Had to share this. One of the very few remaining F-86 Sabre jets. Located at the Ellicott City VFW in MD. Not for sale either.
F-86H Development of a purely fighter-bomber version of the Sabre was initiated by North American Aviation on March 16, 1951 as the NA-187. The new design proposed to handle the additional payload by using the larger General Electric J73 engine, which offered 8920 pounds of thrust. In order to accommodate the additional power of the engine, the air intake had to be increased in area, which was accomplished by splitting the fuselage longitudinally and then splicing in an additional six inches of depth. In addition, the fuselage was lengthened by over two feet and widened by a few inches. The additional space inside the fuselage made it possible to increase the internal fuel capacity from 435 to 562 gallons, and four underwing stations were added for bombs or drop tanks. The horizontal tail surfaces were increased in area. As in the case of the F-86D, the horizontal tail lacked dihedral. An F-86D-like clamshell cockpit canopy was to be fitted in place of the rearward-sliding canopy of the F-86F. The cockpit was more spacious than that of any previous Sabre variant, and had a new ejector seat originally developed for the F-86D. The vertical tail assembly was 3 inches taller and wider through the chord, but had a smaller rudder. The horizontal tail surfaces were changed from the "all-flying" design with a split stabilizer and elevator to a single all-flying tail design. Initially, the design was to have the old-style slatted wing without the "6-3" extension. The Air Force initially ordered 150 of these fighter-bombers under the designation F-86H, the first two to be built in California and the remainder in Columbus. A contract finalized on November 3, 1952 increased this order to 175. It was decided that the 15th F-86H should receive the "6-3" wing of the later F-86F. The first F-86Hs were to have six 0.50-inch machine guns with the type A-4 GBR gunsight using the AN/APG_30 radar rangefinder, but later production aircraft were to be armed with four 20-mm T-160 cannon. Since the F-86H was to have a nuclear capability, an M-1 LABS toss-bombing computer was to be installed. The first two F-86Hs were built in California. The first F-86H made its maiden flight on April 30, 1953, piloted by Joseph Lynch. It carried no armament, and was fitted with the standard Sabre slatted wing. By the time it was sent to Edwards AFB for tests in October, it had the "6-3" wing of the later F-86F. In December, it returned to Edwards with slatted wings. However, with slatted wings, the top speed was three percent lower than the predicted value of 707 mph. = The maximum speed was over 617 mph at 35,0000 feet. Service ceiling was up to 51,500 feet, and the rate of climb was 12,160 feet per minute. Even though the F-86H was 10,000 pounds heavier than the F, the combat radius was about the same (532 miles) because of the additional fuel suply. The first of 112 Columbus-built F-86H-1-NH fighter bombers made its maiden flight on September 4, 1953. It had extended leading edges and carried an armament of six 0.50-inch machine guns. Deliveries did not get underway in quantity until Columbus had delivered the last of its F-86F-25-NHs, which was in May of 1954.
I had one of my best friends and also boss when I worked at Rockwell on the B-1B program. He started working for North American in 1950 as an 18 year old gear head kid. He applied to work in the garage but there were no openings. The interviewer asked him if he would like a Jody as an apprentice mechanic in Experimental. He said, well okay, but as soon as an opening in the garage happens I want to transfer. They sent him to Experimental and his first job was doing a modification to a T 28 A. They took 9 inches out of the canopy. He said, "he said, You guys chop tops! Okay!". He never went to the garage but spent the rest of his 37 year career in Experimental/flight test and never did go to the garage! He was involved with the F86 until they changed lines and spent part of he time as field rep. because of his flight test experience. He worked F 86, F 100, F 107A, Saberliner, all 199 flights of the X 15, XB70, and other stuff I can't remember any more. He had a deep love for the F 86 in all versions and stories that kept you on the edge of your seat. Sorry to run on so long, but every F 86 story or picture I see reminds me of Russ. Just so you know, he would have fit in here quite well. He had a black full fendered deuce roadster. '29 model A canvas coupe with a 289, '37 pickup 302 powered, a '34 Victoria in work, ran sprint cars with CRA for 10 years and quit when they added roll cages (made 'em to sissified he said), and somehow managed to come home with an ejection seat out of an F 107, which stayed in his back yard until his death!
