F-86F-40 (China)
| This page is about the Chinese jet fighter F-86F-40 (China). For other variants, see F-86 (Family). |
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Contents
Description
The ␗F-86F-40 Sabre is a rank V Chinese jet fighter with a battle rating of 8.3 (AB), 9.0 (RB), and 9.3 (SB). It was introduced in Update "Starfighters".
General info
Flight performance
Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.
| Characteristics | Max Speed (km/h at 0 m - sea level) |
Max altitude (metres) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (metres/second) |
Take-off run (metres) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
| Stock | 1,095 | 1,088 | 14700 | 24.4 | 24.9 | 38.8 | 36.3 | 750 |
| Upgraded | 1,115 | 1,106 | 22.1 | 23.0 | 55.8 | 46.5 | ||
Details
| Features | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat flaps | Take-off flaps | Landing flaps | Air brakes | Arrestor gear | Drogue chute |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | X | X |
| Limits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wings (km/h) | Gear (km/h) | Flaps (km/h) | Max Static G | |||
| Combat | Take-off | Landing | + | - | ||
| 0 | 350 | 620 | 620 | 350 | ~11 | ~6 |
| Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
| < 850 | < 600 | < 650 | N/A |
Engine performance
| Engine | Aircraft mass | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine name | Number | Empty mass | Wing loading (full fuel) | |||
| General Electric J47-GE-27 | 1 | 5,490 kg | 232 kg/m2 | |||
| Engine characteristics | Mass with fuel (no weapons load) | Max Takeoff Weight | ||||
| Weight (each) | Type | 7m fuel | 20m fuel | 26m fuel | ||
| 1,150 kg | Axial-flow turbojet | 5,848 kg | 6,490 kg | 6,786 kg | 9,530 kg | |
| Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB / SB) | Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (100%) | |||||
| Condition | 100% | WEP | 7m fuel | 20m fuel | 26m fuel | MTOW |
| Stationary | 2,626 kgf | N/A | 0.45 | 0.41 | 0.39 | 0.28 |
| Optimal | 2,626 kgf (0 km/h) |
N/A | 0.45 | 0.41 | 0.39 | 0.28 |
Survivability and armour
- 6.35 mm - Fore-cockpit steel plates
- 38 mm - Bulletproof windscreen
- 12.7 mm - Steel plate behind pilot's seat
- 20 mm - Steel plate in pilot's headrest
The plane is equipped at the front with 2 steel plates, each 6.35mm thick. The cockpit has a 38mm bullet proof glass that protects the pilot's torso and head. The backseat is made of 12.7mm of steel which protects the pilot's back while his head is further protected by another 20mm steel plate. This protection will help against smaller calibre rounds, however, cannot sustain many direct hits with 20 mm rounds or higher.
Modifications and economy
| Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
Offensive armament
The F-86F-40 (China) is armed with:
- 6 x 12.7 mm M3 Browning machine guns, nose-mounted (300 rpg = 1,800 total)
The F86F-40 JASDF were U.S. airframes assembled by Mitsubishi in Japan, and they offered the same offensive armament of many of it's Saber brethren, namely the 6 x M3 Browning 12.7 mm/.50 calibre machine guns. These machine guns are similar in performance to their predecessor, the M2 Browning; however, they excelled with a significantly higher rate of fire. The total ammunition count for this aircraft is 1,800 rounds, divided up with 300 rounds per gun. Ammunition belts for this aircraft are conventional 12.7 mm belts found on U.S. aircraft, and typically the tracer belts permit for the quickest correction of aim. Other belts may be utilised as necessary and depending on play-style such as the Stealth belts; however, these should be used by skilled pilots who already understand the firing aspects of the M3 Brownings and bullet performance. One challenge with the Stealth belts is the lack of tracers, making it much harder to correct aim when solely relying on visual clues.
