Subject: Number Eighty-Six in the Series--North American F-86 Sabre (22 of 23)

From: [email-masked]
Date: 8 Sep 93 16:19:04 GMT

>From [email-masked]

When Canada joined NATO in 1949, that nation was faced with the 
necessity of upgrading and enlarging the Royal Canadian Air Force 
(RCAF).  As the best single seat fighter of the time, the Sabre was 
chosen to be the primary day fighter of the re-equipped RCAF.  
However, rather than simply purchase Sabres outright from the USA, the 
Canadian government decided instead to build the type under license, 
becoming the first foreign nation to choose to do so.  

In August of 1949, the Canadian government ordered one hundred 
examples of the Sabre from Canadair Ltd. of Montreal.  Under the 
provisions of the agreement, the Sabres were to be assembled at 
Cartierville Airport near Montreal from drawings and components 
supplied by North American.  The Canadian-built aircraft were to have 
been almost identical to the F-86A then under production in 
California.  The engine was to be the 5200 lb.st.  General Electric 
J47-GE-13.  

Although the first Canadian-built Sabres were built largely from 
American-supplied components, by the time that production of the 
Canadair Sabre was completed, the original order had been increased 
tenfold and the engines and 85 percent of the components were being 
manufactured entirely in Canada.  The final Canadian-built Sabre, the
Mk 6, is generally rated as being one of the most capable of all Sabre
variants built anywhere.

The first aircraft assembled at Cartierville was known as the CL-13 
Sabre Mk 1.  It bore the RCAF serial number 19101, and was basically 
an F-86A-5-NA, since it had been assembled mostly from parts shipped 
to Canada from North American.  The engine was the J47-GE-13.  It made 
its maiden flight on August 9, 1950, piloted by Canadair's chief test 
pilot A. J. Lilly.  A few days later Lilly became the first man in 
Canada to fly faster than sound.  

Only one Sabre Mk 1 was built.  The first Sabre version to be built in 
quantity was the CL-13 Sabre Mk 2.  The Mk 2 was basically the 
Canadian equivalent of the USAF F-86E and had the all-flying tail and 
the J47-GE-13 engine of that version.  RCAF serials were 19102 thru 
19199 and 19201 thru 19452.  

As the Sabre 2 went into service with the RCAF, the newly-equipped 
RCAF squadrons were sent overseas in support of NATO.  Nos.  410 and 
411 Squadrons of No. 1 Fighter Wing went to Europe in 1952, and No.  
439 Squadron went to England in 1952.  No. 2 Wing of the RCAF went to 
Grostenquin, France in October 1952.  Nos. 3 and 4 Wings went to 
Germany in 1953.  

The USAF found itself short of Sabres during the Korean War, and in 
February 1952, the USAF arranged to purchase sixty Sabre Mk.2s from 
Canada.  These were designated F-86E-6-CAN in USAF service, and were 
delivered between February and July of 1952.  These Canadian-built 
Sabres were fitted with US equipment in California before being 
delivered to operational units, and were assigned the USAF serial 
numbers 52-2833/2892.  

>From the start, the Canadian government had contemplated using the 
home-grown Avro Orenda jet engine in the Canadair-built Sabre.  North 
American Aviation had initiated company project NA-167 on August 16, 
1949, which involved the installation of an Orenda engine in the 251st 
F-86A-5-NA, serial number 49-1069.  This aircraft is sometimes 
referred to as the F-86J.  Tests in October 1950 were encouraging, and 
Canadair decided to proceed with the installation of the Orenda in one 
of its Sabres.  The 100th Sabre Mk 2 (19200) was modified to take the 
6000 lb.st. Orenda 3 engine.  The Orenda engine had a slightly larger 
diameter than the J47, so the fuselage required some minor structural 
changes.  This re-engined aircraft became known as the Sabre Mk 3.  

On June 3, 1952, the noted aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran used the Sabre 
Mk 3 to set a women's speed record of 652.552 mph over a 100-km closed 
course at Edwards AFB in California.  

