Aug 042010
Original, North American F-86, Wind Tunnel Test Model
Note that while the fuselage is definitely F-86-like, the wings are much closer to those of the F-100. My guess would be that this was an early F-100 study, starting life as a highly modified F-86.
4 Responses to “Found on eBay: Unusual F-86 variant”
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Looks like a first iteration of the F-100.
This looks like the thing discussed on this webpage:
http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=114
“North American looked to the successes inherent in their F-86 Sabre design to try and produce a worthy successor consistent with the evolving battlefield. The 35-degree wing sweep of the Sabre was developed into a greater 45-degree angle coupled with a modified fuselage. This design route produced a slightly better fighter concept but a ceiling was inevitably reached that required the use of a capable powerplant to break the airframe out and over the Mach 1 threshold on a consistent basis. After several turbojet developments were entertained, a General Electric brand J47 with afterburning was selected and coupled with the F-86D “Dog Sabre” – the all-weather version of the successful Korean War jet fighter with the identifiable “snout” nose assembly. This design was showcased for the USAF and rejected. A modified F-86E followed only to be rejected once more. A third design was submitted for review – this being a combination of the first and second design submittals – and was finally accepted for further development.”
The model sounds like the F-86E variant of the concept.
Paul was bidding on it, I didn’t hear if he won it. He’s also got a lead on a 40″ long F-18 radar reflection model completely plated in copper!
The color of the model is odd; it doesn’t look like a natural-finish materials wind tunnel model, or a silver-finish display model.
What it _does_ look like is some sort of recognition model, which is really odd.