North American F-86A - Sabre

Nearly 10,000 of the F-86 series were built: Golden Apple Operations are proud to operate the world's only 'A' model variant that remains airworthy. This Sabre (48-178) is also believed to be the world's oldest flying jet powered aircraft.

The F-86 was the first operational allied swept-wing jet fighter and is also reputedly the first aeroplane to break the sound barrier when on 1 October 1947 (shortly before Captain Charles 'Chuck' Yeager's official sonic boom in the Bell X-I) North American test pilot George Welch exceeded Mach 1 during a test flight in the XP-86.

As well as the axial flow jet engine, swept-wings and a swept-tail other innovations included a highly ergonomic cockpit with outstanding visibility and powered flying controls. The first Sabre production run was the 'A' model, one of which scored the first swept-wing victory over a MiG-15 in Korea.