, as it had a shorter takeoff run and higher rate of climb, among other characteristics. In any case, the F-86H served only briefly in the regular Air Force when the better performing F-100 began to arrive on the scene in 1956.8
As had been the practice, USAF sent the H to the Air National Guard beginning in the summer of 1957. The last Guard squadron converted from the F-86H in 1970–71.9 Coming after the fabulously successful Korean War Sabres, the H was anticlimactic, overshadowed by other American and foreign fighters of the day. The F-86H never fired a shot in combat.
The F-86D was much different than the air superiority and ground attack versions of the Sabre, even though it shared the designation, manufacturer, and some outward similarities. The D was a trailblazer, one of the first jets powered by an engine fitted with an afterburner, a fighter without guns, and an interceptor with a one-man crew. More F-86Ds were built than any other version of the Sabre and it, along with the L model developed from it, was the last Sabre variant to retire from the regular Air Force in June 1960.10
North American began work on turning the Sabre into an interceptor with strictly missile armament and a second crewmember in March 1949. The Air Force approved the project that July. But the promise of electronics that would enable one man to function as both pilot and radar operator and the cost of accommodating a second crewmember led to the one-man crew concept. In addition, North American and General Electric worked together to simplify flying the plane by developing an afterburning engine that could be more easily controlled by a single throttle. Undoubtedly the Soviet explosion of a nuclear device in 1949 and delays with the Northrop F-89 interceptor pushed the project. George Welch made the first flight in December 1949. Testing was delayed when the aircraft suffered landing-gear damage, a problem shared by the early Sabres.11
There were major differences between the F-86D and its siblings. The fighter’s fuselage was almost completely redesigned to fit the radar and the more powerful engine. (In all, the D had only about 25 percent in common with the other Sabre variants.) The 18-inch diameter radar antenna with its 30-inch diameter radome mounted in the nose above the air intake gave the F-86D its distinctive protruding snout and ugly appearance.12 North American also beefed up the wing, enlarged the fuselage and the vertical tail, and fitted it with a single horizontal slab stabilizer without dihedral. The D was approximately four feet longer than the A model to accommodate the afterburner, had a wider fuselage, and weighed one ton more. But powered by a J47-GE-17 engine that produced 5,700 pounds of thrust (dry) and 7,630 pounds with afterburner, it had a maximum speed about 25 mph faster than the A model. The F-86D went on to capture a number of speed records, one of 700 mph in November 1952 (3 km course) that was broken the following July by another F-86D flying 716 mph. On the same day in September 1953, it set records of 708 mph over a 15 km course and 690 mph over a 100 km course.13
One of the unique features of the F-86D was its armament. Instead of guns, it mounted twenty-four 2.75-inch diameter unguided air-to-air rockets in a tray beneath the belly. The unguided rockets were chosen over more accurate, heavier, and complex Falcon-guided air-to-air rockets or a package of 20-mm guns. However, the effectiveness of the rockets was questionable, for test photos reveal the erratic pattern they flew. (Therefore the system called for launch at five hundred yards, although the theoretical maximum effective range was fifteen hundred yards.) Although the rockets were not fired in combat, in August 1952 an F-86D downed a DB-17 mother ship instead of the target drone it was directing.14
It is not surprising that the more complex F-86D suffered a number of developmental problems. Slow deliveries of electronics for both the radar and engine impeded Air Force acceptances. (At one point in 1953, there were 320 airframes awaiting equipment.) The new equipment, rocket armament, fire control system, radar, and engine controls all proved troublesome. Because the modified airframe increased drag, the manufacturer had to fit vortex generators to deal with boundary control problems. In addition to aircraft difficulties, the increased workload of the one-man crew concept demanded more extensive pilot training. These woes put the project about two and a half years behind schedule.15