I don't know "seb", There are a lot of us old timers on here way past 65... And yes cool model A too....
Didn't know I'd get so much feedback! I was in Naval Air in the late 60's so no Sabre Jets on the flightdeck for us. But glad I stirred up some memories. I'm traditional too. Front suspension is pretty much out of speedway. Bell axle, 4" drop, Posie slider spring and Speedway hairpins. '62 Y-block, bought ss homemade headers. Rear is a Ford 8", 3.55 posi. '36 rear radius rods, plus a torque bar from center to front u-joint and speedway panard bar. There's also a rebuilt t-5 WC in there someplace. Hope to home build a set of top bows from ss bimini tops. I really need to do a post build thread. There's a lot of great ideas on here that I shamelessly copied to get this on the road.
Hey DM, When I was a little kid, I got a solid one piece, plastic F86 model from my uncle that worked for Mitsubishi Corp. They had ties to North American in the USA. (electronics or something) Then one day I received a new F100 model from their corporate offices. It was a solid plastic model on a black stand. The F 86 got thrashed playing with it so much and it bit the dust. The F100 model still was on its stand on my bookcase in 1968 next to our Lions Dragstrip trophies and a bunch of stuff. (far left in the photo) It was still in pristine condition. By this time, we knew the model would not fly/glide by itself when launched like little kids used to do to their airplane models. That F100 was supposed to be the replacement for the F 86. We gave that F100 model to our neighbor's young son in 1998 and that was the last time we saw that model. Jnaki Great story and history about Rockwell...and the early ties.
Yeah, it's traditional. My dad drove one of those in the 50's. He named it after the "Red Bug" microcar made in the 1920's -- a childhood "toy" he never had (yes, also a traditional by forum standards).
i remember as a tad going to the drive-in show with family to see "saber jet," which was about--you guessed it! never forget the scene where the north korean pilot takes a hit in the chest...
I believe this the is the proper counterpart-MIG 15 (17?). Sort of like Ford and Chevy, but on a way more serious scale. Taken this spring at the Cu Chi Tunnels outside of Saigon
My avatar is my dad's nose art for his F6F -done at Warner Bros Studios about 1944. I'm not sure if it ever made it onto one of his planes, but he sure was proud of it.
1st Picture My Dad flew the F-86 in the USAF and with the "Hollywood Guard" 195th California National Guard 2nd He loved the 86 so much he purchased one, some assemble required fuselage in the back of my shop, the rest at another building.
Vnak photo Hello, Nice photo of a very cool roadster. Those Moon Discs are very stylish. Traditional comes in all shapes and sizes. For the roadster types, a 29 with a SBC motor is traditional, whereas a flathead would put a period to that discussion. But, in all classes of traditions, that simple 1950s look of the Ford Sedan is also a traditional style for most people. As most definitions go, different styles pop up when people hear traditional. Our friend had a 1940 Ford 2 door sedan that looked traditional, even with a tall floor shift sticking high inside. But, for power, he was one of the early Buick motor guys and it was fast. As long as our own car history is in the books starting around 1954 or so, we have seen plenty of early hot rods and there were no classifications. It was either hot rods or customs. Those were showcased in all of the hot rod and custom car magazines that influenced most people back then. But, as the years roll forward, people have renamed just about everything as they see fit. Whether or not anyone liked the changes shown, the names were changed. In sticking with the simplest form of traditional hot rodding, here are two examples of cars that showcase a traditional form of expression. A roadster and a cool looking Ford Sedan, wait, what is that red coupe in the back? 32’s were not traditional in any color but black. So do we call it a traditional coupe, even in the hot rod red? Jnaki These photos were from my wife’s eye, as she strolled past the hot rods and customs toward a classic, old time, home tour in central OC. She thinks of all styles of “those” cars as “hot rods.” She was one happy driver of our SBC 327/AUTO/AC, 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery until the blind spots got to her. Also, she is far from traditional as one can get and still be happy with family…traditions. Ha!
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