The first prototype (YF-86D) flew on December 22, 1949, and North American delivered 2,506 F-86Ds before production ended in September 1953. The aircraft on display came to the museum in April 2011. It is marked as an F-86L assigned to the 116th Fighter Interceptor Wing at Dobbins Air Force Base, Georgia, during the late-1950s.
North American
F-86D Sabre
An intelligence warning in 1948 prompted the U.S. Air Force to hurriedly develop an all-weather interceptor. Starting with the basic airframe of its F-86A, North American incorporated two unprecedented concepts into the F-86D (initially designated the F-95). First, a highly sophisticated electronic system replaced the second crewmember carried by other interceptors of the time. Second, the F-86D became the first production single-seat fighter in which air-to-air missiles replaced the classic gun armament.