Subject: Number Eighty-Six in the Series--North American F-86 Sabre (18 of 23)

From: [email-masked]
Date: 1 Sep 93 19:50:31 GMT

>From [email-masked]

In late 1944 and early 1945, the US Navy ordered four carrier-based jet 
fighters, the Vought XF6U-1 Pirate, the McDonnell XFD-1 Phantom, the 
McDonnell XF2D-1 Banshee, and the North American XFJ-1 Fury.  It was 
hoped that these four fighters would be available in time for 
Operation Olympic/Coronet, the invasion of Japan planned for May of 
1946.  

The North American entry, known as NA-134 on company rolls, called for 
a fairly conventional low-mounted, straight-winged monoplane of rather 
tubby cross section.  The General Electric J35 axial-flow turbojet was 
fed by a nose intake and exhausted through a pipe in the tail.  A 
bubble canopy was fitted, and the wing was fitted with retractable, 
slatted air brakes in the upper and lower surfaces.  

The USAF ordered a land-based version of the Fury under the 
designation XP-86, but North American was eventually to adapt the 
aircraft to a swept-wing configuration to produce the famed Sabre of 
Korean War fame.  However, being constrained by the need to retain 
good low-speed handling capabilities for landings aboard carriers, the 
Navy decided to stick with the straight-winged format and went ahead 
with three prototypes of the XFJ-1 Fury (Bu No 39053/39055).  

In May of 1945, the Navy had ordered 100 production FJ-1s, which was 
later cut back to 30.  Serials were BuNo 120342/120371.  These were 
known as NA-141 on company rolls.  

The first XFJ-1 (Bu No 39053) took off on its maiden flight on 
September 11, 1946, with Wallace Lien as the pilot.  

The thirty FJ-1s were delivered from October 1947 to April 1948.  The 
slatted wing-mounted air brakes of the three prototypes were replaced 
by more conventional fuselage-mounted "barn door" air brakes.  The 
Fury has a small wheel mounted on the nosewheel strut which permitted 
the aircraft to "kneel" nose-down to facilitate parking aboard 
carriers.  

The first (and only) squadron to receive the FJ-1 Fury was VF-5A based 
at NAS North Island near San Diego, California.  The squadron began an 
exhaustive familiarization program, including landings aboard a 
simulated aircraft carrier deck.  The first landing of a Fury on an 
actual carrier took place on March 16, 1948, when Commander Pete 
Aurand, CO of VF-5A, landed aboard the USS *Boxer*.  He was 
immediately followed by his executive officer, Lt.  Cdr.  Robert 
Elder.  Both officers then took off under their own power, landed 
again, then took off a second time with the aid of a catapult.  Since 
jets accelerate relatively slowly at low speeds, a longer deck run was 
necessary and it was decided to adopt catapulting as the standard 
carrier jet launching procedure.  

The pilots of VF-5A were fairly positive about the performance of the 
FJ-1.  The used their FJ-1s to win the Bendix Trophy in 1948, beating 
USAF F-80 Shooting Stars in a cross-country race.  However, VF-5A 
pilots did note that the performance of the FJ-1 was fairly poor when 
flying at its maximum gross weight and that the plane was 
uncomfortable to fly because of a lack of pressurization and 
temperature control.  There were also problems with the wingtip tanks.  
It turned out that the tanks were not compatible with the thin wing, 
and North American was forced to redesign them.  However, the problem 
was never entirely cured.  

VF-5A was renamed VF-51 in August 1948.  It operated the FJ-1 until 
July of 1949, when the squadron traded in its Furies for Grumman F9F-2 
Panthers.  Their FJ-1s were then transferred to the US Navy Reserve, 
whey they served as transition trainers for pilots moving onto the 
McDonnell F2H Banshee or to the Grumman F9F Panther.  

Specification of the FJ-1 Fury: 

Engine: One Allison J35-A-2, 4000 lb.st.  Weights: 8843 pounds empty, 
15,115 pounds takeoff (clean).  Maximum speed 547 mph at 9000 feet.  
Initial climb rate 3300 feet per minute.  Service ceiling 32,000 feet.  
Dimensions: wingspan 28 feet 2 inches, length 34 feet 5 inches, height 
14 feet 10 inches, wing area 221 square feet.  Fuel capacity included 
an internal load of 465 gallons and a pair of 165-gallon drop tanks at 
the wingtips, giving the FJ-1 a maximum range of 1500miles.  Armament 
consisted of six 0.50-inch machine guns with 1500 rounds total.  The 
wing was too thin to accommodate any underwing ordinance loads.  

Sources:

  F-86 Sabre in Action, Larry Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1992.

  The North American Sabre, Ray Wagner, MacDonald, 1963.

  The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.

  The World Guide to Combat Planes, William Green, MacDonald, 1966.

  The World's Fighting Planes, William Green, Doubleday, 1964.

  Flash of the Sabre, Jack Dean, Wings Vol 22, No 5, 1992.

  F-86 Sabre--History of the Sabre and FJ Fury, Robert F. Dorr, Motorbooks
  International, 1993.

  Fury-The Navy's Sabre, Robert F. Dorr, Air International vol 44 No. 1

Joe Baugher		AT&T Bell Laboratories   	
2000 North Naperville Road      Naperville, Illinois 60566-7033