The F-100F Super Sabre Was The First Air Force Plane Capable Of Supersonic Speed In Level Flight

If your idea of AeroSports is going to EAA AirVenture to look at the classic airplanes, it may seem odd to call a jet fighter a classic. However, the North American F-100 holds a special place in U.S. fighter history, and to see one flying is a rare privilege.

This F-100 is owned by Dean “Cutter” Cutshall, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the aircraft will take part in warbird air show performances and also be the subject of a Warbirds in Review session.

The Super Sabre, nicknamed “Hun” - short for hundred - is the first of the “Century Series” collection of USAF jet fighters. It served with the Air Force from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard until 1979. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney J57 SER turbojet engine, it was the Air Force’s primary close air support jet during the Vietnam War until being replaced by LTV A-7 Corsair IIs. F-100s also served in other NATO air forces and with other U.S. allies.

After original delivery to the Air Force in 1958, Cutshall’s airplane, S/N 56-3948, was in the U.S. inventory until 1974 when it was delivered to the Turkish air force. Fifteen years later it returned to the U.S. to Tracor Industries, Mojave, California, and was sold once more before Cutshall acquired the plane in 1996.

(Image by John Dibbs furnished by EAA)

FMI: www.eaa.org/en/airventure