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REAL TO REPLICA RED SERIES 15
F-100 Super Sabre
by Andy Evans

The North American F-I00 Super Sabre, affectionally know as ‘The Hun’ was the first supersonic aircraft in the inventory of the US Air Force. Designed for an air superiority mission, it was the first of the iconic ‘Century Series’, which were group of aircraft developed for the USAF as fighters, interceptors, and fighter-bombers. North American engineers studied ways to modify the F-86 Sabre, at the time barely out of flight testing, in order to gain more speed and an improved performance. The F-100 got off to a great start, however, some unpredictable problems suddenly stopped the programme dead in its tracks. The losses of several early aircraft and their pilots in rapid succession, including the ninth F-100A with North American’s chief test pilot George Welch, aboard led to a very thorough investigation, and remedies before flight testing continued. The later F-100C, followed by the more capable F-100D was, however, acceptable to the USAF, but only because it they were capable of fighter-bomber missions. And it was in the role the Super Sabre finally came into its own, by which time the US was engaged in the Vietnam War, and so were the Super Sabre’s. First used on combat air patrols, they were tasked to protect fighter-bombers from possible MiG attacks deep in enemy territory. But they were slower than the Republic F-105s they escorted, and seldom saw enemy MiGs, or fought with them. So, the F-100’s became fighter-bombers, carrying Snakeyes and CBUs, along with rockets and napalm tanks, flying from Tuy Hoa, Phan Rang, Bien Hoa and Phu Cat, and dropping them on targets marked for them by a forward air controller (FAC). In this new Red Series book, we look at the F-100 in all is guises and war roles, plus how to model the ‘Hun’ in popular scales.
124 PAGES
RRP: 27.99