Subject: Number Eighty-Six in the Series--North American F-86 Sabre (8 of 22)

From: [email-masked]
Date: 16 Aug 93 16:21:15 GMT

>From [email-masked]

The next production version of the day-fighter Sabre was the F-86E.  It 
was identical to the F-86A except for the presence of an "all-flying" 
tailplane.  Initial work on this model began at North American 
Aviation on November 15, 1949 under the company designation NA-170.  A 
contract for 111 examples under the designation F-86E was finalized on 
January 17, 1950.  

The first F-86E (50-579) made its maiden flight on September 23, 1950, 
with George Welch at the controls.  Instead of the mechanically 
adjustable stabilizer for trim control, the F-86E's elevators and 
horizontal stabilizer operated as one unit.  The horizontal stabilizer 
was pivoted at its rear spar so that the leading edge was moved eight 
degrees up or down by the normal action of the controls.  The elevator 
was mechanically linked to the stabilizer and moved in a specific 
relation to the stabilizer movement, with elevator travel being 
slightly greater than stabilizer travel.  

The all-flying tail of the F-86E eliminated many undesireable 
compressibility effects that had been experienced with the F-86A.  In 
particular, it made the recovery from a supersonic dive much easier to 
accomplish.  The elevator of the F-86A had been found to be largely 
ineffective in the supersonic regime, and recovery from a supersonic 
dive required very large angles of elevator movement which tended to 
cause rivets to pop out from the trailing edge.  The all-flying tail 
of the F-86E made sonic dive recovery much more straightforward, with 
much less danger of structural damage or catastrophic failure.  In 
other respects, the performance of the F-86E was similar to that of 
the F-86A.  

The first of 60 F-86E-1-NAs were delivered in February of 1951, 
followed by 51 F-86E-5-NAs which differed only in the placement of 
cockpit control panel switches.  

First to get the new Sabre was the 33rd Fighter-Interceptor Wing at 
Otis AFB in Massachusetts.  In June of 1951, the first shipments of 
F-86Es was sent to Korea, where they gradually replaced F-86As in 
service.  The F-86E entered action in Korea with the 4th Wing in 
September of 1951, replacing that unit's F-86As on a one-by-one basis.  
The conversion to the F-86E was rather slow, and the last F-86A was 
not replaced until July of 1952.  Following their replacement by 
F-86Es, the war-weary F-86As were returned to the USA and issued to 
Air National Guard squadrons.  

In order to meet a new threat of MiG action against B-29 bombers over 
Korea, on October 22, 1951 seventy-five F-86Es were ordered shipped to 
Japan to replace the F-80s of the 51st Wing.  The 51st Wing began 
operations with its new F-86Es from Suwon on December 1, with the 
famous World War 2 ace Col. Francis S. Gabreski as wing commander.  
Col. Gabreski had scored 31 kills over Europe in World War 2, and he 
added 6.5 victories to his score in Korea.  

In 1949, Canadair Ltd. of Montreal acquired a license to manufacture 
the Sabre in Canada.  The first Canadian production version was 
powered by the 5200 lb.st.  J47-GE-13 engine.  The first aircraft 
assembled at Cartierville (near Montreal) was designated CL-13 Sabre 
Mk 1.  This first Canadian Sabre was assembled from components largely 
supplied by NAA, and was essentially an F-86A-5-NA.  Only one Sabre Mk 
1 was built, the first production version being the Sabre Mk 2.  The 
Mk 2 was the Canadian equivalent of the F-86E, and also used the 
J47-GE-13.  In February 1952, the USAF arranged to purchase sixty 
Sabre Mk.2s from Canada.  These were designated F-86E-6-CAN, and were 
delivered to the USAF between February and July of 1952.  These 
Canadian-built Sabres were fitted with US equipment in California 
before being delivered to operational units.  

Plans were for the F-86E-5-NA to be immediately followed on the NAA 
production lines by the F-86F.  The F-86F, known as the NA-172 by the 
company, was to be equipped with the more powerful J47-GE-27 engine, 
rated at 5910 lb.st.  A contract for 109 NA-172s was approved on April 
11, 1951 and was increased to 360 aircraft on June 30.  However, 
production by General Electric of the J47-GE-27 engine was delayed, 
and the first 132 NA-172s on the contract were fitted with the 5200 
lb.st. J47-GE-13 and delivered to the USAF as F-86E-10-NAs from 
September 1951 to May 1952.  These aircraft had provisions for the 
installation of the -27 engine once it became available, and they 
could be distinguished from the earlier F-86Es by the introduction of 
a new optically-flat windscreen which replaced the V-shaped windscreen 
of earlier F-86As and Es.  In addition, the instrument panel layout 
was modified.  

Further delays in deliveries of -27 engines caused the last 93 
aircraft on the NA-172 contract being completed as F-86E-15-NAs from 
August to December of 1952.  These aircraft were used only by training 
units.  

A total of 369 F-86Es were built.  

Although most F-86Es went directly to Korea, a few served in stateside 
units.  

The following wings received F-86Es: 

	4th Fighter Interceptor Wing (334th, 335th, 336th Squadrons) 
	33rd Fighter Interceptor Wing (58th, 59th, 60th Squadrons) 
	51st Fighter Interceptor Wing (16th, 25th, 39th Squadrons) 

As the F-86E was phased out of active USAF service, many were passed 
on to the Air National Guard.  The F-86E served with the following Air 
National Guard squadrons: 107, 121, 170, 171, 172, 198, and 199.  

Specification of the F-86E-5-NA: 

One General Electric J47-GE-13, 5200 lb.st.  Dimensions: wingspan 
37.12 feet, length 37.54 feet, height 14.79 feet, wing area 287.9 
square feet.  Weights: 10,555 pounds empty, 14,578 pounds takeoff 
(clean) 16,346 pounds takeoff (drop tanks).  Performance: maximum 
speed 679 mph at sea level, 601 mph at 35,000 feet.  Initial climb 
rate 7250 feet per minute.  Altitude of 30,000 feet could be reached 
in 6.3 minutes.  Service ceiling 47,200 feet.  Combat radius 321 
miles, ferry range 1022 miles.  

Serials of the F-86E: 

50-579/638 	North American F-86E-1-NA Sabre 
50-639/689 	North American F-86E-5-NA Sabre 
51-2718/2849 	North American F-86E-10-NA Sabre 
51-12977/13069 	North American F-86E-15-NA Sabre 
52-2833/2892 	Canadair F-86E-6-CAN Sabre - Ex-RCAF Sabre Mk 2.  

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.

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

  Wings of the Weird and Wonderful, Captain Eric Brown, Airlife, 1985.