Il North American F-100 Super Sabre was a major American single-engine, swept-wing jet warplane during the Cold WarThe aircraft, during its operation, was used as a fighter and fighter-bomber.
The main users of the aircraft were – in addition to the US Air Force – the Turkish Air Force, the Danish Air Force, theArmée de l'air and the Republic of China Air Force.
The aircraft was produced between 1953 and 1959 by North American Aviation and, overall, more than 2000 examples were made.
It is good to remember that theF-100 It was developed taking the model as a model.F-86 Sabre, while fromF-100 it was made theF-107, which remained only at the prototype stage.
The first example of theF-100 It made its first flight on May 25, 1953 and entered service with the United States Air Force in September 1954. The aircraft was the first American fighter to reach supersonic speed in horizontal flight.
THEF-100, breaking the sound barrier, offered very high performance and was very versatile. In fact, the vehicle was suitable for various missions, including ground attack and interception. The aircraft was also equipped with advanced technological systems for the time.
It had some significant vulnerabilities: stability problems at low speeds, with the risk of stalling; high exposure to enemy defense systems; high fuel consumption which limited its range.
THEF-100, over the years, underwent several modifications and modernizations, giving life to the version F-100D. This latest version was equipped with more advanced attack capabilities.
The aircraft was used extensively by the US Air Force in the Vietnam War as a ground attack and close air support aircraft and proved very vulnerable to enemy defense systems.
THEF-100 It was withdrawn from active service by the US Air Force in the 1979s (the Air National Guard retired it in XNUMX), to be replaced by more modern aircraft such as theF-4 Phantom.
THEF-100D It had a wingspan of 11,81 m, a length of 15 m and a height of 4,9467 m. The empty weight was 9525 kg, while fully loaded 13085 kg.
Engine: 1 Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet, thrust from 45 to 71 kN. Maximum speed was 1487 km/h and ceiling was 15000 m.
The armament consisted of: 4 x 39 mm M20 cannons; 4 x AIM-9 missiles Sidewinder or 2 AGM-12 bullpup or 2/4 LAU-3/A; conventional or nuclear bombs.
Photo: USAF
