>>Niiiiice.
>>
>>Just out of curiosity, was there any particular reason why you went
>>for the Sabre rather than the Super Sabre?
>
>Because the F-86 was an unmatched, era-defining icon and the F-100
>was, at the end of the day, a fuel-hungry pig that the USAF eventually
>swept under the rug?

There was also its unfortunate habit of viciously killing innocent pilots who were simply trying to land the goddamned thing. :)

But yeah, basically this. The Sabre had a brilliant career which included the kind of war service that permanently identifies a war (Korea) with one of the tools that helped fight it. Almost ten thousand of them were made. It was the first American aircraft of the Cold War to go head-to-head with its Soviet opposite number of the day and come out on top (the F-80, while also a fine aircraft and one I have a fondness for, not having quite been able to close the deal).

The Super Sabre, on the other hand, while not exactly a failure, never really worked as a fighter. Oh, sure, it set a bunch of aeronautical records and was a generally impressive aircraft, but it never developed a reputation as a successful air-to-air combatant. All its operational success in Vietnam came as a tactical bomber, in which role it was superseded by a more suitable successor (the F-105 Thunderchief, which would be my personal choice for "Retrotech entry from the Century Series").

--G.
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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
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