North American F-86D Sabre

what is it?

The North American F-86D/K/L Sabre (initially known as the YF-95 and widely known informally as the "Sabre Dog") is an American transonic jet interceptor. While the original North American F-86 Sabre was conceived as a day fighter, the F-86D was specifically developed as an all-weather interceptor for the United States Air Force in the late 1940s. Originally designated as the YF-95 during development and testing, it was re-designated the F-86D before production began, despite only sharing 25% commonality of parts with the original F-86.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 engine · 11.3 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 1,151 km/htop speed
• range 531 kmwithout refuelling
• size 9,060 kgmax take-off weight
• built 2,847made 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 77 years ago, in 1949.
• 🏎️Top speed is 8.9× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 11.3 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.7× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

spec sheet

first flight

1949-12-22

introduced

1951

retired

1965

status

retired

number built

2,847

role

all-weather fighter-interceptor

origin

🇨🇦 Canada

makers

North American Aviation

engines

1× General Electric J47-GE-17B

length

12.3 m

wingspan

11.3 m

height

4.6 m

max take-off weight

9,060 kg

top speed

1,151 km/h

range

531 km

ceiling

15,163 m

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

family