An F-86A Sabre built in 1948 is the world’s oldest flying jet, and recently arrived back in the United States after several decades in Europe, EAA reported this week. The airplane, which EAA hopes will fly next summer at AirVenture, is the only surviving “A” model. Its service history includes Strategic Air Command, Air Defense Command and the California Air National Guard. It flew in defense of the Los Alamos nuclear research facility with the 94th Fighter Squadron of the 1st Fighter Group. The Sabre was later transferred to a technical college in Fresno, California, and then sold to a local scrap dealer, where it was bought by Ben Hall of the Sabre Pilots Association, in 1970. The jet was restored and flew again in 1974.
The airplane was brought to the UK in 1990 and spent 22 years flying on the European airshow circuit, operated by the Golden Apple Trust. Dr. John Swartz, of Afton, Oklahoma, an EAA member, recently acquired the aircraft and had it shipped to Heritage Aero, in Rockford, Illinois. The airplane will be reassembled and is expected to be flying by March, with a goal to be fully FAA certified in time to fly before the crowds at Oshkosh in July. A lengthy history of the jet can be found online here, and a 3-D tour of an F-86A cockpit is posted online here.The video was produced as a farewell to the jet from the folks at Golden Apple Trust.
