| Bill Henderson, e-mail, 22.09.2015 01:13 The saber had 6 -50 cal. I was in the 18wg on 1956 when they had the best fire meet at Okinawa. I was on a inst flight which we always checked with radar as cover. When wecheckedin with the radar guys and the navy also checked in they had a Runn away bearcat. They called for F 86 :Ds to shoot it dwn the had 6 86 dogs try. They told me to mak a try. I did and with my 6 50 cals shot it down on ONE try. The dgg guys had a time that night at their club. The day fighter had a gay time
|
| Harold Wade, e-mail, 02.03.2015 21:25 Like squadron mates John Irwin, and Chuck Kendrick,I logged about a thousand hours in the Dawg and the L. In spite of a few problems it was a great airplane. I wrote about it extensively in my book, "Cold War Fighter Pilot".
|
| Karen Bailey, e-mail, 26.02.2015 17:44 My dad called me to tell me about this article. He told me that there were two of you who were stationed in Africa/Morocco that same time he and his twin brother were there in 1954-55. Maurice Sheehey and Andy Lundback. My dad is Ken Sonderman and his brother is Karl Sonderman. Seeing your names on there really made his day. Thank You for your service!
|
| Howard Pelton, e-mail, 24.02.2015 00:04 I was stationed with the 15 TRS at Komaki AB in Japan. We were the only SQ that had the RF's. The guns were removed and cameras were installed where the guns were. In 55 the Sq. moved to Yokota AB an received the new RF-84F's.
|
| Barry, 06.05.2014 11:28 The F86F manufactured by CAC in Australia as the CAC27 used the RR Avon engine as noted above. This engine was more powerful than the existing General Electric engine and at the same time lighter in weight, which resulted in the fuselage having only 40% commonality with it's Amercan made predecessor.
|
| Gene Zutell, e-mail, 18.04.2014 02:51 In 1955 as a young Airman, I was assigned to the 50th Fighter Bomber Wing stationed at Hahn AFB, Germany. At that time, the Wing was equipped with the F-86E. Several months later, the Wing transitioned into the F-86H which was the first F-86 capable of going supersonic in level flight. The "H" model carried four 20mm cannon as opposed the six fifty calibers in the "E" model. The commander of the 417th Fighter Bomber Squadron in the Wing was Lt. Col. Chuck Yeager.
|
| Jim Barita, e-mail, 17.02.2014 21:23 First time I saw F-86D up close... Sitting on berm of Pa. turnpike after emergency landing. Later at Westover AFB 337FIS as Comm/Nav tech.Years later at reunion, I met commander of unit that Jet was assigned to. COL Al Coleman.
|
| Don Young, e-mail, 04.01.2014 21:16 From a different perspective, I flew N-86F(now in an Indianapolis museum)between 1985 and 1990 as a civilian. It and the DR-1 were my favorite airplanes. Both proved the hypothesis that you cannot grow up AND be a fighter pilot!
|
| William Sandlin, e-mail, 03.12.2012 18:34 I started flying in a Piper J-3 circa 1947 & fished up in the DC-10-30 circa 1989, accumulating 29,604 logged flight hours.
My most fun was going supersonic in a F86A at Nellis AFB circa 1953. It's been a hell of a ride !
|
| maurice sheehy, e-mail, 01.09.2012 22:18 i was the instrument mec. on the f-86f at sidi slame morroco 1954 to 1955 45th ft sq. everything worked . not much up keep for me. the good old day's ???
|
| Evaldo Sobral, e-mail, 27.08.2012 15:35 It's a most beautiful jet airplane I ever seen, its design is amazing.
|
| Hugh G., e-mail, 09.08.2012 03:54 I flew Ls with the NANG at Lincoln, NE. It was the first single seat jet I ever flew, I'll never forget my first flight in it. Just like losing my virginity,I grin all over whenever I think about either one.
|
| Zippo, 23.06.2012 00:54 is a wonderful airplane. It's my favorite fighter of all time for its performance and outstanding and beautiful design. For me, the better.
