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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 0456.PDF
200 FLIGHT SABRES Keen American Weapons in the Commonwealth Armoury: Canadian Squadrons Here NO American fighter of the war was held in higher esteem by British technicians and pilots than the North American Mustang. This was not solely because it was built to a British specification and achieved the full measure of its fame with a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, but because it was manifestly a brilliantly designed fighting aircraft. Already its lineal successor, the F-86 Sabre, is well on the way to achieving similar ubiquity and success. Today the Sabre is the only fighter in service, other than the Swedish Saab J-29, which can rival the speed oftheRussianMig-15, and with later power plants than the General Electric J-47 at present standardized (an Avro Canada Orenda has already been fitted experimentally, and Australian-built Sabres will have Rolls-Royce Avons) its brilliant performance will be further enhanced. Some sentiments concerning the forthcoming acquisition of Canadair-built Sabres by the R.A.F. are expressed in a leading article in this issue, and presented here is a set of Flight photo graphs secured during a recent visit to North Luffenham, where No. 410 (Cougar) Squadron, of the Royal Canadian Air Force, has been stationed since last November. No. 441 (Silver Fox) Squad ron was due to arrive in Britain on February 20th, and a third squadron—No. 439 (Westmount)—is scheduled to take up station during the spring. It was announced last week that Canadair have appointed Air-work, Ltd., as sub-contractors in the United Kingdom for the storage, overhaul, repair and maintenance of R.C.A.F. Sabres. The engagement is for an initial period of two years, and the maintenance standard must ensure combat readiness upon short notice. Hangar space at Speke, Liverpool, has been taken over by Airwork, Ltd., for the purpose, and key service-engineers are in Canada to study the special problems involved. Mr. M. D. N. Wyatt, chairman and managing director, and Mr. R. W. Cantello, general service manager, have just returned from a visit to Canadair. The three-quarter view at the head of this page shows the finned drop tanks of an R.C.A.F. Sabre (even with these in place a Mach number well over 0.9 is attainable), and the fuselage- mounted dive brakes, while the head-on study discloses the fuse lage cross-section. Of the lower views, one shows three of the six 0.5m. Colt-Browning guns nested snugly in the fuselage, and another illustrates how the rear fuselage can be removed for power plant servicing. Last is a line-up of maple-leafed Sabres of the Cougar squadron. __ •.' l.uM'WBBMWBBJi apg.cf * : . f m ••;j r i>. ,'C •"S. msSMKSafe*..*. ,... & gar ;, - . -•:•'. - . :. :• i- w mT \ 11
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