© Castle Air Museum Foundation, Inc. Optimized for a screen resolution of 1024x768, using IE6+
5050 Santa Fe Drive • Atwater, California • 95301
North American F-86H Sabre
MUSEUM HOURS
May 1- October 31
9:00am - 5:00pm
November 1 - April 30
10:00am - 4:00pm
The museum is open
daily year round,
except for the
following days:
New Year's Day,
Easter,
Thanksgiving and
Christmas Day.
Delivery of the first of 6,353 Sabres began in December,1948. It was America's first swept wing fighter. During the Korean War, the Sabre and their pilots won air superiority in the Korean skies with a 14 to 1 kill ratio over the Mig 15's of North Korea. All 36 Allied jet aces of the Korean War flew the F-86.
The F-86 Sabre served with the air forces of 20 other countries, including Australia and Canada. An all-weather version, the F-86D, with a redesigned nose to carry the radar, was the first to have all rocket armament and to have only one person operating the radar fire control system and flying the aircraft. The D model, known as Sabre Dog by its pilots, was the most produced model. The F-86, at one time, also served with the 84th Fighter Squadron that was based at Castle Air Force Base.
The Canadair F-86 Sabre was to become the RCAF's (Royal Canadian Air Force's) most famous and unanimously well-liked, operational fighter. RCAF Sabre squadrons were a force to be reckoned with in the European skies and was the RCAF's last fighter armed with guns alone. 1184 Sabres flew with various units from 1950 until 1970, in Canada and Europe. Sabre 23757 was one of 390 Canadair CL-13B Sabre Mk.6 (the last version, with Avro Orenda 14 engines) that served with the RCAF. This Sabre is carrying the camouflage developed for all RCAF European-based operational Aircraft. The photo was taken while the Aircraft belonged to 1 Overseas Ferry Unit (OFU) based at St. Hubert, Que. formed in 1953 to ferry Sabres and T-33s across the North Atlantic. This Sabre is having its guns harmonized at RCAF Station Uplands in 1953. This process ensures that all six machine-guns are aimed properly.
Several people involved with the development of the F-86, including the chief aerodynamicist for the project and one of its other test pilots, claimed that North American test pilot George Welch had broken the sound barrier in a dive with the XP-86 while on a test flight 1 October 1947 (Chuck Yeager went supersonic on 14 October 1947 in the rocket powered Bell X-1, the first aircraft to sustain supersonic speeds in level flight, making it the first "true" supersonic aircraft).
On 18 May 1953, Jacqueline Cochran flying a Canadian-built F-86E alongside Chuck Yeager became the first woman to break the sound barrier.
The aircraft on display at Castle Air Museum is a bomber version of the Sabre. It has a larger engine, air intake and fuel capacity than that of the standard fighter version. It was recovered from a child's playground in Arizona. It now bears the markings of an aircraft assigned to "A" Flight, 16th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 51st Fighter Interceptor Group, when the Group was stationed in Korea during the Korean War.
Specifications
Country of Origin: United States
Manufacturer: North American Aviation
Role/Function: Fighter-Bomber
Serial Number: 53-1230
Model Number/Mk. #: NA-140
Crew: 1
Power Plant: 1 - General Electric J73-GE-3E Turbojet engine with 8,920 lbs. of thrust.
Maximum Speed: 692 mph.
Cruising Speed: 599 mph.
Service Ceiling: 50,800 ft.
Range: 1,810 mi.
Weights: Empty: 11,125 lbs. Loaded: 15,198 lbs. Maximum: 22,100 lbs.
Wing Span: 37 ft.
Length: 37 ft.
Height: 15 ft.
Wing Area: 313.4 ft²
Armament: 4 - 20mm cannons and 3,000 lbs. of bombs.
Cost: $219,457.00
# Built: 9,860 (112 --CAC; 1,815 -- Canadair; 221 -- Fiat; 300 -- Mitsubishi).
# in Current Service: None. 3 Airworthy (F-86A G-SABR airworthy in United States Air Force markings as 48-0178; CL-13 Sabre Mk. V in the markings of the Golden Hawks; CA27 Mk.32 A94-983 of the Temora Aviation Museum, Temora, New South Wales).