Video showing North American F-86 Sabre 6 German Air Force Flypast Open Day 6Jun59. North American/Canadair F-86 Sabre 6: In 1944, before German advanced aeronautical research data became available, the USAAF issued specifications drawn up around four different fighter requirements, the first of which was a medium-range day fighter that could also serve in the ground-attack and bomber-escort roles.   This awakened the interest of North American Aviation, the design team of which was then working on the NA-134, a projected carrier-borne jet fighter for the US Navy (which emerged as the FJ-1 Fury).   The NA-134 was of conventional straight-wing design and was well advanced, so North American offered a land-based version to the USAAF under the company designation NA-140.   On 18 May 1945, North American received a contract for the building of three NA-140 prototypes under the USAAF designation XP-86.   A mock-up of the XP-86 was built and, in June 1945, was approved by the USAAF.   At this point, material on German research into high-speed flight, in particular swept-wing designs, became available.   North American obtained a complete Me 262 wing assembly and, after carrying out over 1,000 wind tunnel tests on it, decided that the swept wing was the key to raising the XP-86's performance.   The redesigned XP-86 airframe, featured sweepback on all flying surfaces, was accepted by the USAAF on 1 November 1945 and received final approval on 28 February 1946.   In December 1946 the USAAF placed a contract for an initial batch of 33 P-86A production aircraft, and on 8 August 1947 the first of two flying prototypes was completed, making its first flight under the power of a General Electric J35 turbojet.   The second prototype, designated XF-86A , made its first flight on 18 May 1948, fitted with the more powerful General Electric J-47-E-1 engine; deliveries of production F-86As began 10 days later.   The first operational F-86As were delivered to the 1st Fighter Group early in 1949.   On 4 March 1949, the North American F-86 was officially named the Sabre.   Production of the F-86A ended with the 554th aircraft in December 1950, a date which coincided with the arrival of the first F-86As in Korea with the 4th Fighter Wing.   During the next two and a half years, Sabres were to claim the destruction of 810 enemy aircraft, 792 of them MiG-15s.   The next Sabre variants were the F-86C penetration fighter (redesignated YF-93A and flown only as a prototype) and the F-86D all-weather fighter, which had a complex fire-control system and a ventral rocket pack; 2,201 were built, the F-86L being an updated version.   The F-86E was basically an F-86A with power-operated controls and an all-flying tail; 396 were built before the variant was replaced by the F-86F, the major production version with 2,247 examples delivered.   The F-86H was a specialised fighter-bomber armed with four 20mm cannon and capable of carrying a tactical nuclear weapon; the F-86K was essentially a simplified F-86D; and the designation F-86J was applied to the Canadair-built Sabre Mk 3.   Most Sabres built by Canadair were destined for NATO air forces; the RAF, for example, received 427 Sabre Mk 4s.   The Sabre Mk 6 was the last variant built by Canadair   (This is the variant in the video).   The total number of Sabres built by North America, Fiat and Mitsubishi was 6,208, with a further 1,815 built by Canadair. North American F-86E: Crew 1; Powerplant: one 5,200lb thrust General Electric J47-GE-13 turbojet engine; Performance: Max speed 675 mph; Range 783 miles; Service ceiling 48,300ft.   Dimensions: wingspan 37ft 1in, length 37ft 1in, height 14ft 8in.   Weight: 14,720lb loaded.   Armament: six 12.7mm Colt-Browning machine guns; up to 2,000lb of underwing stores. (Thanks to "The Encyclopedia of Aircraft" by Robert Jackson). There is no sound with this clip.   This clip runs for 8 secs and takes approximately the following time to download during the first viewing at the following sample download rates: 56 Kbps (Typical dial-up telephone connection to the Internet): 44 secs; 512 Kbps (ADSL connection): 5 secs; 1 Mbps (ADSL connection): 2 secs; 2 Mbps (ADSL connection): 1 secs. (Thanks to Wilf Zucht for original film.)