F-86F-30 (China)

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This page is about the Chinese jet fighter F-86F-30 (China). For other versions, see F-86 (Family).
␗F-86F-30
f-86f-30_china.png
GarageImage F-86F-30 (China).jpg
␗F-86F-30
AB RB SB
8.0 8.3 8.7
Research:105 000 Specs-Card-Exp.png
Purchase:300 000 Specs-Card-Lion.png
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Description

After the end of the Korean War, many American F-86 Sabres were placed into surplus reserves. After more advanced fighters came into service, US Sabres were then exported to various other countries. The Republic of China was one of the many countries that received a large number of Sabres. The RoC received over 300 F-86Fs and a significant number were upgraded to the F-40 standard. Sabres and MiG aircraft would soon duel again. In the late 1950s, the Chinese Communist mainland and the Nationalists fought and many dogfights ensued. RoC Sabres had relatively good success against the MiGs and would soon receive the new AIM-9 Sidewinder; a guided missile that could home in on heat sources.

Introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision", the ␗F-86F-30 Sabre is a good subsonic fighter jet. It has relatively good manoeuvrability and an excellent top speed of just over 1,100 km/h (683 mph). The F-86F-30 also has an excellent roll rate and is superior to many of the jets it will face. The F-30 comes armed with six 12.7 mm M3 machine guns which boast a higher rate of fire over the M2 Browning machine guns. However, they are still .50 calibre guns and players should expect to fire many rounds into an enemy to down them. The F-30 Sabre can carry an assortment of bombs and rockets. Although, since the F-30 is the earlier version, it doesn't get access to the AIM-9B Sidewinder which is present in the F-40 Sabre. Nonetheless, the F-86F-30 is still an impressive single-engine fighter with overall good attributes.

General info

Flight performance

Air brakes
Allows you to dramatically reduce the flight speed by releasing special flaps
Max speed
at 0 m1 106 km/h
Turn time24 s
Max altitude14 700 m
EngineGeneral Electric J47-GE-27
TypeJet
Cooling systemAir
Take-off weight10 t
Characteristics Max Speed
(km/h at 0 m - sea level)
Max altitude
(metres)
Turn time
(seconds)
Rate of climb
(metres/second)
Take-off run
(metres)
AB RB AB RB AB RB
Stock 1,095 1,089 14700 24.7 25.9 38.8 35.9 750
Upgraded 1,115 1,106 23.6 24.0 56.5 46.7

Details

Features
Combat flaps Take-off flaps Landing flaps Air brakes Arrestor gear Drogue chute
X X
Limits
Wings (km/h) Gear (km/h) Flaps (km/h) Max Static G
Combat Take-off Landing + -
1,170 350 590 550 350 ~11 ~6
Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons Rudder Elevators Radiator
< 850 < 600 < 650 N/A

Engine performance

Engine Aircraft mass
Engine name Number Empty mass Wing loading (full fuel)
General Electric J47-GE-27 1 5,430 kg 239 kg/m2
Engine characteristics Mass with fuel (no weapons load) Max Takeoff
Weight
Weight (each) Type 7m fuel 20m fuel 26m fuel
900 kg Axial-flow turbojet 5,787 kg 6,429 kg 6,726 kg 9,530 kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB / SB) Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (100%)
Condition 100% WEP 7m fuel 20m fuel 26m fuel MTOW
Stationary 2,626 kgf N/A 0.45 0.41 0.39 0.28
Optimal 2,626 kgf
(0 km/h)
N/A 0.45 0.41 0.39 0.28

Survivability and armour

Crew1 person
Speed of destruction
Structural0 km/h
Gear350 km/h
  • 6.35 mm steel - in front of cockpit
  • 12.7 mm steel - behind pilot
  • 38 mm steel - armoured windscreen
  • 20 mm steel pilot's headrest

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference
AB3 459 → 4 638 Sl icon.png
RB8 939 → 11 987 Sl icon.png
SB10 176 → 13 646 Sl icon.png
Total cost of modifications91 200 Rp icon.png
147 200 Sl icon.png
Talisman cost2 100 Ge icon.png
Crew training86 000 Sl icon.png
Experts300 000 Sl icon.png
Aces1 700 Ge icon.png
Research Aces720 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
120 / 370 / 600 % Sl icon.png
196 / 196 / 196 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Flight performance Survivability Weaponry
Mods aerodinamic fuse.png
Fuselage repair
Research:
6 100 Rp icon.png
Cost:
9 800 Sl icon.png
290 Ge icon.png
Mods jet compressor.png
Compressor
Research:
6 100 Rp icon.png
Cost:
9 800 Sl icon.png
290 Ge icon.png
Mods booster.png
New boosters
Research:
6 800 Rp icon.png
Cost:
11 000 Sl icon.png
320 Ge icon.png
Mods aerodinamic wing.png
Wings repair
Research:
5 700 Rp icon.png
Cost:
9 200 Sl icon.png
270 Ge icon.png
Mods jet engine.png
Engine
Research:
5 700 Rp icon.png
Cost:
9 200 Sl icon.png
270 Ge icon.png
Mods g suit.png
G-suit
Research:
9 900 Rp icon.png
Cost:
16 000 Sl icon.png
460 Ge icon.png
Mods armor frame.png
Airframe
Research:
6 800 Rp icon.png
Cost:
11 000 Sl icon.png
320 Ge icon.png
Mods armor cover.png
Cover
Research:
9 900 Rp icon.png
Cost:
16 000 Sl icon.png
460 Ge icon.png
Mods ammo.png
bmg50_belt_pack
Research:
6 100 Rp icon.png
Cost:
9 800 Sl icon.png
290 Ge icon.png
Mod arrow 1.png
Mods pilon rocket.png
FRC mk.2
Research:
6 800 Rp icon.png
Cost:
11 000 Sl icon.png
320 Ge icon.png
Mod arrow 0.png
Mods weapon.png
bmg50_new_gun
Research:
5 700 Rp icon.png
Cost:
9 200 Sl icon.png
270 Ge icon.png
Mods pilon bomb.png
M117
Research:
5 700 Rp icon.png
Cost:
9 200 Sl icon.png
270 Ge icon.png
Mod arrow 0.png
Mods pilon bomb.png
FLBC mk.1
Research:
9 900 Rp icon.png
Cost:
16 000 Sl icon.png
460 Ge icon.png

Armaments

Offensive armament

Ammunition1 800 rounds
Fire rate1 200 shots/min
Main article: M3 Browning (12.7 mm)

The F-86F-30 (China) is armed with:

  • 6 x 12.7 mm M3 Browning machine guns, nose-mounted (300 rpg = 1,800 total)

Six 12.7 mm M3 Browning machine guns make up the F-86F-30's firepower by the sheer rate of fire rather than the damage potential of a single projectile. The six machine guns altogether can make even a half-second hit on an enemy plane crippling for the enemy's modules.

The 12.7 mm machine gun can also be quite versatile in Air RB, as the M3 Browning has enough penetration power with Default and Ground Target belts to destroy light pillboxes.

Suspended armament

List of setups (3)
Setup 18 x HVAR rockets
8 x HVAR rockets
Setup 22 x 750 lb M117 cone 45 bomb
Setup 32 x 1000 lb AN-M65A1 Fin M129 bomb

The F-86F-30 (China) can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

  • Without load
  • 16 x HVAR rockets
  • 2 x 750 lb M117 cone 45 bombs (1,500 lb total)
  • 2 x 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 Fin M129 bombs (2,000 lb total)

The F-86F-30 can carry a small assortment of payloads. Though not inconsequentially small, the payloads do impact the F-86F-30's flight characteristics enough that it is not suggested to use them in a fighter role at all if equipped with ordnance.

Use rockets on battlefields with many lightly-armoured vehicles, while bombs against hard points like a well dug-in tank.

Usage in battles

Air combat

While the F-86F-30's acceleration and top speed are lacking compared to its contemporaries, the F-86F-30's slats allow the plane to have an outstanding manoeuvrability. That said, one must beware of their speed as pulling high manoeuvres at high and max speed can put the plane under great stress which leads to the wings falling apart. The outstanding manoeuvrability comes at the cost of speed. Pulling hard turns will bleed your airspeed. Try to climb up before engaging the enemy to ensure you have enough energy to get out of a sticky situation. Hopefully, there will be a furball underneath you where you would be able to pounce on low-energy fighters with your guns. One advantage the F-86 has over the jets of other nations is the large ammo count of its six .50 cals (1,800 rounds), although it would be wise to hit most of your shoots. Try staying above 500 km/h as any slower and you would lose a significant amount of energy in a prolonged turn.