|
| Bradford Hall, e-mail, 27.03.2012 01:41 After gunnery in F80s at Tyndall in 1953, I went to Alexandria AFB, to the 389FBS of the 366 Wing. We had new F86Fs made in Colunbus, Ohio. On my 4th flight I had a clean plane with no tanks. I took it to 51,000 feet rolled it over and went straight downand and broke the sound barrier. It something I'll never forget. The F86 was a super aiplane and fun to fly.
|
| John Irwin, e-mail, 24.11.2011 21:44 I instructed in the "Dog" at Perrin 1954-1956. Great airplane, though plagued with many mechanical problems. Worst time was the Texas summer that we were restricted from using afterburner. We would use all of an 8000' runway to get into the air. There were turbine wheel failures, the flying pieces often took out the hydraulic controls. Vacuum tube failures in the electronic fuel control system would sometimes feed too much JP into the burner and result in a fire or explosion. I was lucky and never had a close call in the bird.
|
| Bradford Hall, e-mail, 17.11.2011 22:52 In 1953 I flew the F86F in the 389 FBS of the #366 FBW at Alexandria, Louisiana. We had new planes that were manufactured at Columbus, Ohio. It was a marvelous plane and a joy to fly.
|
| Art wordsman, e-mail, 23.09.2011 06:18 How come there was no mention of the F86D? I spent three years of my life working as an electronics technician on that plane.
|
| Don Kosmin, e-mail, 28.05.2011 04:36 worked on GE-J47'S 55-57 (F86-F) at chambley, 21,st fld. maint. sq.,J57'S ,at phalsbourg (RF-101 VOODOO'S) and last but not least J-47's again on the KB50-J at Langley, also worked on the 4360's on that A/C, anyone out there from 21'st fld. maint. at chambley, would like to hear from them
|
| Don Kosmin, e-mail, 28.05.2011 04:31 worked on GE-J47'S 55-57 (F86-F) at chambley, 21,st fld. maint. sq.,J57'S ,at phalsbourg (RF-101 VOODOO'S) and last but not least J-47's again on the KB50-J,also worked on the 4360's on that A/C, anyone out there from 21'st fld. maint. at chambley, would like to hear from them
|
| Andy Lundback, e-mail, 02.05.2011 01:38 I was a crew chief on F-86f #108 assigned to the 45th fighter sqdn. at Sidi Slimane AFB North Africa in 1953. My pilot was Capt.Richard Becker, second MIG Ace out of Korea.Dam good aircraft & easy to maintain. The desert sand was rough on the hydraulic systems. Lots of leaks after a year duty. Our sqdns. mission was to fly cover for the B-47s in the event that Russia became more aggressive.
|
| Robert Swisher, e-mail, 08.03.2011 04:47 I worked as an aircraft electrician grade A for 13 months on the F-F86F in 52/53 when I was 20.My 1st experience with airplanes.I thought it was great.I figured out one day that with a wire jumper between 2 pins the birds could have automatic fire control.I later retired from NAA/Rockell.Great time.
|
| Capt. Chuck KEndrick, e-mail, 02.03.2011 03:18 I flew the F-86L at Perrin AFB, Texas in 1960, On a night intercept mission , the aircraft lost all oil pressure and the engine sized. I made a night "dead stick" (flameout} landing. I got my butt "chewed out" for not ejecting, then a WELL DONE for saving the a/c. This was a great time to be in the Air Force and I sure enjoyed flying the F-86,
|
| Alvin Blackwell, e-mail, 21.11.2010 06:35 With no wing tanks, it was as versatile as any of the F86 series. The design of the airplane was spectacular, in that it had these swept back wings, that enhanced its maneuverable capabilities. 1955, I was a member of The Greater Pittsburh Airforce Air Defense Command, I was a Crew Chief for a 24 hour alert crew; our responsibility was to have this aircraft airborne in as short a time as possible. The hangers I worked at where the airplane was housed enabled the front and the rear doors to be opened at the same time, the engines could be started while the aircraft was still in the hanger and the airplane could be taxied and could be airborne in less than two minutes, because of the after-burner capabilities. I was very satisfied with the aircraft. I felt it could do the job that it was designed to do. I was on this alert crew 12 hours on, 24 hours off one day off a week. It was my favorite time of the fours that I served in the Air Force.
