North American F-86 Sabre Pilot's Flight Operating Instructions

Book excerpt: Built as both a fighter-interceptor and fighter-bomber, the F-86 Sabre (sometimes called the Sabrejet) was one of the most widely-produced fighters of the Cold War. In December of 1950, three squadrons of Sabres were rushed into combat in Korea, where they dueled North Korean, Chinese and Russian pilots flying the MiG-15. By the time the war was over, F-86 pilots achieved a stunning victory ratio - destroying nearly 800 enemy aircraft with a loss of only 76 Sabres. The nimble jet also saw combat in the Taiwan Straight Crisis and the Indo-Pakistan Wars of 1965 and 1971. Originally printed by North American and the U.S. Air Force, this F-86E flight operating manual taught pilots everything they needed to know before entering the cockpit. Classified "Restricted," the manual was recently declassified and is here reprinted in book form. This facsimile has been reformatted and color images appear in black and white. Care has been taken to preserve the integrity of the text.