Short History of the F86 Saber jet

The XF86 made it's first test flight on Oct 1, 1947. The first production model F86A was test flown in May 1948 and the Air Force received the Sabre jet on August 16, 1948. In September 1948, the F86A set a world record of 570 miles per hour. In the fall of 1950, the Communist forces in Korea introduced the Soviet made swept wing MiG15 FAGOT jet fighter. To meet this threat, the USAF rushed the F86A to Korea since straight wing jets were out flown by the MiG's. The F86 was well suited for it's mission with a shoot down record of 15 to m1 over the MiG's. The MiG 15 was faster than the F86A and the newer E models above 32,000 feet in level flight, it had a tighter turning radius, and could climb faster. However, the F86 bested the MiG15 primarily due to its electronic gun sight, better armament and superior pilot skill. From the beginning, the USAF accepted 6,353 F86's (all models included.) 5,893 of them for its own use and 460 ordered into production for allies. A breakdown of the USAF F86 total showed 3 experimental and prototype F86A's, 554 F86A's, 393 F86E's,1,959 F86F's, 2 F-86H's, 473 F86H's, 2 YF86D's and 2,540 F86D's (all F86L's being converted F86D's.) On April 15, 1950, the 1st Fighter Wing was redesignated the 1st Fighter Interceptor Wing, a more appropriate designator. The Wing was relieved from assignment to Strategic Air Command and assigned to the Continental Air Command for air defense purposes on July 1, 1950. There after Perrin Air Force Base became a part of the Aerospace Defense Command with almost 100 F86's assigned at Perrin Air Force Base, Denison-Sherman, Texas. compiled by John M. Elkins, CMSgt. USAF Retired. Link to more information on the F86 Back to Perrin Pictures Perrin History / Col. E.D. Perrin / Links / Pictures / Auxiliary Fields / Home Another site managed by CompuTek Computers Send comments regarding this page to: http://www.computek-computers