F-86 Sabre in Action - Aircraft No. 33

Squadron/Signal Aircraft in Action #1033

by Larry Davis, Don Greer (Illustrator)

Book by Larry Davis

50 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1978

Reviews

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1978, 'F-86 Sabre in action' is number 33 in the popular Squadron/Signal publications series of booklets on aircraft types. This slim volume contains a potted history of the type as well as over 110 extremely well captioned monochrome photos, numerous line drawings and several pieces of art including colour profiles. Clearly aimed at both the aviation modeller as well as the enthusiast, this makes a great intro to the subject.

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another thrift store Gem, this was one I coveted as a kid- and suddenly got to read again, for a small sum to a favorite charity. The F-86 Sabre was the plane that won the Korean War Air War- the first of the MiG Killers. Larry Davis was a stalwart author for the Squadron/Signal "In Action" series, a real 1970s authority on legacy airframes, especially the first generations of Jets. Here he takes us through development, construction and deployment- with a special focus on the Korean War. As usual the limited text is surrounded by copious photos, mainly black and white- with a great center colour plate section with particular aircraft shown in silhouette schemes. The F-86 took the us into the Swept wing era- and into the all weather fighter era with the D model- whose bulbous nose held a strong radar array. A fun look at a pivotal aircraft in US Military history.

Today, when colour photos and colour printing are easy and cheap- no modeller need make a move without copious colour sources for any build. In the 70s- this book came out in 1978 when I was in High school- almost all the sources you looked to were just black and white. When some other artist has already turned grainy b/w shots into a sleek colour silhouette scheme- you were so psyched! You sought as much guidance as you could- but at some point- you had to make a leap. I was jolted back to that time- as several of the photo captions tell you what colour various elements are- Red /Blue and Green can look similar in Black and white shots. We worked with what we had, and while my models were terrible- the other dudes still did good work. The Internet then was just a DARPANet dream- a cool way to play Trek with the guys across the bay at Livermore. Not sure now if that was a simpler or a more complex time- the Cold War was still very much on.

There are few adult themes and no graphic injury descriptions, so this is for the Junior Reader over 10/11 years with an interest in aircraft. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast, its a bit of a mixed bag. Not much for the gamer, save those photos and silhouette schemes and a few descriptions of dog fights that might be turned into scenarios. The Modeler gets pages and pages of cool shots - almnost all in b/w as discussed. The Military Enthusiast gets the basics about a key airframe from the Cold War. I think general audience readers might like to peruse a classic late 20th Century enthusiast publication in all its glory. Loved my trip down memory lane.