North American Aviation, riding high on the latemodel P-5Is at the end of World War II, was well-placed to grab a major share of the market for first-generation jet fighters. Instead, like Boeing with the B-47 bomber, it had the courage to delay its program a year while it cranked in all the new aerodynamic knowledge gained from defeated Germany. In particular, it replanned the XP-86 fighter with wings and tail swept back like an arrowhead at 35 degrees.

The result was the best fighter of its age - apart from an unexpected rival, the Soviet MiG- I 5. The two met over Korea in large numbers and, had the F-86 (as the XP-86 became) been built in its original form the Allies would have had nothing in the class of the MiG- 15 at all. As it was, the F-86 Sabre became not only the fastest and most glamorous fighter of the post-war era, but it ushered in a new era with speedbrakes, powered controls, all flying tailplanes, pressurised cockpits (yet with enormous goldfish-bowl canopies) and 'bonedome' helmets and partialpressure survival suits that completely changed the image of the combat pilot. So outstanding an aircraft was bound to have a long career, with many versions, and at all times the Sabre was loved and respected as a fighter that almost never malfunctioned (despite amazing new complexity) and seemed to obey its pilots commands before they were issued!

Historically, the F-86 Sabre and the MiG- 15 are fixed in parentheses, and it is difficult to write of one without referring to the other. Quite contrasting in appearance, there were also many important internal differences, one of them being in the armament. Whereas the MiG design allowed for the mounting of an integrated package of heavy cannon, the Sabre was designed to perpetuate the P-5 1 armament of six O.5in guns, three on either side of the nose. Early Sabres were equipped to carry two 1000lb bombs but these could only be accommodated at the expense of drop tanks, so reducing the operative radius to 50 miles. With drop tanks replacing the bombs the radius of action was stretched to 250 miles.

Unlike the MiG- 15, the F-86 was an instant success and was especially popular with the men who flew it. lt had a good rate of climb and could dive so fast that the only early limitation was the pilot's capacity to absorb 'g'. lt was by far the most important air-combat weapon of the Allies throughout the Korean war, and for five years (1 949-54) it remained the only fighter in the world even remotely competent to take on the MiG- 15, although the fact that it did so with such devastating effect was due very largely to the greater skill of its pilots.

The Sabre was subject to a programme of constant design improvements, some of them resulting directly from Korean experience. The F-86E was fitted with an 'all-flying tail', the tailplane becoming the primary control surface in the pitching plane. The F-86F replaced the leading-edge slats by a 'hard' leading edge extended forwards by 6in at the root and 3in at the tip. These important developments increased operating Mach limit to 0.92, improved control and manoeuvrability especially at high altitudes, and delayed the onset of air-compressibility effects at near the speed of sound. But curiously not all modifications were introduced by the designers. During the Korean war there existed a body of Sabre pilots known as the 'chuck-it-out brigade', most notable of its members being Major Vermont Garrison of the famous 4th Fighter Wing. Garrison and his cohorts exercised no scruple in stripping their Sabres of any component they considered to be superfluous, in their eagerness to reduce weight and outperform the MiG- 1 5. Garrison himself even advocated removal of the APG-30 radar gunsight, stating that he would just as soon aim his guns using 'a gumsight' - a lump of chewing gum stuck on the windscreen.

One of the Sabre pilots' greatest irritations was the apparent reluctance of their North Korean opposite numbers to engage in dogfights. All along the Yalu river, MiG- 15s could and did take evasive action by zooming across the border into airspace over 'neutral' Manchuria. ln November 1951 however, two Sabre pilots of USAF No 336 Squadron, Captain Ken Chandler and Lieutenant Dayton Ragland, spotted 12 MiG- 15s parked on the ground at Uiju, definitely inside North Korean territory. Chandler and Ragland swooped in and strafed, destroying four MiGs and damaging several others.

Only two days later, 31 Sabres of No 4 Fighter Wing on a sweep along the Yalu encountered 12 Tupolev Tu-2 piston-engined bombers escorted by 16 Lavochkin pistonengined fighters and a further high cover with 16 MiG- 1 5s Minutes later, the Sabres had destroyed eight of the Tupolevs, three of the Lavochkins and one of the MiGs.

Due without doubt to the very heavy Sabre-inflicted losses, the beginning of 1952 saw a change in Chinese tactics. They began to send up several flights at medium altitude, with others flying top-cover several thousand feet above. The Sabre squadrons caught on quickly, using their high-flying F-86Es to engage the upper echelons, while other F-86s hit those at lower levels. This way, Sabres destroyed eight MiGs in January; the Chinese switched tactics again, changing from large formations to flights of just two or four, and flying at 40,000ft. Thus they were able to penetrate further south before dropping down to 20,000ft in attempts to stop attacks on their ground forces by American fighter-bombers, mainly F-84 Thunderjets. This greatly reduced air contact by Sabres.

The most numerous version of all (2504 built) was an extremely complex radar-equipped all-weather interceptor, the F-86D. Distinguished by its chin inlet under the radome, the 'Dogship' version had no guns but a retractable box of rockets, aimed and fired automatically under computer control.

Other versions of the Sabre went on long after Korea to form the fighter backbones of a score of air forces all over the world.

F-86F Specs:

Type: single-seat fighterbomber

Maker: North American Aviation Inc
Span:39ft I in
Length:37ft6'/2in
Height:14ft Bin
Wing area:288 sq ft

Weight max: 20 610 Ib;
empty11 1251b
PowerpIant: one 5970-Ib st
General Electric J47-GE-27 turbojet

Performance:
Max speed:678 mph at sea level
Range:1250 miles
Service ceiling: 50000ft
Armament: six M3 12.7-mm (0.5-in) guns
two Sidewinder missiles,
two1000-Ib bombs, one 1202-Ib
Mk 620-KT Special (nuclear) store
or eight rockets under wings
Crew: 1
Production: 1840