Despite all of this, the new interceptor became operational in April 1953; by the end of the year, six hundred were in service. In mid-1955, over a thousand F-86s made up almost three-fourths of Air Defense Command’s (ADC) inventory. The fighter’s service life was short, as ADC began phasing it out of service in April 1958. It equipped the first Air National Guard squadron in May 1957 and served with the Guard until June 1961.16
The D was upgraded. Project Pullout, which began in March 1954, involved almost three hundred modifications. The most important changes were the addition of a sixteen-foot diameter drag chute that reduced landing roll, an improved engine, and better electronics for both the autopilot and fire control systems.17 The USAF went further: beginning in 1956 the Air Force began converting F-86Ds to a newer configuration, designated F-86L. The initial plan was to convert all of the D’s to the L standard, but in the end approximately one-half were refurbished. The modifications included a 6-3 wing with slats that had a two-foot longer wingspan. In addition to these aerodynamic improvements, North American upgraded the electronics to allow the aircraft to operate with the SAGE (semi-automated ground environment) equipment.18 The first L went into operations with the regular Air Force in 1956, and the last was phased out in June 1960. The Guard started flying it in 1959 and kept it in service until mid-1965. Despite its complexity, the F-86D (and L) had the best safety record of the F-86 models flying in the USAF.19
Since 1945 the Air Force has utilized a number of Navy aircraft. In contrast, the Navy and Marines have employed only one Air Force fighter—the F-86, which had its origins as a Navy aircraft (FJ-1).20 It should be emphasized that the operating conditions of the two services are not parallel, and therefore their aircraft must vary. Certainly operations are more difficult from an aircraft carrier than from a land base, requiring more robust (and thus heavier) aircraft to withstand the higher stresses of carrier takeoffs and landings. Folding wings, catapult points, and arrestor gear also add weight to the aircraft. Good low-speed flying and short takeoff and landing characteristics have always been more important to the Navy than to the Air Force. Nevertheless, the Navy fielded straight-winged jet fighters that had comparable performance to their Air Force contemporaries, the F-80s and F-84s. However, the sea service’s transition to swept-wing aircraft was slow. While the first Air Force swept-wing fighter (the F-86) initially flew in October 1947, the first Navy swept-winged aircraft (the Vought F7U Cutlass) did not fly until March 1950. Even if it and other Navy swept-wing fighters that took to the air shortly thereafter could have been ready for Korea, none could compete with the Sabre in air-to-air combat.21 The appearance of the MiG-15 and operations in Korea made clear that the Navy needed a first-rate jet fighter, and needed it as soon as possible.
Adapting the F-86 for naval duty seemed the quickest way to get a high performance jet fighter out to the fleet. In January 1951, North American began studying how to accomplish that task. The Navy bought two F-86E models with some modest modifications that included an extended nose-wheel leg (to allow a greater angle of attack for catapult launch), tail hook, and catapult points, along with the strengthening of the landing gear and airframe. It was designated XFJ-2 and first flew in December 1951.22
The production FJ-2 incorporated folding wings and four 20-mm cannon. The designers also mounted a slab tail without dihedral, modified the cockpit to improve takeoff visibility, and installed a British Martin-Baker ejection seat, all of which distinguished the XFJ-2 from the F-86F model, which it otherwise closely resembled. The naval equipment modifications added one-half ton to the weight of the aircraft. Despite the Navy’s needs, production was slow because the manufacture of the F-86F took precedence. In January 1954, the Navy had only twenty-five FJ-2s. Moreover, the fighter’s suitability for carrier operations was at issue because the FJ-2 had a weak nose gear and arrestor hook and a questionable approach and landing performance. Consequently, the Navy preferred the lighter swept-wing F9F-6 Cougar that had better low-speed performance. Therefore, the entire FJ-2 run, which ended in September 1954, went to the Marines for land-based duties, although some of these did deploy onto carriers. (This parallels the history of the F4U Corsair that at first was deemed unsafe for carrier operations and was initially flown by the Marine Corps from land bases.) In any case, the aircraft’s service was brief; the FJ-2s were withdrawn from the regular forces by the end of 1956 and then served in naval reserve units until 1957.23
