North American F-86 Sabre

what is it?

The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic, jet-powered fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Soviet MiG-15 in high-speed dogfights in the skies of the Korean War (1950–1953), fighting some of the earliest jet-to-jet battles. Considered one of the best and most important fighter aircraft in that war, the F-86 is also rated highly in comparison with fighters of other eras.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 jet engine · 11.9 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 1,105 km/htop speed
• range 2,454 kmwithout refuelling
• size 8,234 kgmax take-off weight
• built 8,740made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 79 years ago, in 1947.
• 🏎️Top speed is 8.5× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 11.9 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 2,454 km: 14× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.7× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1947-10-01

introduced

1949

retired

1994

status

retired

number built

8,740

role

fighter aircraft

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Canadair, North American Aviation, Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation

engines

1× General Electric J47-GE-27

crew

1

length

11.3 m

wingspan

11.9 m

height

4.3 m

max take-off weight

8,234 kg

top speed

1,105 km/h

range

2,454 km

ceiling

15,118 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family