The Orenda engine was originally scheduled for introduction onto the 
Canadair Sabre production line in the Mk 4 version.  However, it was 
deemed more feasible to retain the basic F-86E configuration and the 
J47 engine, and the Sabre Mk 4 ended up being quite similar to the Mk 
2 version.  The Mk 4 version introduced a number of refinements to the 
cabin air conditioning, compass, pressurization controls, and canopy 
release.  There were 438 Mk 4s built, covering RCAF serials 19453 
through 19890.  

The Canadair Sabre Mk 2 and 4 served with the following RCAF units: 

No 1 Fighter Wing (410, 439, and 441 Squadrons) 

No 2 Fighter Wing (416, 421, and 430 Squadrons) 

No 3 Fighter Wing (413, 427, and 434 Squadrons) 

No 4 Fighter Wing (414, 422, and 444 Squadrons) 

It is not widely known, but the Canadair Sabre served with Britain's 
Royal Air Force for a brief time.  During the early 1950s, the Sabres 
of the RCAF were actually the only swept-wing fighters available for 
the defense of Western Europe.  At that time, the Royal Air Force was 
still flying such straight-winged types as the Gloster Meteor and the 
DeHavilland Vampire while they waited for the swept-wing Supermarine 
Swift and Hawker Hunter to reach production status.  Early in 1953 the 
RAF somewhat reluctantly decided to acquire the Canadair Sabre to fill 
in the gap.  United States MDAP funds helped to provide 430 Sabre Mk 2 
and Mk 4 fighters for the RAF.  

Britain obtained three Mk 2 Sabres for the RAF in October 1952.  
These were loaned in preparation for the delivery of no less than 428 
Sabre Mk 4s.  Deliveries of Sabre Mk 4s continued from December 1952 
to December 1953.  They were supplied to the Royal Air Force for use 
in Germany as Britain's contribution to the NATO effort.  The RAF kept 
Canadair's mark numbers, but rendered them in British style as F.2 and 
F.4.  RAF serials for the Canadair Sabres were XB530/550 (21), 
XB575/603 (29), XB606/646 (41), XB664/713 (50), XB726/769 (44), 
XB790/839 (50), XB856/905 (50), XB941/990 (50), XD102/138 (37), 
XD707/736 (30), and XD753/781 (29).  One Sabre F.4 (XB551) was 
procured separately to replace a Sabre F.2 (XB530) which was returned 
to Canada.  The lot XD102/138 was later re-serialled as follows.  
XD102/105 --> XB647/650, XD106/111 --> XB770/775, XD112/116 --> 
XB851/855, and XD117/138 --> XB978/999.  This ended up causing some 
duplication of some serial numbers in the XB941/990 branch, which was 
eradicated by separately having XB901/905 being reserialed as 
XB912/916 and XB941/990 becoming XB917/977.  

Those Sabres purchased with MDAP funds were assigned USAF serial 
numbers 52-10177/10236, although they never actually served with the 
USAF.  

The first RAF Squadron to take delivery of the Sabre was No 67 
Tactical Air Force Squadron, which became operational in May of 1953.  
In December No. 66 Squadron became the first RAF Fighter Command 
Sabre unit.  RAF Tactical Air Force Squadrons Nos 3, 4, 20, 26, 67, 
71, 93, 112, 130, and 234 reequipped with Sabres and were based in 
Germany.  Fighter Command Squadrons No.  66 and 92 remained in Britain 
with their Sabres.  

RAF Sabre XB982 (the 773rd Canadair-built Sabre) was used as a test 
bed for the Bristol Siddeley Orpheus 801 engine in 1958.  It made its 
first flight on July 3, 1958, and made subsequent flights with 
upgraded versions of that non-afterburning engine, which produced 6810 
pounds of thrust.  Had this engine become available earlier, the 
Orpheus engine may well have been adopted for the RAF Sabre, but by 
this time the Sabre had reached the end of the line and more advanced 
aircraft were already entering service.  