|
| Pete Berard, e-mail, 09.11.2010 15:47 Crewed and crew chief on the Ds and Ls Moody AFB Valdosta Georgia. 1957- 1960. Had enlisted for recips but got the 86. Not a bad second choice. We lost only one bird in 3 and half years. Was a Saturday afternoon test hop flown by Capt Plunk, our maint officer. On take off a huge orange fire ball erupted from the tail. He made a very low ejection and walked home with his chute. I watched it all happen from the top of a plane while installing the aft section. The A/C is still in the woods south of MAFB. I'd have to guess the AB drain lines were loose or left off entirely.
I can see how our pilots could enjoy these birds, especially in that time period when jets were still young.
We were Air Training Command and the guys who flew our planes were green and still took pretty good care of our birds.
Vacuum tube electronics were the most problem plagued subjects followed closely by Trash Can Liners, the ceramic tail pipe liners. Likely the engine management system was at fault in most cases. Was supposed to allow the pilot to pull the throttle around the horn and go to military power for scramble. That was a joke. Had to nurse the damn thing to idle for fear of over temp. Had to break the plane in half to get at the tail pipe and replace it.
Other than these things, a good bird.
|
| "MAC" McClellan, e-mail, 08.11.2010 23:14 A/2c , 1956/1957 , 416 FBS , C Flight , Crew Chief A/C #25205 . Loved France , Hated North Africa .
|
| Kirk Harrison, e-mail, 23.09.2010 22:13 My Uncle Leroy Harrison won the William Tell Trophy three years in a row with a perfect score in this aircraft. He said she handled like a dream and was one of his favorite aircraft. The other was a P-38.
|
| Tom Keegan, e-mail, 18.09.2010 07:27 I was stationed at George AFB, Victorville, CA
1952 -53 worked in radar shop. Like to email with any one
in that group. The Wing Com. was Col. Roland later Gen.
|
| T/Sgt Sam McIntyre, e-mail, 13.09.2010 18:21 I was in Korea Jun 1956 - Jun 1957. Assigned to the 310thFBS at Osan (K55)eqipped with the F-86F. I was a dock chief then the Hanger chief doing the maintenance checks. I never really got to like the 86 but the pilots loved to fly it. They never had to work on it in below 10 degree temps.
|
| EDGAR 'Ed' Moore, e-mail, 03.09.2010 00:26 I flew F-86Fs at Nellis,late May to mid July 1955;99th Cobra Sqdn.I flew 86Es for the next year in the National Guard.Then I got F89Cs and RF84Fs.Nothing like the F86;with 6 nose 50 calibers.
|
| John Mouton, e-mail, 29.08.2010 16:39 My brother 2nd Lt. Raoul P. Mouton Jr. flew with the 36 in Korea. It was interesting to read the comments from other pilots about the Saber.
|
| jim kirk, e-mail, 27.08.2010 21:53 I was a crew chief on a/c #233 at chambley ab 3 years my pilot was "dutch" manuel easy bird to maintain
|
| LarryM, e-mail, 23.04.2010 15:25 I flew the Canadian built version of the Sabre(Canadair Mark 6). It might have been the best of the bunch. 7275 lbs of thrust let us fly clean aircraft(no tanks)straight up to 48,000 ft in battle formation and then cruise climb to 52,000 ft. Not bad for the late 1950s.
|
| B. BAILEY, e-mail, 10.03.2010 08:14 I flew the RAAF Avon Sabre 1969/1971. A dream machine after the Vampire. 600 kts IAS down low and reached M1.17 in shallow dive but controllabity affected after M0.94. Great for gunnery wth 2 x 30 mm cannon and radar computing gunsight. I reached 53,000 ft in level flight however 6G limit was too low for low level dogfighting and it spun too easily at high altitude. Flew Mirage 111O next and missed the panoramic view of the Sabres bubble canopy and the comfort of the roomy cockpit.
