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 wide scale 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-100D Super Sabre fighter that was nicknamed "Thor's Hammer," and attached to the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing, then deployed to Vietnam during 1970. Sold Out!

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

Release Date: October 2010

Historical Account: "Split Personality" - During the mid-1960s, demands from both NATO and the Vietnam War led to the division of the 31st TFW into several segments. In June 1965, the 307th TFS deployed to Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam; the 308th TFS replaced them in December, having moved there as a permanent change of station.

In April 1966, the 307th TFS was permanently reassigned to the 401st TFW at Torrejon Air Base, Spain to accommodate USAFE requirements. The 31st TFW and its remaining three fighter squadrons were deployed to Tuy Hoa Air Base South Vietnam on December 26th, 1966, and was reassigned to Pacific Air Forces (PACAF).

The 31st TFW arrived at Tuy Hoa AB, and was assigned to the Seventh Air Force, on Christmas Day 1966. In South Vietnam the 31st TFW commanded five F-100 squadrons and was the most important F-100 wing in South Vietnam. From Tuy Hoa, the wing conducted combat operations, December 26th, 1966-September 1970. It controlled interdiction strikes, conducted visual and photo reconnaissance, rescue combat air patrols, and suppressed enemy antiaircraft artillery. The wing also conducted air operations against enemy forces during the Tet Offensive and the Siege of Khe Sanh from February-April 1968. It flew close air support missions during the extraction of friendly troops from Kham Duc on May 12th, 1968. The wing gained forward air control mission in May 1968.

They reached the 100,000 combat sortie milestone in September 1969. The wing earned two Outstanding Unit Awards, one with Combat 'V' Device, a Presidential Unit Citation, two Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Crosses with Palm, and ten Campaign Streamers for action in Vietnam.

The 31st TFW was deactivated in Southeast Asia on October 15th, 1970, as part of the general US withdrawal from South Vietnam. On October 26th, it was reactivated without personnel or equipment at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida.