North American F-100D Super Sabre

The first mass-produced aircraft to exceed Mach 1 (the speed of sound) in level flight, the F-100 Super Sabre took the US Air Force into the supersonic age when it entered service in 1954.

Its introduction was not without problems, though. Instability problems caused several early F-100s to crash. North American addressed the problems in subsequent versions of the F-100.

The F-100D model was optimized for ground attack, and had larger wings as tail surfaces, an autopilot, advanced avionics, and the ability to carry air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles. Many Super Sabres supported the US war effort in Vietnam, flying most of the close air support missions in the first half of the war. The 120th Fighter Squadron of the Colorado Air National Guard with their F-100Cs became the first Air Guard unit to fight in Vietnam when they were deployed in 1968.

North American built the museum’s F-100D in 1957. The airplane served during several “crises” in its career, being deployed during the Lebanon Crisis in 1958, the Berlin Crisis in 1961, and the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. In 1965 the Air Force transferred it to Lowry AFB as a training airframe.

The F-100D is on loan to Wings Over the Rockies from the National Museum of the US Air Force.