Daily Archives: June 1, 2025

Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America – not on the battlefields of Vietnam. The North American F-100 Super Sabre was a jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard (ANG) until 1979. As the first of the Century Series collection of USAF jet fighters, it was the first of a series of US fighters capable of supersonic speed in level flight and made extensive use of titanium throughout the aircraft. The F-100 was designed originally as a higher performance follow-on to the F-86 air superiority fighter. Adapted as a fighter bomber, the F-100 would be supplanted by the Mach 2 class F-105 Thunderchief for strike missions over North Vietnam. The F-100 flew extensively over South Vietnam as the Air Force’s primary close air support jet until replaced by the more efficient subsonic A-7 Corsair II The F-100 also served in several NATO air forces and with other US allies. In its later life, it was often referred to as “the Hun, ” a shortened version of one hundred. In January 1951, North American Aviation delivered an unsolicited proposal for a supersonic day fighter to the United States Air Force. Named Sabre 45 because of its 45 degree wing sweep, it represented an evolution of the F-86 Sabre. The mockup was inspected on July 7th, 1951 and after over a hundred modifications, the new aircraft was accepted as the F-100 on November 30th, 1951. On January 3rd, 1952, the USAF ordered two prototypes followed by 23 F-100As in February and an additional 250 F-100As in August. The YF-100A first flew on May 25th, 1953, seven months ahead of schedule. It reached Mach 1.05 in spite of being fitted with a de-rated XJ57-P-7 engine. The second prototype flew on October 14th, 1953, followed by the first production F-100A on October 9th, 1953. The USAF operational evaluation from November 1953 to December 1955 found the new fighter to have superior performance but declared it not ready for widescale deployment due to various deficiencies in the design. These findings were subsequently confirmed during Project Hot Rod operational suitability tests. Particularly troubling was the yaw instability in certain regimes of flight which produced inertia coupling. The aircraft could develop a sudden yaw and roll which would happen too fast for the pilot to correct and would quickly overstress the aircraft structure to disintegration. It was under these conditions that North American’s chief test pilot, George Welch, was killed while dive testing an early-production F-100A on October 12th, 1954. As the aircraft approached stall speeds, loss of lift on the tips of the wings caused a violent pitch-up. Nevertheless, delays in the F-84F Thunderstreak program pushed the Tactical Air Command to order the raw F-100A into service. TAC also requested that future F-100s should be fighter-bombers with nuclear bomb capability. The F-107 was a follow-on Mach 2 development of the F-100 with the air intake moved above and behind the cockpit. It was not developed in favor of the F-105 Thunderchief, which would become noted for its weaknesses in close in air combat. Shown here is a signed 1:72 scale replica of a USAF North American F-100D Super Sabre fighter that was attached to the 307th Tactical Fighter Squadron “Stingers”, then deployed to Bien Hoa AB, South Vietnam, during 1965. Dimensions: Wingspan: 6-1/2-inches Length: 7-3/4-inches. Features: – Diecast construction – Interchangeable landing gear – Plexiglass canopy – Comes with seated pilot figure – Comes with display stand – Accurate markings and insignia. Historical Account: “Stingers” – Assigned to Strategic Air Command at Langley Field, Virginia as a fighter-escort squadron, the 307th Tactical Fighter Squadron was equipped with straight-winged Republic F-84E Thunderjets. Assigned to Turner AFB, Georgia with mission of long-range escort of B-29 Superfortress bombers, later B-50 and B-36 Peacemakers as newer aircraft came into operation by SAC. Inactivated 1958 with phaseout of B-36 and end of SAC escort fighter concept. Reactivated in 1959 as Tactical Air Command North American F-100 Super Sabre fighter-bomber squadron at George Air Force Base, California. Trained in tactical air support of ground forces, deploying to NATO bases for operational exercises. Reassigned to Homestead Air Force Base, Florida after the Cuban Missile Crisis, late 1962 to provide air defense of South Florida. Was deployed for 3 months to Southeast Asia, in 1964 as part of advisory forces operating against North Vietnamese and National Liberation Front forces in South Vietnam. Reassigned to NATO, becoming permanently based at Torrejon AB, Spain in 1966 when SAC turned Spanish bases over to USAFE. Initially equipped with F-100s, in 1970 received McDonnell F-4E Phantom IIs. Reassigned back to TAC at Homestead AFB in 1971, as part of re-establishment of 31st TFW upon its return from duty in Southeast Asia. Was deployed to Thailand, July 1972, engaging North Vietnamese forces in northern South Vietnam in response to the communist spring offensive.