Hobby Master Archive

Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series HA4302 North American F-86F Sabre 24494 11th BG, ROCAF Hsin Chu, 1958

Die-cast metal. Superb detailing in 1/72 scale. Pre-painted with pad applied markings. Fully assembled. Comes with crew figure Display stand included. Option to display model with wheels up or down. Minimum use of plastic.

The North American F-86 Sabre was manufactured from 1949 - 1956 and was America’s first swept-wing fighter. As well as being built in the U.S. variants were built in Canada and Australia bringing the total of all variants manufactured to 9,860 units. During the Korean War the Sabre arrived to take on the other swept-wing aircraft of the conflict, the MiG-15 Fagot. The Americans claim they shot down 792 MiGs while only losing 78 Sabres, a 10:1 victory ratio which is greatly disputed.

In 1958 Nationalist China MIG-17s had an altitude advantage over the RoCAF F-86Fs and would cruise over the Sabres picking and choosing when to strike. That is until the USN provided the ROC with the new AIM-9 Sidewinder missile. Initially 20 F-86s were modified to carry the AIM-9. On September 24, 1958 MIG-17s proceeded as normal and the RoCAF F-86Fs began to launch the Sidewinders destroying 10 MIGs with 2 probables with no loss of Sabres. F-86F 24494 was the first to claim a victory.

Specifications for the North American F-86F-30 Crew - 1 Dimensions Length - 37 ft 1 ins (11.4 m) Wingspan - 37 ft 0 ins (11.3 m) Height - 14 ft 1 ins (4.5 m)

Weights Empty - 11,125 lb (5,046 kg) Loaded - 15,198 lb (6,894 kg) Maximum Take-off - 18,152 lb (8,234 kg)

Powerplant 1 - General Electric J47-GE-27 turbojet Thrust - 5,910 lbf (maximum @7,950 rpm for 5 minutes) 26.3 kN) Fuel - JP-4 Internal - 437 US gallons (1,650 l) Drop Tanks - 2 x 200 US gallons (760 l) Maximum Speed - 687 mph (1,106 km/h) @ sea level and combat weight of 14,212 lb (6,447 kg) Range - 1,525 miles (2,454 km) Service Ceiling - 49,600 ft @ combat weight (15,100 km) ROC - 9,000 ft/min @ sea level (45.72 m/s)

Armament Guns- 6 x 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns w/1,602 rounds Rockets - various rocket launchers, example 2 x Matra rocket pods w/18 SNEB (French manufacturer - Societe Nouvelle des Etablissements Edgar Brandt) 68 mm air-to- ground rockets per pod Bombs - 5,300 lb (2,400 kg) of payload on 4 outer hardpoints while 2 inner pylons were designed for 2 drop tanks to extend range. A variety of bombs could be carried with standard maximum load of 2 x 1000lb bombs on outer pylons plus 2 x 200 US gallon drop tanks on the 2 inner pylons. Napalm canisters and even tactical nuclear weapons could be selected.