North American F-86 "Sabre"
Model Airplane News Cover Art for August, 1951
by Jo Kotula
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The North American Aviation F-86 "Sabre" (sometimes called the "Sabrejet") was a transonic jet fighter aircraft.

     

Photos of the North American F-86 "Sabre"
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Although developed in the late 1940s and outdated by the end of the 1950s, the Sabre proved adaptable and continued as a front line fighter in air forces until the last active front line examples were retired by the Bolivian Air Force in 1994. It was by far the most-produced Western jet fighter, with total production of all variants at 9,860 units.

The Sabre is best known for its Korean War role where it was pitted against the Soviet MiG-15 and obtained air superiority for United Nations forces. F-86 pilots were credited with shooting down 792 MiGs for a loss of only 78 Sabres, a victory ratio of 10:1.Of the 41 American pilots who earned the designation of ace during the Korean war, all but one flew the F-86 Sabre, the exception being a Navy F4U Corsair night fighter pilot

Here is a video of the North American F-86 "Sabre":

In addition to the cover of Model Airplane News, this airplane was also featured in the WINGS "Friend or Foe" trading card series of the early 1950s

Trading card representation of the North American F-86 "Sabre"
Click Here to see all 200 cards in the series
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Click Here for more information about the North American F-86 "Sabre".

The F-86 Sabre Jet was very popular because it was the American answer to the MIG-15 which had been knocking US airplanes out of the sky in Korea. There was certainly popular interest in the plane, but it was a jet. Although there were solid fuel rockets that could be used in a model to simulate a jet engine, these devices were considered too dangerous for children. The folks at Cleveland scratched their heads and finally came up with an "Easu-Build" airplane that was launched by a catapult made of a string and a large rubber bane (red arrow). We note that the plans say that the model was guaranteed to fly several hundred feet. The parts were pre-cut and the plans suggest that the whole model could be built in 36 minutes. (I don't know if that includes time for the glue to dry.) Cleveland also offered a complete scale model of the F-86 for the benefit of those who were allowed to play with solid fuel rockets.

  

  

Cleveland Model of the North American F-86 Sabre Jet
Launched by Catapult (red arrow)
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Cleveland does not sell tthe plans for the "Quicky" version -- only the complete scale model. You can buy those plans and patterns right now. Click Here to go to the exact location on the Cleveland Website to get them.

F-86 Sabre Jet at the Cleveland Site
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