North American tried a number of wing changes to improve the fighter’s low-speed handling. These included using the 6-3 wing without slats and a full chord wing fence. A larger span wing was also tried, albeit unsuccessfully. A number of wing fences were tried until in October 1954 the manufacturer hit on the solution, not for the FJ-2 but for its successor.24
The next Navy version of the F-86 was somewhat different. In the words of a prominent aviation historian, “the Navy finally tore itself free from the shackles of the land-based F-86 Sabre design with which it had been stuck, somewhat reluctantly. Now, the Navy could take the superb features of the swept-wing fighter and improve upon them for its very dangerous business of flying to, from, and around aircraft carriers.”25 A British Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire engine, built under license by Wright and designated as the J65, powered the fighter. That engine produced a maximum thrust of 7,800 pounds—a considerable boost from the 6,000-pound thrust J47 in the FJ-2 and the Korean War F-86Fs. Thus the FJ-3, which first flew in July 1953, had higher performance than its sire. The FJ-3 did encounter some engine problems that forced the Navy to levee certain operating restrictions on the fighter.26
The FJ-3 went into service in September 1954 and out for sea duty in May 1955. In 1955, the Navy added a 6-3 wing with wing fences and increased camber but without slats, which increased wing area and provided space in the leading edge for an additional 124 gallons of fuel. This change was retrofitted into the other FJ-3s. The stores stations were increased from two to six. In 1955, the FJ-3 was retrofitted with probe and drogue air-to-air refueling equipment, enabling the fighter to be refueled by another FJ (the “buddy system” introduced in June 1957) or by an AJ-2 Savage tanker. The Navy later modified the fighter to employ the heat-seeking Sidewinder air-to-air guided missile in a version designated FJ-3M.27
The final naval version of the Sabre series also varied somewhat from its predecessors. It was designed to meet the requirements of the recently canceled McDonnell F3H Demon that called for a top speed of Mach .95, carrier suitability, availability within two years, and a two-hour patrol time without drop tanks. The last requirement was the tough one because it mandated a 50 percent increase in internal fuel. The fighter retained the Wright J65-W-4 that could produce 7,650 pounds of thrust but essentially had a completely redesigned fuselage that was deepened to accommodate the additional fuel and a spine that extended from the cockpit to the vertical tail. The latter distorted the Sabre’s classic good looks. North American attached a new wing with the same 35-degree sweep but thinner profile, as the thickness to chord ratio decreased from 10 percent to 6 percent. The wing had greater camber, carried fuel in the leading edge, had an increased span, and its tail was thinner and taller.28
The FJ-4 first took to the air in October 1954. Beginning with production aircraft number 33, North American used the Wright J65-W-16, and the earlier aircraft were modified to this standard. The company also provided the fighter with air-to-air refueling capability. However the aircraft’s oil capacity limited flight time to five hours. Later in the production run, the oil capacity was increased from three to four gallons, raising maximum flight time to seven hours.29
North American built an attack version of the FJ-4, designated FJ-4B. This Fury featured a strengthened wing that enabled the fighter to carry up to three tons, another pair of speed brakes under the tail, and equipment that permitted delivery of nuclear weapons and the new Bullpup guided air-to-ground missile. It first flew in December 1954, and deliveries began in July 1957. More of these were built than the earlier FJ-4 version. In the early 1960s, the Navy began to phase the aircraft out of service, with the fighter’s last cruise ending in August 1962. The reserves received the aircraft and flew them into 1964. The sea services accepted 1,115 Furies.30
One of the unique aspects about the F-86 was that it was manufactured in four countries outside of the United States. In 1949, Canada picked the Sabre to replace its obsolete Vampires. Instead of merely buying the aircraft from the United States, the Canadians decided to build it under license. The original concept of turning out 100 aircraft evolved into manufacturing 1,815 before the line at Canadair shut down in 1958. And while the first Canadian Sabres contained only 10 percent Canadian content, at the end of the production run that proportion evolved to 85 percent. Although these aircraft looked like the original from North American, later models powered by Canadian-built engines were among the best performers in the Sabre family.31
