The author's completed model of a South African Air Force Sabre in the markings of No.2 Squadron during the Korean War.

WING CONFIGURATIONS

The wings of the Sabre are a subject which could need an article on its own. Even within the same variant there are several different wing configurations. Initially on the F-86A and the early F-86E-10 and F-86F-l0 variants the wings was short and narrow and had a leading edge slat. The E, F and CL-I 3 variants have also been flitted with three additional wing configurations. The original wing was, on many aircraft, replaced with an unslatted, `hard', wing with an increased wing surface. The wing chord was increased by six inches at the wing root and three inches at the tip, hence the description `6- 3 wing'. This hard wing also had a five inch high wing fence. There was also a slatted version of the '6-3' wing fitted to the Canadair Sabre Mk.6 and finally a slatted '6-3' wing with two feet added to its span was flown by many exported F-86F-40s and is often referred to as the F-40 wing.

The Commonwealth CA- 97 used the '6-3' hard wing only. The F-86D and F-86K variants were fitted with the narrow slatted wing. Many Ks were retrofitted with the F 40 wing while many Ds were upgraded to become F-86Ls with the F-40 wing. The F 86H was initially fitted with the extended span '6-3' hard wing, but also, this variant was later retrofitted with the F- 40 wing. You will probably understand that to he sure which wing was used on a particular aircraft there is no other way than to consult photographs of the real aircraft. I have built many models of the Sabre myself and just like the original most of the models have been of the F-86F variant (a description which I, for convenience, also refer to the F-86E and CL-13 because these are externally basically identical). Although this article is devoted to the F variant, many of the stages are also relevant for other variants of the Sabre, but check your references first.