The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, was a transonic jet fighter aircraft.
- Role: Fighter aircraft
- National origin: United States
- Manufacturer: North American Aviation
- First flight: 1 October 1947
- Introduction: 1949 USAF
- Retired: 1994, Bolivia
- Number built: 9,860
- Variants: CAC Sabre, Canadair Sabre, North American F-86D Sabre and North American FJ-2/-3 Fury
Military operators
- Argentine Air Force
- Belgian Air Force
- Bolivian Air Force
- Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)
- Colombian Air Force
- Royal Danish Air Force
- Ethiopian Air Force
- German Air Force
- Honduran Air Force
- Imperial Iranian Air Force
- Iraqi Air Force
- Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF)
- Royal Netherlands Air Force
- Royal Norwegian Air Force
- Pakistani Air Force
- Peruvian Air Force
- Philippine Air Force
- Portuguese Air Force
- Republic of China Air Force
- Royal Saudi Air Force
- South African Air Force
- Republic of Korea Air Force
- Spanish Air Force
- Royal Thai Air Force
- Tunisian Air Force
- Turkish Air Force
- United Nations Operation in the Congo
- United States Air Force
- Venezuelan Air Force
- Yugoslav Air Force
According to the FAA there are 50 privately owned and registered F-86s in the US, including Canadair CL-13 Sabres.
Specifications (F-86F)
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 37 ft 1 in (11.4 m)
- Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11.3 m)
- Height: 14 ft 1 in (4.5 m)
- Wing area: 313.4 sq ft (29.11 m²)
- Empty weight: 11,125 lb (5,046 kg)
- Loaded weight: 15,198 lb (6,894 kg)
- Max. takeoff weight: 18,152 lb (8,234 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × General Electric J47-GE-27 turbojet, 5,910 lbf (maximum thrust at 7,950 lbf for five min)with water injection (26.3 kN)
- Fuel provisions Internal fuel load: 437 US gallons (1,650 L)), Drop tanks: 2×200 US gallons (760 L) JP-4 fuel
Performance
- Maximum speed: 687 mph (1,106 km/h) at sea level at 14,212 lb (6,447 kg) combat weight
also reported 678 mph (1,091 km/h) and 599 at 35,000 feet (11,000 m) at 15,352 pounds (6,960 kg). (597 knots (1,106 km/h) at 6446 m, 1,091 and 964 km/h at 6,960 m.) - Stall speed: 124 mph (power off) (108 knots (200 km/h))
- Range: 1,525 mi, (2,454 km)
- Service ceiling: 49,600 ft at combat weight (15,100 m)
- Rate of climb: 9,000 ft/min at sea level (45.72 m/s)
- Wing loading: 49.4 lb/ft² (236.7 kg/m²)
- lift-to-drag: 15.1
- Thrust/weight: 0.38
Armament
- Guns: 6 X 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M3 Browning machine guns (1,800 rounds in total)
- Rockets: variety of rocket launchers; e.g: 2 Matra rocket pods with 18 SNEB 68 mm rockets per pod
- Bombs: 5,300 lb (2,400 kg) of payload on four external hardpoints, bombs were usually mounted on outer two pylons as the inner pairs were plumbed for 2 200 US gallons (760 L) drop tanks which gave the Sabre a more useful range. A wide variety of bombs could be carried (max standard loadout being 2 1,000 lb bombs plus two drop tanks), napalm canisters and could have included a tactical nuclear weapon.