The service of the Sabre with the RAF was rather brief, the aircraft 
being seen only as an interim type.  By June of 1956, all RAF Sabres 
based in Germany had been replaced by Hawker Hunters.  The ex-RAF 
Sabres were then transferred to other nations.  

Between 1956 and 1958, 302 ex-RAF Sabres were returned to the USAF.  
These planes were painted in camouflage, provided with USAF national 
markings and even given spurious USAF serial numbers (actually their 
original RCAF serials).  These were assigned the designation F-86E(M) 
for record-keeping purposes, where the M stood for *Modified*.  

180 of these ex-RAF Sabres were shipped to Italy in 1957, one machine 
(XB733) crashing on delivery.  Units of the Aeronautical Militare 
Italiana (AMI) using the Sabre Mk 4 included the 4a Aerobrigata, 
comprised of Gruppi 9o, 10o and 12o, and the 2o Stormo.  Five of these 
Italian Sabres were dispatched to the Belgian Congo in 1963 to support 
UN peacekeeping operations there.  A detachment of Philippine Air 
Force personnel operated these AMI Sabres from February to June of 
1963.  The 4a Aerobrigata began to reequip with the F-104G Starfighter 
in 1963.  

During 1958-59, Yugoslavia's air arm, the Jugoslovensko Ratno 
Vazduhoplovstvo (JRV), got 122 of the ex-RAF Sabre F.4s which had been 
returned to the USAF.  Yugoslavia was one of the few nations with an 
air force that flew both Western and Soviet Bloc combat aircraft 
side-by-side.  During a border incident in the late 1950s, a JRV Sabre 
shot down a Hungarian MiG-15.  

Eight Yugoslavian F-86E(M)s were eventually transferred to the Fuerza 
Aerea Hondurana, the first of which arrived in 1976.  Some of these 
Sabres remained flying into the 1990s, but by now they have probably 
all gone to the boneyard.  

As the newer Mk 5 and Mk 6 Sabres became available, most RCAF Sabre Mk 
2 and 4 aircraft were retrofitted with extended wing leading edges and 
then sold to foreign air forces.  Beginning in July 1954, Greece's 
Royal Hellenic Air Force received 104 ex-RCAF Sabres.  The first Sabre 
Mark 2s were delivered in mid-1954, and went to No. 341 Squadron of 
No. 112 Wing.  In 1955, two more squadrons, Nos. 342 and 343, both 
under No. 112 Wing, were equipped with Sabres.  These Sabres served 
until the early 1960s, when they finally went out of service.  

At the same time, Turkey's Turk Hava Kuvvetleri (THK) acquired 105 
refurbished ex-RCAF F-86E(M) aircraft.  It seems that every time you 
sell an aircraft to Greece, you also have to sell one to Turkey, and 
vice-versa.  These aircraft formed the core of Nos. 141, 142 and 143 
Squadrons.  These aircraft were intended for the defense of Western 
Europe, but long-standing hostilities between Greece and Turkey 
occassionally flared up and these two nations sometimes would aim 
their aircraft at each other.  

Eight Sabre Mk.2s served with the Fuerza Aerea Hondurena (FAH), 
arriving there in July of 1967.  They flew some harassment missions 
over El Salvador following the end of the 1969 "Soccer war".  Some 
remained in service until well into the 1990s.  

The first production Canadair Sabre to use the Canadian-designed 
Orenda engine was the CL-13A Mk 5 version, which was powered by the 
6355 lb.st. Orenda 10.  It was fitted with the "6-3" wing and had a 
pair of tiny wing fences, which made it the aerodynamic equivalent of 
the USAF F-86F-30.  This "6-3" wing had also been fitted to some late 
Mk.4s.  The first Sabre Mk 5 (RCAF serial no. 23001) made its maiden 
flight on July 30, 1953.  The additional power enabled the Mk 5 to 
reach 40,000 feet in 9 minutes, half the time it took the Mk 2 to 
reach the same height.  However, the deletion of the slats had raised 
the stalling speed and had compromised the low-speed stability.  