|
| DON MAYO, e-mail, 05.02.2010 23:08 I WAS ASSIGNED TO TSUIKI AB,JAPAN FROM 55-57. ATTACHED TO THE JAPAN AIR SELF DEFENSE FORCE. THEY WERE FLYIN THE F-86F AND T-33A. WE WERE TEACHING THEM TO FLY AND MAINTAIN THE CRAFT DURING THIER FIRST YEAR HAVING AN AIR FORCE SINCE WW11. SWEET ASSIGNMENT AND A GREAT AIRCRAFT.
|
| Leo Hernandez, e-mail, 29.01.2010 21:43 It's great to hear all you guy's that flew the F-86 Saber I was just a kid growing up In Clovis Cal.when school was out in the after noon my buddy & I would take our bikes & stand outside the fence & see you run up the engines on those babies since then the F-86 has been my faverte jet,you guy's that were in Clovis during those year's bring back at of memories.Thanks
|
| Hap, e-mail, 22.01.2010 21:13 Great airplane. The ones that I worked on didn't have guns. In place of the guns, it had bubbles where cameras were located. The fuselage was painted on the nose of the aircraft to indicate that it had guns. The squadron that I was in was the 15th Tactical Reconaissance Squadron stationed in the Far East.
|
| LLOYD, e-mail, 02.01.2010 19:03 I was a crewchief on A/C-098 in the 428th FBS at Clovis,AFB(Cannon) in 1957.I crewed A/C-318 on TDY to France in 57.A very honest A/C.What you saw is what you got.These were F-86H.No A/b,4 20mm cannons in the front fuselage.A great A/C to work on.
|
| Jim Gates, e-mail, 01.01.2010 00:55 I flew the F-86F in gunnery school at Williams AFB in 1956. Then moved into the F-100C at Foster AFB. The F-86F was a dream to fly. It seem to have a built-in landing. I had the feeling I was wearing it. Best military a/c I ever flew.
|
| Joe Ramo, e-mail, 29.12.2009 03:14 I was a crew chief On a/c # 185 for almost 3 years in the 416 f/b/ sq. both at george a/b and chambley in france. the best time of my life.
|
| John Rumph, e-mail, 27.12.2009 06:30 The best of the best. I flew the F-86E/F at Nellis and with the 416th Fighter-bomber Sqdn. at Chambley A.B. France 1955-1957. A Fighter pilots airplane. Hope a lot of you Desert Rats are still around.
|
| John Rumph, e-mail, 27.12.2009 06:28 The best of the best. I flew the F-86E/F at Nellis and with the 416th Fighter-bomber Sqdn. at Chambley A.B. France 1955-1957. A Fighter pilots airplane. Hope a lot of you Desert Rats are still around.
|
| John Rumph, e-mail, 27.12.2009 06:26 The best of the best. I flew the F-86E/F at Nellis and with the 416th Fighter-bomber Sqdn. at Chambley A.B. France 1955-1957. A Fighter pilots airplane. Hope a lot of you Desert Rats are still around.
|
| Sam Herron, e-mail, 03.12.2009 00:30 I flew the F-86 at Nellis AFB, Foster AFB and at Chambley AB, France. I loved it.
|
| Steve, e-mail, 22.09.2009 21:03 At the same time the F-86 was being armed with six .50 guns of the speeded-up M3 version - which would prove inadequate in Korea - the B-36 was being armed with 20mm guns. Sounds like the fighter and bomber communities weren't talking to each other!
|
| paul scott, e-mail, 10.09.2009 23:13 Definitely the Mustang (OK, I know, not the range) of the post war skies. A true dogfighting classic!
|
| Jock Williams, e-mail, 19.04.2009 23:23 It took me a number of years to scrounge my way into the cockpit of a Sabre -and I only got a few hours -but it was an absolute delight. It had bags of power, you sat up high and had great visibility in all directions -and it handled like a dream. It was the F16 of its generation -or the Spitfire of an earlier breed.