After building one example of the F-86A (Mk.1 in the Canadian system), Canadair began in 1951 to turn out the first of 350 Mk.2s, which were essentially the F-86E. Beginning in mid-1952, sixty Canadian-built fighters served in USAF colors in Korea as F-86E-6s, a dramatic statement about the gravity of the situation in Korea and inadequacy of North American production. The Canadians added their flavor to the Sabre beginning with the sole Mk.3, a fighter powered by a Canadian Orenda 3 engine that produced 6,000 pounds of thrust. This engine was only slightly larger in diameter than the J47, thus requiring minor changes to fit into the airframe. Jacqueline Cochrane flew this aircraft to two world women’s speed records in May and June 1953. The fighter was mass-produced as the Mk.4 (similar to the F-86E-10) with over four hundred going to the RAF.32
The next Sabres that rolled out of the Canadian plant were built like the F-86F. Because they were powered by the Orenda engine, which produced more thrust than the J47 in the American original yet weighed the same, they performed much better. The Mk.5’s Orenda 10 produced 6,355 pounds of thrust and like its sibling, the F-86F-30, mounted a 6-3 wing without slats. All 370 of the Mk.5 version went to the RCAF.33
The Mk.6 was the best of the lot, powered by the Orenda 14, which generated 7,275 pounds of thrust. It was originally fitted with the slatless wing, but it was soon replaced by one with slats. The plane made its initial flight in November 1954 and Canadair built 655 before it went out of production in October 1958. They went to the Canadians and Germans in large numbers (390 and 225 respectively) and to the Colombians and South Africans in small numbers (6 and 34). The Luftwaffe fighters were later modified to employ Sidewinder missiles. The Canadians phased the Sabre out of service in 1963.34
In 1949 the Australians sought a jet fighter to replace their De Haviland Vampires and considered an indigenous design, the Grumman F9F Panther, and two Hawker aircraft. But the F-86 won out in February 1951 in a decision greatly influenced by Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation’s (CAC) positive World War II experience with North American (building the Wirraway and P-51) and doubts concerning the timely availability of the Hunter.35
CAC made two major changes to the American design. The first was to use the Rolls Royce Avon engine, forcing a redesign of the fuselage because that engine was shorter, lighter, larger in diameter, and required more airflow than the J47. The substitution of two 30 mm Aden cannons for the six .50s also required rework of the fuselage. Therefore, the Australians redesigned about 60 percent of the structure. Otherwise built to the F standard with slatted wings, the prototype first flew in August 1953.36
Although the CAC had to work through engine surge problems, the first (Mk.30) entered service in April 1955. The next batch of twenty fighters (Mk.31) mounted a 6-3 wing without slats (two of this series, and later models carried additional fuel in the wing’s leading edge), modifications used on all subsequent aircraft and retrofitted into those already built. The Australians built sixty-nine of the final version, Mk.32, with the last delivered in December 1961. It had a locally built 7,500-pound thrust Avon 26 engine and the ability to employ a pair of Sidewinder missiles. To combat the engine surge problem, the fuel pump was programmed to decrease fuel flow to the engine when the guns fired. The Australians retired the last Sabre in July 1971. All 112 built went to the RAAF, although like other Sabres, they eventually found their way to other countries.37
Mitsubishi of Japan turned out 282 F-86Fs and 18 RF-86Fs for the Japanese Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) without change from the American version. These were built between 1956 and 1961, with the first flying in August 1956. The last JASDF Sabre flew in 1982.38
