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. A related control problem stemmed from handling characteristics of the swept wing at high angles of attack. 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 1:72 scale replica of a USAF North American F-100C Super Sabre fighter that was nicknamed "Miss Mynookie", and attached to the 188th Tactical Fighter Squadron New Mexico then deployed to ANG, Tuy Hoa AB, South Vietnam, during 1968. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 6-1/2-inches
Length: 7-3/4-inches

Release Date: November 2014

Historical Account: "The Tacos" - On February 1st, 1951, the 188th Fighter Squadron was federalized and brought to active duty for the Korean War. A total of 54 officers and 400 airmen were assigned to Long Beach Municipal Airport, California, as part of Air Defense Command. Its mission became the air defense of Southern California.

Most unit members were then transferred to active-duty Air Force units and deployed to Japan and South Korea. First Lieutenants Robert Lucas and Joseph Murray were killed while flying close air support missions in Korea. Captain Francis Williams and First Lieutenant Robert Sands were each credited with three MiG-15 kills. The unit was released from federal active duty in November 1952.

After the Korean War ended, the 188th was re-equipped with F-80C Shooting Star jet aircraft, and became part of Air Defense Command, being assigned to the Western Air Defense Force.

On July 1st, 1957, the 188th was authorized to expand to a group level, and the 150th Fighter-Interceptor Group was established by the National Guard Bureau. The 188th FIS becoming the group's flying squadron. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 150th Headquarters, 150th Material Squadron (Maintenance), 150th Combat Support Squadron, and the 150th USAF Dispensary. Also, the 188th Fighter Interceptor Squadron assumed 24-hour Air Defense alert status at Kirtland Air Force Base. In April 1958, the first Air National Guard unit to receive the North American F-100A Super Sabre was the 188th TFS of the New Mexico ANG, which received these planes in April 1958. This conversion raised unit strength to 956 officers and airmen.

In April 1961, an aircraft malfunction caused an AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile to launch and shoot down a B-52B Stratofortress bomber near Grants, New Mexico. The B-52B (AF Ser. No. 53-0380, aircraft nickname "Ciudad Juarez") from the 95th Bomb Wing took off from Biggs Air Force Base, at El Paso, Texas on a practice mission. During an intercept by two New Mexico ANG F-100As, an AIM-9B shook loose and impacted one of the engine pods on the left wing, taking the B-52's left wing off in the subsequent explosion. Three B-52 crewmembers died; the F-100 pilot was absolved of any blame. In the fall of 1962, the Cuban missile crisis put the 150th on an alert status that lasted for 90 days.

In 1964, the F-100As were retired and the 188th received newer F-100C and twin-seat F-100F Super Sabre trainers; being reassigned from Aerospace Defense Command to Tactical Air Command.