The tactics to use the F-86F-30 is very dependent on the enemies it faces and their energy state. An opponent travelling faster than the F-86F-30 should be countered utilizing the Sabre's turning and rolling rate to evade their attack run, hopefully overshooting for the F-86F-30 to take a shot. If encountering a slower jet, the F-86F-30 can attempt to Boom-N-Zoom them, gaining speed in a dive for the attack then climbing away if the enemy lives to prevent them getting a good shot off. For the latter scenario, beware if the enemy has missiles as they will attempt to reach out and attack the F-86F-30 if it climbs away without maneuvering. Most missiles at this stage would be the early versions like AIM-9B or R-3S that can be easily out-manoeuvred, but missiles from planes like the Sea Vixen F.A.W. Mk.2 or AV-8A that the F-86F-30 can encounter will be far more manoeuvrable and harder to dodge.

Ground attack

The F-86F-30 has a respectable ordnance load of HVAR and 1,000 lb bombs for use against ground targets.

The bomb loadout suffers from the F-86F-30's setup to drop both bombs at the same time, meaning the two 1,000 lb bombs is only suitable for one attack attempt. Not only that, but there is no bomb aiming assist with the F-86F-30, so it is only up to the player's skills and intuition to get the bomb right onto their target. However, if the player is able to land two 1,000 lb bombs onto their desired target, there is very little chance an armoured target like a tank will survive the explosion.

If players wish to engage multiple different ground targets in the same sortie, the HVAR loadout is the one to take. The rockets are fired individually, meaning players have 16 attempts to neutralize their desired targets with HVAR. HVAR's effect on armored targets is rather limited due to the limited penetration outside of vulnerable locations like the roof armour. The HVAR does excel against soft-skinned targets, meaning they are perfect for use in Air RB against soft targets like armoured cars, howitzers, or AA guns, as well as light tanks, armoured cars, and certain SPAAs in Ground RB.

Radars

The F-86F-30 is equipped with an AN/APG-30 rangefinding radar, located in the nose of the aircraft. It will automatically detect other planes within the scanning area and display the range to the closest target. It is linked with a gyro gunsight and can help with aiming at close range.

AN/APG-30 - Rangefinding radar
Maximum
Tracking
Range
Minimum
Tracking
Range
Azimuth Tracking
Angle
Elevation Tracking
Angle
2,750 m 300 m ±9° ±9°

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Clear cockpit view for simulator battle
  • Decent turn time for jet
  • Good acceleration
  • Decent armament 12.7 mm M3 with a high rate of fire
  • Can carry bombs or rockets
  • Decent radar

Cons:

  • Easy to rip off the wings with high-speed manoeuvres (realistic and simulator battles)
  • This plane fights against jets with afterburners and missiles
  • High firing rate means the large ammo amount for armament equates to only 15-second burst

History

The Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) was one of the many nations to use surplus F-86 Sabre jet-fighters. Between December 1954 to June 1961, the ROCAF received 160 surplus American F-86F-1 to F-86F-30 aircraft, and by 1958, the ROCAF possessed 320 such aircraft. The aircraft would engage in air combat with Chinese MiGs over the Taiwan Strait during the Taiwan Strait crisis of 1958. Additionally, ROCAF Sabres were among the first aircraft to be equipped with AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, which were used with devastating effectiveness against Chinese MiGs during the Taiwan Strait Crisis.

Following the end of the Chinese Civil War, the ROCAF received the F-86F series jet fighter from the United States, being surplus USAF airframes. The ROCAF received 160 airframes between December of 1954 to June of 1956, with further aircraft delivered afterwards contributing to a total of 320 F-86F aircraft. These aircraft were mostly upgraded to F-86F-40 standards. ROCAF F-86Fs engaged Communist MiG-15s and MiG-17s during the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis. During the crisis, Communist MiGs shot down or damaged 42 ROCAF aircraft but lost 15 of their own.

However, the Taiwanese F-86F introduced a new weapon to the realm of aerial warfare - air-to-air missiles. In 1958, under Operation Black Magic, the United States equipped Taiwanese F-86Fs with the newly-developed AIM-9 Sidewinder. Each aircraft was fitted with two Sidewinders on underwing launch racks, which were used with considerable success against Chinese MiGs over the Taiwan Strait. ROCAF F-86Fs were the first aircraft to fire the missile in combat and achieved the first air-to-air missile kills on September 24th 1958, when multiple MiG-17s were shot down using the new weapon.