Suspended armament
The F-86F-40 (China) can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
- Without load
- 16 x HVAR rockets
- 2 x 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 Fin M129 bombs (2,000 lb total)
- 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles
The unguided rockets out-fitted on this aircraft are the familiar American HVARs, which can be used against slow-moving bombers or ground target vehicles and anti-aircraft guns. Since the HVARs are a fire-and-forget rocket, they work best against either stationary targets or against slow-moving targets which may not be able to avoid inbound rockets. Another option for suspended ordnances includes bombs, namely the 1,000 lbs AN-M65A1 bombs. Two of these bombs is all that this aircraft can safely carry, but these bombs will do considerable damage against ground units, ships and bases. While performing bombing runs, always be on the lookout for enemy fighters attempting to swoop in and eliminate the F-86F-40 which may be flying slower and lower than typical. For air-to-air combat, using the Aim-9B missiles to complement the M3 Browing machine guns makes for a deadly combination. These missiles are best used in close quarters, anywhere from 600 - 800 m which minimizes the opportunity for the enemy pilot to evade or out-fly the missiles. It is quite possible for the enemy to avoid the in-bound missile; however, this provides the attacking aircraft with the opportunity to manoeuvre in and take out the fighter with its machine guns. Hopefully, the enemy fighter has bled any energy advantage it may have had presenting itself as an ideal target for the machine guns.
Usage in battles
While the F-86F-40's acceleration and top speed are lacking compared to its contemporaries, the F-86F-40's slats allow the plane to have an outstanding maneuvrability. That said, one must beware of their speed as pulling high maneuvres at high and max speed can put the plane under great stress which leads to the wings falling apart. The outstanding maneuvrability comes at the cost of speed. Pulling hard turns will bleed your air speed. Try to climb up before engaging the enemy to ensure you have enough energy to get out of a sticky situation. Hopefully, there will be a furball underneath you where you would be able to pounce on low-energy fighters with your guns or the AIM-9B. One advantage the F-86 has over the jets of other nations is the large ammo count of its 6 x 50 cals (1,800) although it would be wise to hit most of your shoots. Try staying above 500 km/h as any slower and you would lose a significant amount of energy in a prolonged turn.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Outstanding manoeuvrability
- Can wield air-to-air missiles
- Good guns: the 12.7mm MGs have lots of ammo, straight bullet trajectory, and adequate velocity
- Air-to-ground armament, such as bombs and missiles
- Excellent roll rate
- Great dive acceleration makes it a nice diver
- Good energy retention in a climb
- Stable shooting platform during high speeds
- Air-brakes and flaps allow for tight manoeuvres and enemy overshoots at the cost of reduced speed
Cons:
- Mediocre acceleration
- Mediocre top speed
- Weak one-second burst mass of the armament
- High speed manoeuvres can lead to wings breaking apart
- Slower turn rate than many contemporaries
History
The F-86 is considered one of the best fighter jets of the Korean War. It is the most-produced Western fighter, with almost 10,000 aircraft produced by the US, Australia, Canada (as the re-engined CL-13), Italy, and Japan.
The F-86 was developed by North American Aviation, the creator of the venerable P-51 Mustang. The XP-86 prototype was created to meet the USAF requirement for a high-altitude escort fighter. It was derived from the Navy's FJ-1 Fury, a transitional fighter jet that borrowed the wings, tail surfaces and canopy from the P-51D. The XP-86 was under threat of cancellation because the XP-80 and XP-84 had similar performance characteristics and were farther ahead in development. However, North American designers made a radical change to the design and replaced the straight wing with a swept wing, which was shown by seized German research to greatly reduce drag and increase performance at high speed. The resulting performance boost was so significant that the swept-wing prototype of the XP-86 was supposedly able break the sound barrier in a dive a few days before Chuck Yeager made his official attempt.
The F-86F is a further development of the F-86E, which introduced a full power-operated control system and the all-flying tail, in which the entire horizontal stabilizer moves to significantly increase the aircraft's maneuverability at high speed. The F-86F is fitted with the uprated J47-GE-27 engine. The leading edge slats featured on earlier Sabre models were removed in later production versions of the F-86F in favor of more space for fuel. Some of the earlier F-86F models had the static leading edge slats retrofitted. It also carried over the capability to carry tactical nuclear weapons from the F-86E.