A total of 370 Mk 5s were built.  RCAF serials were 23001/23370.  They 
began to replace the older Sabres in RCAF service.  75 ex-RCAF Mk. 5s 
were supplied to the new Luftwaffe of the German Federal Republic in 
1957/58, where they served with training units.  From a peak of 65 
airworthy Mk 5s in January of 1959, the inventory declined to about 25 
by April of 1960.  The last Luftwaffe Sabre Mk.5s were disposed of in 
March of 1962.  

The last production version of the Canadair Sabre was the CL-13B Sabre 
Mk 6.  It had the more powerful two-stage Orenda 14 of 7275 pounds 
of thrust.  The higher thrust of the Orenda 14 resulted in a major 
improvement in the fighter's climb rate and altitude performance.  The 
Mk 6 was actually a bit lighter than the Mk 5, and the Mk 6 became 
the best performer of the entire Canadian-built Sabre series, and one 
of the most potent Sabres built by any nation.  

The early examples of the Mk 6 had the same extended "6-3" wing of 
the Mk 5, but later examples added leading edge wing slats for 
improved low-speed handling characteristics.  

292 Mk 6s were built for the RCAF.  Serials were 23371/23662.  All 
were delivered to RCAF Wings Nos 1, 2, 3, and 4.  The Sabre Mk 6 
remained in service with the RCAF until replaced by the CF-104 
Starfighter in 1963.  

Six Mk 6 aircraft were delivered to Colombia in 1956.  They were 
assigned the serials 2021 to 2026 by the Fuerza Aerea Colombiana.  
They were supplemented by a pair of ex Spanish Air Force F-86Fs in 
1963, these planes being assinged the serials 2027/2028.  The Sabres 
were operated by 10 Escuadron de Caza-Bombardero.  Four were lost in 
accidents.  The survivors were all withdrawn from service in 1966.  

In 1955, 34 Sabre Mk 6s were ordered for the South African Air Force.  
They arrived in South Africa beginning in 1956.  17 of them were 
marked in Afrikaans and issued to No. 1 Squadron, and the other 17 
were marked in English and issued to No. 2 Squadron.  SAAF serials 
were 350 to 383 (RCAF serials were 23669/23702).  They remained in 
service with No 2 Squadron until 1964 when they were replaced by 
Mirage IIICZ fighters.  The CL-13Bs remained with No. 1 Squadron 
until 1976, when they were replaced by Mirage F.1AZ ground attack 
fighters.  

Ninety additional Mk. 6s were later procured for the RCAF.  RCAF 
serials were 23663/23752.  

225 Sabre Mk. 6s were supplied to the West German Luftwaffe, and the 
type became the primary day fighter of the newly formed German air 
arm.  They entered service with Jagdgeschwader 71, 72, and 73.  They 
usually operated in the air-to-air mode, although they were 
occasionally equipped with underwing air-to-ground ordinance.  
Following withdrawal from Luftwaffe service, 90 were transferred to 
Pakistan.  

The India-Pakistan war of 1965 had caused the US to embargo further 
arms shipments to Pakistan, at least for the time being.  In order to 
take up the slack, Pakistan arranged to acquire 90 Sabre Mk 6s from 
ex-Luftwaffe stocks.  These saw action in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War.  
Sabres accounted for a large portion of the PAF's 141 aerial victories 
during that conflict.  Kills of Indian warplanes included Folland 
Gnats, MiG-21s, and Su-7s.  

Argentina ordered thirty-six Sabre Mk 6s, but the order later had to 
be cancelled because Juan Peron had run his country into the ground 
economically and was unable to raise the necessary foreign exchange.  