Those of us who may later have flown way faster didn't fly anything "way better". The luckiest guys of all got to fly both the Sabre and the '104! I don't think you will get much debate on that!
Jock Williams Yogi 13
|
| Tom54, e-mail, 29.07.2008 09:39 Come on guys, if you really flew the H model, you had to know it didn't have an afterburner. It didn't need it. It had more dry thrust than the D/K/L/ models WITH afterburner. KISS, fellow F-86 Sabre Pilots Association members.
|
| Jerry Fowler, e-mail, 27.05.2008 00:32 Anyone who flew the F-86F, F-86H and F-86D (I flew all three) and said the "D" was "fun to fly" must have been smoking something funny or has a strange idea of flying fun. And, where did R. O. Miller get the idea that the "F" had wing guns and the "H" an afterburner? Whew!
|
| ROBERT KING, e-mail, 25.05.2008 00:25 I flew the aircraft as a fighter-bomber. The ability to strafe wit the aircraft was diminished by the swept wings but once learned to stay off the rudders the 6 50cal. guns put down 7200 rounds per sec. but it still was an air-to-air bird.
|
| Ben Overstreet, e-mail, 17.05.2008 18:51 Some notes about the F-86H. Early airplanes had six .50s in the forward fuselage, later ones had 4 20mm cannon, same location. No "H' airplanes had afterburner. Neither did they have cartridge starters-they had a spherical air bottle powering a small combustion starter and recharged by a compressor after engine start. Some had slats on the wing leading edges, others were "hard wing" birds. No doubt, the most fun-to-fly airplane of any that I flew.
|
| James C Few, LTC USAF Ret, e-mail, 09.05.2008 19:04 The F-86H model did NOT have an afterburner or drag chute.(only the D model did). I flew the H as a 1st Lt. at Clovis (Cannon AFB) just before we switched to the F-100D in 1956-57). It had a larger airframe and entirely different engine than the E/F models. and had a higher rate of climb and ceiling. I don't recall the specs. At that time it's primary mission was Tactical Nuke delivery. The engine was started with a "shotgun" cartridge rather than a external power supply like the E/F. The E/F model was the most fun to fly than any aircraft I ever flew: See the bottom of my C.V. at http://jimfew.home.mchsi.com
|
| Charles Cleveland, e-mail, 02.05.2008 17:55 (F-86 pilot) The 86 could not break the sound barrier "in a shallow dive." It took a very steep dive, i.e., straight down. Also, R.O. Miller is indeed wrong about the 86F having three guns in each wing - they were mounted in the forward section of the fuselage.
|
| Jon, e-mail, 29.04.2008 05:32 I was a crew chief on the F86F for 3 years. It had six 50 caliber machine guns located on the front fuselage. The latest ones we had were capable of delivering atomic weapons with the LABS system. They lobbed A-bombs from under the left wing controlled by the LABS system.
|
| R. O. Miller, e-mail, 30.03.2008 22:33 F-86F had 6-50 cal. machine guns, 3 in each wing.
The F-86H had 4-20mm cannon, 2 on each side of the nose. It also had an afterburner and it never saw combat. The F-86D/L was fun to fly with afterburner, drag chute, 2-axis autopilot and ground mapping and radar beacon search. Speed in level flight with afterburner was approx. .94 mach.
|
| cinewill, 07.08.2007 21:08 I'm a 100% that the Korean War Sabre has SIX nose mounted 50 cal machine guns, 3 on each side of the cockpit. Later variants had Cannon. Better 3-view needed!
|
| Sgt.kar98, 07.05.2007 04:28 What´s the main difference of the Sabre and the Fury?
|
| NIMIZ, e-mail, 29.12.2006 14:24 the sabre has 4 machine guns
|