The AIM-9 Sidewinder severely undermined the air superiority of the Chinese MiG-17s, which had better thrust-to-weight ratio, vertical performance and climb rate than the ROCAF F-86s. The AIM-9 changed this, as Sabre pilots could engage with Chinese MiGs without needing to reach a similar altitude. However, while the AIM-9's deployment was a considerable setback for the PLAAF, the situation changed when a Chinese MiG-17 returned to base with an unexploded AIM-9B lodged in its airframe. The missile was given to Soviet technicians, and subsequently reverse-engineered into the R-3 series of missiles.

Sabre in ROCAF

It's questionable if ROCAF received stock F-86F-40 or actually F-86F-30 with F-40 modification kits. The service history and combat history, including tales of firing Infrared guided air-to-air missiles would be covered in the page of ROCAF F-86F-40:

In-game plane details

The F-86F-30 depicted in-game is an F-86F-30-NA model with the serial number 52-4589.

52-4589 was issued to the 4th Fighter Wing towards the last weeks of the Korean War, flown by 1Lt Edwin Scariff from the 334th Fighter Squadron under the name JACKIE'S BOY with tail number "FU-589".[1] In 1954, 52-4589 was given to the Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF) renamed as F-86011 "011".[1][2][3] 52-4589 served in the No.17 squadron of the 5th Fighter Group,[3] which transitioned to using the F-86 in January 1955.[4]

Media

Skins

See also

Related development
  • North American F-100 Super Sabre
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

External links

References

Citations
  1. 1.0 1.1 Thompson 2006, p.95
  2. Rose 2018
  3. 3.0 3.1 Yocum 2017
  4. Li 2019, p.27
Bibliography
  • Baugher, Joseph F. "F-86F in Foreign Service." joebaugher.com, 05 NOV 1999, Website.
  • Li, Jordan. Harder Than Climbing to Heaven: Fighter Aviation in the Republic of China Air Force (1928-1994). California Polytechnic State University, March 2019.
  • Rose, Scott. "North American F-86F Sabre - 52-4305 to 52-5530." Forgotten Jets - A Warbirds Resource Group Site, 2018, Website.
  • Thompson, Warren. F-86 Sabre Aces of the 4th Fighter Wing. Osprey Publishing Limited, 2006.
  • Yocum, Eric. "RoCAF F-86 Sabres Database" Yocum USA - Sweet Rose, 2017, Website.


North American Aviation
Fighters 
P-51A  P-51 · P-51A
P-51C  P-51C-10
P-51D  P-51D-5 · P-51D-10 · P-51D-20-NA · P-51D-30
P-51H  P-51H-5-NA
Twin-engine fighters  F-82E
Jet fighters  F-86A-5 · F-86F-2 · F-86F-25 · F-86F-35 · F-100D
Strike aircraft  A-36 · PBJ-1H · PBJ-1J
  FJ-4B · FJ-4B VMF-232
Bombers  B-25J-1 · B-25J-20
Export/Licence  ▂B-25J-30 · ␗B-25J-30
  ▄Mustang Mk IA · F-6C-10-NA · ␗P-51C-11-NT · ␗P-51D-20 · J26 David · J26 · P-51D-20-NA · ␗P-51K
  F-86F-30 ▅ · ␗F-86F-30 · F-86F-40 ▅ · F-86F-40 JASDF▅ · ␗F-86F-40
  ◄F-86K · ▄F-86K (Italy) · ▄F-86K (France)
  ␗F-100A · ▄F-100D · ␗F-100F
Captured  ▅P-51C-11-NT
  Canadair Limited license-built the F-86 as the CL-13 for use in Canada and export to Europe.
  Fiat license-built the F-86K for the Italian Air Force though another 120 NAA built F-86Ks were also sold to the Italians.
See Also  Mitsubishi Heavy Industries · Canadair Limited · Fiat Aviation

China jet aircraft
Fighters  J-2 · J-4 · J-6A · J-7II · J-7D · J-7E · J-8B · J-8F · J-10A · J-11 · J-11A
Strike aircraft  Q-5 early · Q-5A · Q-5L · JH-7A
Bombers  H-5
France  ␗Mirage 2000-5Ei
USA  ␗F-84G-21-RE · ␗F-84G-31-RE · ␗F-86F-30 · ␗F-86F-40 · ␗F-100A · ␗F-100F · ␗F-104A · ␗F-104G · ␗F-5A · ␗F-5E · ␗F-16A MLU
USSR  ␗MiG-9 · ␗MiG-9 (l)
North Korea  Shenyang F-5
Pakistan  A-5C · JF-17