North American F-100 Super Sabre

The North American F-100 Super Sabre was a fighter-bomber used by the US Air Force during the Cold War period. It was the first supersonic combat aircraft in aviation history. It was the result of a need of an airplane that could fly faster than the speed of sound but on a daily basis, with a reliable jet engine, to replace the F-86 which had been used in the Korean War. It was also the first airplane to be powered by the renowned Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet engine.

The F-100 Super Sabre performed its maiden flight on May 25, 1953, as the YF-100 prototype. It was flown by test pilot George Welch, in California. That day, it broke the sound barrier on its first flight. It was the first turbojet-powered aircraft to do so. Its first version, the F-100A, entered service with the US Air Force on September 29, 1954, with the 479th Day Fighter Wing of the Tactical Air Command. A total of 2,294 Super Sabres were built, with the F-100D being the most massively produced. 339 F-100Fs 'Wild Weasel' were also made, extensively being used in Vietnam; this latter variant was a specialized two-seat warplane, whose mission was to suppress enemy air defenses, destroying SAM sites.

The North American F-100 Super Sabre first saw combat action on June 8, 1964, when it took part in a retaliatory strike against anti-aircraft artillery sites in Laos. From then on, it would play a main roll in the US Air Force ground-attack missions both in South and North Vietnam, taking part in Operation Rolling Thunder. The F-100F version flew its last combat sortie in Southeast Asia in July 1971.

Below, the F-100C in flight in 1961, banking left.

Technical Characteristics

The North American F-100 Super Sabre was a single-seat, single-engine monoplane. It was fitted with low, swept-wing. Its tailplane and vertical fin also had a 'swept-back' configuration. The cockpit had one-piece, clamshell canopy. The landing gear twin nose wheels folded backwards after take-off, while the main wheels retracted inwards. It was powered by one Pratt & Whitney J57-P-7 turbojet engine, whose air intake was in the nose of aircraft. The fuel was contained in the long all-metal fuselage.

It was the first aeroplane whose fuselage was made of heat-resisting titanium. The thin wing had a 45-degree sweep. It had automatic leading edge slats and a mid-span lateral control surfaces. The aircraft longitudinal control was achieved by the movement of the whole one-piece horizontal tail. Other features of the F-100 included a hydraulically-operated speed brake, which was located underneath the fuselage, and a drag-chute to shorten runway roll. Avionics consisted of one AN/AJB-1B low altitude bombing system and one AN/APR-26 rearward radar warning.

Specifications

Type: fighter-bomber

Length: 14.36 m (47 ft)

Wingspan: 11.82 m (39 ft)

Wing Area: 35.77 square meters (385 sq. ft)

Height: 4.94 m (15 ft)

Maximum Speed: 1,437 km/h (Mach 1.4)

Range: 2,494 km (1546 miles)

Armament: four M-39E 20mm cannons, with 3,402 kg of bombs.

Below, the F-100D drawing.

The F-100A version in flight in 1957.