Subject: Number Ninety-Five in the Series--North American YF-95A

From: [email-masked]
Date: 13 Oct 93 15:29:59 GMT

>From [email-masked]

F-95 was the designation applied at one time in its history to what 
eventually emerged as the North American F-86D Sabre single-seat 
all-weather interceptor.  

On March 28, 1949, North American Aviation began engineering design 
work on an all-weather interceptor version of the F-86.  The project 
was known as NA-164 by the company.  The USAF showed immediate 
interest in the project, and on April 7, 1949 the company felt 
sufficiently confident that they began work on a production version, 
which was known as the NA-165.  

Up to that time, all-weather jet interceptors had always been 
two-seaters, and the NA-164/165 was the first attempt to build a 
single-seat all-weather jet interceptor.  An on-board radar-guided 
intercept system would provide for the all-weather capability, and an 
afterburning jet engine would be used to provide the extra boost 
needed to reach high speed and high altitude in a hurry, an essential 
feature for an interceptor.  The omission of the second seat made for 
a simpler adaptation of the existing Sabre airframe.  However, the 
choice of a single-seat format for an interceptor required 
sophisticated electronic systems to replace the second crew member.  

An afterburning General Electric J47-GE-17 turbojet was selected as 
the powerplant, and was provided with an electronically- controlled 
fuel scheduling system which was designed to relieve the pilot of the 
tedious task of having to watch the engine behavior constantly.  A 
single throttle lever control worked through an electronic fuel 
selector which determined the amount of fuel to be fed to the engine 
and correlated the entire engine and afterburner behavior for optimal 
efficiency.  In the promotional literature of the day, this engine was 
referred to as a "blowtorch with a brain".  

An AN/APG-36 search radar was to be carried in the nose.  The nose air 
intake was lowered and reshaped to make space above it for a 30-inch 
dielectric radome covering the 18-inch antenna of the search radar.  

Plans were made for the armament to consist of a battery of 
twenty-four 2.75-inch "Mighty Mouse" unguided rockets, all mounted in 
a retractable tray in the aircraft's belly.  The use of an all-rocket 
armament was quite innovative for the time, although a more 
conventional 20-mm cannon installation was studied as a standby plan.  

The rearward-sliding canopy of the F-86A was replaced by a clamshell 
canopy hinged at the rear.  It was anticipated that the clamshell 
canopy would make for easier and safer ejection in the event of an 
emergency.  The aircraft was to be fitted with an all-flying 
horizontal tail, and the controls were to be completely hydraulic.  

In February 1950, the rocket armament was selected and all plans for 
the standby 20-mm cannon were dropped.  

A Letter Contract for two NA-164 aircraft and 122 NA-165 aircraft was 
made out on October 7, 1949.  The designation YF-86D was applied to 
the two NA-164 aircraft, F-86D to the NA-165 aircraft.  The 
announcement of the first successful USSR atomic bomb test a short 
while earlier gave a certain sense of urgency to the F-86D project.  A 
formal contract was approved on June 2, 1950, with 31 more examples 
being added to the order to bring the total to 153.  

Since the NA-164/165 was essentially a new aircraft with only 25 
percent commonality with the original F-86A, the USAF decided to give 
the new interceptor a new F-number and assigned it the designation 
F-95.  However, for political reasons the designation was changed back 
to F-86D on July 24, 1950.  The reasons for the change are sort of 
murky.  North American company officials explained that the reason for 
the designation change was that separate appropriations must be made 
by Congress to allot funds for "new" types of aircraft, but 
"developments" of existing types come under another budget category, 
making the F-86D a much easier "sell" to Congress than the F-95A.  
However, the USAF claimed that that the reason for the change was the 
fact that a contractor could justify larger unit costs for a "new" 
aircraft than it could for a "development" of an existing one.  Even 
though the USAF initially had agreed that the F-86D was substantially 
a "new" aircraft and designated it F-95A, in order to save the 
taxpayers some money they convinced North American management to agree 
that the plane was simply a "logical extension" of the existing F-86 
and the designation was changed back to F-86D.  

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.

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