24 Mk 6s intended for Israel were also cancelled.  

The last Sabre Mk 6 (a machine intended for the Luftwaffe) rolled off 
the assembly lines on October 9, 1958.  A total of 1815 Canadair 
Sabres had been built, including 655 Mk 6s.  

After the December 1971 war that resulted in the transformation of 
East Pakistan into the independent nation of Bangladesh, the 
government of that new country found itself in the possession of five 
ex-Pakistani Sabre Mk 6s.  These were operated until late 1973, when 
the lack of spares made it necessary to ground them.  

Specification of the Canadair Sabre Mk 6: 

One Orenda Engines Orenda 14 turbojet rated at 7275 lb.st.  Maximum 
speed: 710 mph at sea level, 680 mph at 10,000 feet, 630 mph at 36,000 
feet.  Initial climb rate: 11, 800 feet/minute.  An altitude of 40,000 
feet could be reached in 6 minutes.  Tactical radius (clean): 363 
miles.  Maximum range with two 200-gallon drop tanks: 1495 miles.  
Weights were 11,143 pounds empty, 16,426 pounds normal loaded, and 
17,611 pounds maximum.  Dimensions were wingspan 37 feet 1 inch, 
length 37 feet 6 inches, height 14 feet 7 inches, wing area 304 square 
feet.  Armament consisted of six 0.50 Colt-Browning machine guns.  
Underwing loads could include two 100-lb, 500-lb, or 1000-lb bombs, 
750-lb napalm tanks, 500-lb fragmentation clusters, or sixteen 5-inch 
rocket clusters.  

Several developments of the Canadair Sabre series were planned, but 
most never got off the drawing board, and remained only paper 
projects.  

The CL-13C was to be a more advanced version of the Sabre designed to 
use an afterburner.  An afterburner was actually fitted to a Mk 6 for 
tests, but nothing ever entered production.  

The CL-13D was to have an Armstrong-Siddeley Snarler rocket motor.  It 
too never saw the light of day.  

The CL-13E was the 21st Mk 5 (23021) with the fuselage faired to 
test an application of the Area Rule.  The aircraft apparently 
exhibited no improvement in performance.  and was not proceeded with.  
It eventually ended up on the civil register in the USA as N1049D, 
where it crashed on February 1, 1980.  

The CL-13G was to have been a two-seat training version similar in 
concept to the TF-86F.  It never got past the design stage.  

The Cl-13H was to have been fitted with all weather radar.  It too 
never got past the design stage.  

The CL-13J was to have to have been fitted with the simplified Bristol 
afterburner.  It was not proceeded with.  

RCAF Serials of Canadair Sabres: 

19101 Canadair CL-13 Sabre Mk 1 

19102/19199 Canadair CL-13 Sabre Mk 2 

19200 Canadair CL-13 Sabre Mk 3 

19201/19452 Canadair CL-13 Sabre Mk 2 

19453/19890 Canadair CL-13 Sabre Mk 4 

23001/23370 Canadair CL-13A Sabre Mk 5 

23371/23662 Canadair CL-13B Sabre Mk 6 

23663/23752 Canadair CL-13B Sabre Mk 6 

Preserved Sabres in Canada include CL-13A Sabre Mk 5 serial number 
23257 at Trenton , and CL-13B Sabre Mk 6s 23455 and 23651 at Ottawa.  

Sources: 

  F-86 Sabre in Action, Larry Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1992.

  The North American Sabre, Ray Wagner, MacDonald, 1963.

  The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.

  The World Guide to Combat Planes, William Green, MacDonald, 1966.

  The World's Fighting Planes, William Green, Doubleday, 1964.

  Flash of the Sabre, Jack Dean, Wings Vol 22, No 5, 1992.

  F-86 Sabre--History of the Sabre and FJ Fury, Robert F. Dorr, Motorbooks
  International, 1993.

Joe Baugher		AT&T Bell Laboratories   	
2000 North Naperville Road      Naperville, Illinois 60566-7033