- Yes
- No
- Regular tech tree
- Premium or event
- I said no in the first poll
Historical overview
The F-86 Sabre is a single-seat, single-engine fighter jet aircraft. Developed in the late 1940s and entering service in 1949, it was crucial in the Korean War, sharing the skies with the MiG-15 during the early 1950s.
The variant being suggested here is the F-86H Sabre, nicknamed “Hog” or “Hawg” Sabre. This was the most capable variant of this aircraft built by the United States. It began development in 1951 by North American Aviation as project NA-187, as a fighter-bomber version of the F-86, with nuclear strike capabilities, as was the requirement for many other US aircraft at the time.
475 of these aircraft were manufactured. It served in the front line for a brief period of time, between 1954 and 1958. It was then phased out to Air National Guard duties, where it served until the early 1970s, and after that the US Navy purchased some examples to use as aggressor training and target drones.
Features and characteristics
The additional payload planned for this aircraft was to be handled by the bigger, more powerful General Electric J73 engine, developing 8920 lbf.
The aircraft was overall visibly bigger than it’s predecessors, as it’s intake was increased and the fuselage was lengthened and widened, allowing for more internal fuel. The horizontal tail surfaces were made bigger and the vertical tail was taller. It had four underwing stations for various payloads and a more spacious cockpit. It had LABS (Low Altitude Bombing System) and M-1 toss-bombing coputer fitted, as it had nuclear capability.
As for guns and wings, it had various configurations, depending on the block number:
- F-86H-1 retained the six .50 caliber machineguns, and initially had the old slatted wing, without the “6-3” extension. Later on, starting with the 15th aircraft, it was decided to fit the “6-3” wings.
- F-86H-5 introduced a new set of guns, the four M39 cannons, previously tested in Korea as T-160. Ammunition supply was 150 rounds per gun.
- F-86H-10 had the F-40 wing, with extended wingtips and slats. Eventually this wing was retrofitted to all F-86Hs remaining in ANG service.
Perhaps these different configurations could be represented in-game via module research.
Spoilered below is a helpful image to visualize the different wings mentioned earlier:
Technical data
Spoiler
Engine
General Electric J73-GE-3E
- Maximum power: 8920 lbf
- Normal power: 7820 lbf
Fuel and oil
- Total internal capacity: 563 gallons
- Fuel grade: JP-4
- Oil: 5 gallons
Aircraft dimensions
- Length: 38.8 ft
- Height: 15 ft
- Wing span: 39.1 ft
- Wing area: 313.4 sq. ft
Weights
- Empty: 13,836 lb
- Combat: 18,683 lb
- Max. Take-off: 24,296 (2x 1000 lb bombs and 2x 200-gallon drop tanks)
Performance
Maximum power, 18,683 lb combat weight
- Max. speed at sea level: 601 knots
- Rate of climb at sea level: 12,900 ft/min
Armament
Guns
- 4x M39 20mm cannons, 150 rounds each (600 total)
Air-to-air missiles
- AIM-9B Sidewinder
Bombs and rockets
- 250 lb, 500 lb, 750 lb and 1000 lb general purpose bombs
- 750 lb napalm bomb
- 5-inch HVARs
- 2.75-inch FFARs in MA-3 launchers
- Mark 12 1200 lb nuclear store
Pictures
Sources
- T.O. 1F-86H-1, Flight Manual F-86H, April 1971
- F-86H Standard Aircraft Characteristics, June 1956
- Joe Baugher
- AirVectors
- Wikipedia
