the Sabre was an emblem of an age when pilot skill took priority, and the aircraft he flew a marriage of engineering talent and bold design.
With fewer than two dozen flyable F-86s left in the U.S., becoming a qualified Sabre pilot in the modern world is a multifaceted operation. Going from flying contemporary trainers or even classic types such as the T-33 to flying the Sabre is a matter of baby steps. According to one veteran pilot, “it’s a natural stepping stone to the F-86.”
The Sabre’s dominance of the skies is not only its design, however, but also in its handling something it’s gained a reputation as the best-handling plane of its time. Another testament to its rich history, “Sabre pilots shot down 792 MiGs in Korea, and only 76 Sabres were lost,” a testament to its capabilities in dogfighting combat with its contemporaries, namely the Soviet-designed MiG-15.
The journey to becoming a Sabre pilot today is not for the faint-hearted or the inexperienced. “You’d certainly need experience flying a high-performance jet,” advises Steve Kirik, a former F-15 pilot and one of the FAA examiners for Sabre certification. The Soviet-built MiG-15 is often the starting block for civilians, given its similarity in systems philosophy to the F-86, making it a suitable precursor for the Sabre.
To fly an F-86 is to match honoring its fragile temperament when traveling quickly with enjoying its stability. “Little tiny changes in pitch and roll produce rapid changes in altitude and bank angle. The F-86 is pretty stable, but at high speed it’s very sensitive,” says Rich Sugden, a retired Navy flight surgeon who owns airworthy FJ-4B Fury and Canadian-built Sabre.
Purchasing an F-86 is a feat in and of itself. Nearly all the Sabres taken out of U.S. use were destroyed so they would never take to the air again, according to Department of Defense policy. But a few, of which only flying F-86A exists, preserved before strict adherence to this policy, survived to fly another day.
Development of the Sabre from its initial XP-86 model to the F-86F and all-weather F-86D interceptor, known as the “Sabre Dog,” confirms the versatility of this aircraft as a flexible and useful machine. Each version added innovations that included increased firepower, more powerful engines, and modifications in the control system.