To cover the shortfall of F-86s for export, production of the F-86 was restarted by North American. The new production block, the F-86F-40-NA, differed from the preceding production block in having a new wing. While Blocks 25 to 35 had been equipped with the slatless 6-3 wing, the Block 40 saw the airframe retain the 6-3 proportioned wing, but with an introduction of the slats in order to improve low-speed handling, and the wingtips extended so the overall span was increased from 37.12 to 39.11 ft. This lowered the stall speed of the F-86F-40-NA from 144 to 124 mph, and decreased the take-off run by 800 ft. Despite these modifications adding 250 lb to the F-86F-40-NA's weight when compared with the earlier F-86F-35-NA, overall performance remained the same.
In 1954, the Republic Of China, led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek's Kuomintang, started to order F-86 from the US. Next year, RF-86F, reconnaissance versions of the F-86F, were delivered to the Republic Of China's Air Force (ROCAF). During the second Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1958, the F-86 composed the backbone of the ROCAF. Through "Operation Black Magic", ROCAF Sabers were equipped with AIM-9B Sidewinders, which proved effective against the People's Liberation Army Air Force's (PLAAF) MiG-15s and MiG-17s. One was reported to have hit a MiG-17 but failed to detonate, the missile was later brought back to mainland China and later given to the USSR, where it was reverse engineered into the R-3S.
In the 1970, the F-86 was retired from service in the ROCAF and repurposed for training duties, by 1977 all F-86 planes were fully retired. Now a days one can find some ROCAF F-86 in parks throughout the island.
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
- Related development
- Canadair Sabre (those Sabres manufactured with the designator "CL")
- North American F-86D Sabre
- North American F-100 Super Sabre
- North American FJ-4 Fury
- Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
- Dassault Super Mystère
- Grumman F-9 Cougar
- Hawker Hunter
- Lavochkin La-15
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17
- Saab J29 Tunnan
External links
| North American Aviation | |
|---|---|
| Fighters | |
| P-51A | P-51 · P-51A |
| P-51C | P-51C-10 |
| P-51D | P-51D-5 · P-51D-10 · P-51D-20-NA · P-51D-30 |
| P-51H | P-51H-5-NA |
| Twin-engine fighters | F-82E |
| Jet fighters | F-86A-5 · F-86F-2 · F-86F-25 · F-86F-35 · F-100D |
| Strike aircraft | A-36 · PBJ-1H · PBJ-1J |
| FJ-4B · FJ-4B VMF-232 | |
| Bombers | B-25J-1 · B-25J-20 |
| Export/Licence | ▂B-25J-30 · ␗B-25J-30 |
| ▄Mustang Mk IA · F-6C-10-NA · ␗P-51C-11-NT · ␗P-51D-20 · J26 David · J26 · P-51D-20-NA · ␗P-51K | |
| F-86F-30 ▅ · ␗F-86F-30 · F-86F-40 ▅ · F-86F-40 JASDF▅ · ␗F-86F-40 | |
| ◄F-86K · ▄F-86K (Italy) · ▄F-86K (France) | |
| ␗F-100A · ▄F-100D · ␗F-100F | |
| Captured | ▅P-51C-11-NT |
| Canadair Limited license-built the F-86 as the CL-13 for use in Canada and export to Europe. | |
| Fiat license-built the F-86K for the Italian Air Force though another 120 NAA built F-86Ks were also sold to the Italians. | |
| See Also | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries · Canadair Limited · Fiat Aviation |
| China jet aircraft | |
|---|---|
| Fighters | J-2 · J-4 · J-6A · J-7II · J-7D · J-7E · J-8B · J-8F · J-10A · J-11 · J-11A |
| Strike aircraft | Q-5 early · Q-5A · Q-5L · JH-7A |
| Bombers | H-5 |
| France | ␗Mirage 2000-5Ei |
| USA | ␗F-84G-21-RE · ␗F-84G-31-RE · ␗F-86F-30 · ␗F-86F-40 · ␗F-100A · ␗F-100F · ␗F-104A · ␗F-104G · ␗F-5A · ␗F-5E · ␗F-16A MLU |
| USSR | ␗MiG-9 · ␗MiG-9 (l) |
| North Korea | Shenyang F-5 |
| Pakistan | A-5C · JF-17 |