Fiat was the fourth foreign manufacturer. The air forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) were seeking an all-weather interceptor, but rejected the De Havilland Venom because of its limited performance. In January 1953, the USAF notified North American that the Italians would be building a fighter based on the F-86D but with a number of modifications, most notably a simplified fire control system, 20-mm armament, and a two-man crew. The company responded that they had experience with licensing the Sabre but warned that a two-seat version would require considerable redesign. A simpler fire control system was a more practical concept because it would not only protect American secrets from possible compromise, but it would also spare the NATO air forces maintenance problems associated with the advanced avionics. North American proposed a radar system that would guide the fighter to a lead-pursuit interception of hostile bombers, giving the pilot both firing range and suggested breakaway time.39
North American built the first 120 of this new version, designated F-86K. The aircraft looked like the D but differed in armament, fire control system, and an additional six inches of length. Later the K was equipped to carry Sidewinder missiles and fitted with the extended leading edge and longer wingspan. The first U.S.–built K flew in July 1954 while the first of 221 Fiat-built fighters took to the air in May 1955. The F-86K entered service with the Italian Air Force in mid-1955 and was not replaced until 1964. It served with four other NATO air forces as well.40
Although the Korean War was the shining moment for the F-86, the Sabre saw additional action in the next couple of decades. In January 1954, for example, eight MiGs attacked an RB-45 flying over the Yellow Sea. F-86s escorting the reconnaissance aircraft downed one MiG-15. In a similar incident in February 1955, a dozen Sabres (335FS) tangled with eight or more MiGs and destroyed two. In a third encounter in May 1955, twelve MiG-15s jumped eight F-86s (35FS) over the Yellow Sea, resulting in one Communist pilot bailing out. None of these American victories were officially credited.41
The Sabres also fought for other nations. The Chinese Nationalists received massive American military aid in the 1950s that permitted them to field three F-86F and two F-84G fighter wings. In 1958, the Chinese Communists made threatening moves that provoked a crisis in the Taiwan Straits. On 24 September, a large dogfight ensued, during which the Chinese Nationalists later claimed that their F-86s destroyed ten MiG-15s and MiG-17s. Four of these fell to Sidewinders in the first combat use of guided air-to-air missiles. During a six-week period, the Nationalists destroyed thirty-one MiGs at the cost of two F-86s. In July 1959, Chinese Nationalist F-86s downed five MiG-17s.42
Pakistan also received a sizeable number of Sabres. When war broke out in south Asia in September 1965, Pakistan faced about five hundred Indian combat aircraft with a small air force built around one hundred F-86s, one-quarter of which were armed with Sidewinders. The Indians had more modern aircraft than the Pakistanis, but the latter had the advantage of a decade’s experience with the Sabre and many pilots with one thousand or so flying hours in the aircraft. The claims and admissions by the two sides in the conflict are terribly frustrating. The Pakistanis credit one of their pilots, Squadron Leader M. M. Alam, with downing five Hunters on one sortie and nine Indian aircraft in the war.43 If correct, this makes him the only Sabre ace since the Korean War. The Pakistanis claim that the F-86s destroyed at least thirty-five Indian aircraft in air-to-air combat at a loss of eight fighters, seven of which were F-86s.44 Whatever the reality, the Pakistani Air Force did well in the conflict and probably had the edge.
Another war engulfed the region in 1971. By this time, the military balance had swung even more sharply in favor of India, with its air force numbering 735 combat aircraft opposed to 240 Pakistani combat aircraft. Again there was frequent air action, and again conflicting claims; in the end, the air battle seems to have been more even. One secondary source puts the losses at probably 65 Indian and 40 Pakistani aircraft.45
Today the Sabre is a memory of aviation a half century ago. The magnificent fighter is certainly well regarded by those associated with it for its looks, performance, and combat record. Only a few of the thousands built remain. Some still fly, one appearing with its archrival, the MiG-15, in air shows across the United States. The F-86 is remembered as a magnificent aircraft and most especially for its epic air battles and striking victories over MiG Alley. It clearly was a beautiful aircraft and a significant one as well, for it fought and won the battle for air superiority in the Korean War and dominated the air for almost a decade, thus winning a place in history. The F-86 was truly a great aircraft and a classic fighter. Hail to the Sabre!