(^54) UNITED STATES
O
K, two beers’. So said Pete Everest in
the F-86D chase aircraft to George
‘Wheaties’ Welch during the maiden
flight of the YF-100A. This referred to a
private bet that Welch would take the
YF-100A supersonic on its first outing on
25 May 1953. This date can be seen as the
true start of supersonic military aviation.
Later that year, the Super Sabre would
become a record breaker.
North American’s F-100 Super Sabre was by
definition the first of the US Air Force’s famed
‘Century series’ fighters and was designed to
be supersonic in level flight, its afterburning
J57 turbojet powering it to a top speed of
850mph at 35,000ft. But the F-100’s design was
radically new, few of its pilots had previously
experienced Mach 1 and a number of handling
difficulties began to show up during testing.
One undesirable phenomenon suffered by
early F-100s was inertia roll coupling. This
could result when the highly manoeuvrable
aircraft entered a roll at high speed, a violentNorth American Super Sabre
combination of pitching and rolling leading
to an uncontrollable situation and the break
up of the airframe. Test pilot George Welch
experienced this on 12 October 1954 when
flying an F-100A on a demanding test sortie
from Edwards involving a high speed 8G pull-
up manoeuvre. Sadly, it was to cost him his
life. Subsequent production F-100As would be
built to a new standard, with wing and tail fin of
increased area to restore stability.Above: The Super Sabre heralded the age of the
true supersonic jet fighter. Not only was it fast,
but it was powerful. F-100A, C and D all featured
four internal 20mm M39 cannon. Six underwing
stores stations were fitted, along with a centre-
line station. The F-100D of Vietnam fame could
mount a variety of fuel tanks, rockets, napalm
pods and bombs. Several varieties of tactical
nuclear weapon could be carried, the Mk7
initially being the most widespread. In later
years, some aircraft were made compatible with
the AIM-9B Sidewinder for self-defence and the
AGM-12B Bullpup for precision attacks against
heavily defended targets.‘