Picture of the day

The Skoda RSO-175 (Radschlepper Ost 175)... When rubber is in short supply, and you need a schlepper, this is what Porsche and the Skoda Works came up with, the steel wheel beast from the east.

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It was not a success. Only ~200 built, and none deployed to the eastern front (which was its supposed purpose), relegated to service in Holland and possibly Normandy during the quiet years.
 
F106 Delta Dart?
Got to sit in the cockpit of one of those, or maybe it was a 102.... pretty sleek machine!
They came into RCAF Station Chatham back in the mid 60’s quite regularly. The 102 had a pointed tail and the 106 had the top of the tail trimmed off, that’s the only way I could tell the difference. We looked after visiting “century series” aircraft at the time, ie; 101, 102, 104 and 106.
 
They came into RCAF Station Chatham back in the mid 60’s quite regularly. The 102 had a pointed tail and the 106 had the top of the tail trimmed off, that’s the only way I could tell the difference. We looked after visiting “century series” aircraft at the time, ie; 101, 102, 104 and 106.

They have completely different air intakes.
 
This must have been one of the last operational F-86s in the USAF inventory. By 1969, they had plenty of faster options...

8fc988298b61997a4813149644cb3e89.jpg


But perhaps not more manouverable...

The old but nimble MiG-17 had become such a serious threat against the Republic F-105 Thunderchief over North Vietnam that the U.S. Air Force created project "Feather Duster" to test which tactics supersonic American fighters could use against fighters like the MiG-17. Air National Guard F-86H units proved to be an ideal stand-in for the Soviet jets. One pilot remarked that "In any envelope except nose down and full throttle", either the F-100 or F-105 was inferior to the F-86H in a dogfight.
 
This must have been one of the last operational F-86s in the USAF inventory. By 1969, they had plenty of faster options...

8fc988298b61997a4813149644cb3e89.jpg

That particular F-86H fighter-bomber went on to become a gate guard in North Dakota. They continued to serve in the US as target drones, and of course, in foreign air force service into the 1990s.
 
The Sabre was one hell of a fighter with a lot of eye appeal. I remember seeing the Golden Hawks perform back when, and that was something to see. The Snowbirds in their Tutor trainers look pretty, but wussy in comparison.
 
They came into RCAF Station Chatham back in the mid 60’s quite regularly. The 102 had a pointed tail and the 106 had the top of the tail trimmed off, that’s the only way I could tell the difference. We looked after visiting “century series” aircraft at the time, ie; 101, 102, 104 and 106.

CFB North Bay,ON was the same back in the day, a military aircraft enthusiasts smorgasbord of many different types of military stuff from all over the place. Good times back then for sure, really miss it at times.
 
This must have been one of the last operational F-86s in the USAF inventory. By 1969, they had plenty of faster options...

8fc988298b61997a4813149644cb3e89.jpg


But perhaps not more manouverable...

After observing this little nibble plane scoot around the sky this past weekend I can see how it gave the US fits. This plane is in private hands and retains the original cannons.

FDB379_E9-75_C7-44_FE-89_ED-_FE1_EA4_E5_AD49.jpg


97_F23600-_A149-413_D-93_D2-0_BB68072_D471.jpg
 
A Korean War F86 pilot once told me that the MIG was better at high altitude and the F86 better at low (or the other way around).

The MIG was rather crude with respect heating and the MIG canopy could frost up. A very dangerous condition in a fight. The big canon was good only for close up bomber attack, but too slow mv for dog fighting.
 
A Korean War F86 pilot once told me that the MIG was better at high altitude and the F86 better at low (or the other way around). The MIG was rather crude with respect heating and the MIG canopy could frost up. A very dangerous condition in a fight. The big canon was good only for close up bomber attack, but too slow mv for dog fighting.

F-86 superiority over the MiG-15 ended up being roughly 10 to 1. There is a very good reason why all of Korea's jet aces were Sabre drivers.
 
Dog fighting results is about 90% pilot skill.

True to a point. In a dogfight between two pilots of equal skill, but flying aircraft of vastly different quality, the margin between them becomes considerably larger than 10%. Not sure who said it, but the quote goes something like this: "A great airplane can make a good pilot out of an average pilot and a great pilot out of a good pilot."
 
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This must have been one of the last operational F-86s in the USAF inventory. By 1969, they had plenty of faster options...

8fc988298b61997a4813149644cb3e89.jpg
...
Just noticed something different in this F-86 pic. The canopy opens vertically like a 101 or a T-33. Our Sabre canopies slid forward and backwards. The switch that powered the canopy was on the left side up near the canopy rail and one had to be careful of errant finger placement when closing the canopy. You only did that once.

Of course ours were made in Montreal by Canadair under licence from North American so there could have been numerous other changes like the engines. Ours had the Orenda engine from Malton and the Americans had a GE J47 powering theirs. Pretty sure the Orenda engine was built under licence as well because Orenda (OEL Canada) later produced the J79 (OEL-7) for our CF-104’s that were also built by Canadair.
 
Just noticed something different in this F-86 pic. The canopy opens vertically like a 101 or a T-33. Our Sabre canopies slid forward and backwards. The switch that powered the canopy was on the left side up near the canopy rail and one had to be careful of errant finger placement when closing the canopy. You only did that once. Of course ours were made in Montreal by Canadair under licence from North American so there could have been numerous other changes like the engines. Ours had the Orenda engine from Malton and the Americans had a GE J47 powering theirs. Pretty sure the Orenda engine was built under licence as well because Orenda (OEL Canada) later produced the J79 (OEL-7) for our CF-104’s that were also built by Canadair.

By the time Canadair production of the Sabre Mk x was completed, well over three-quarters of the components were being made in Canada. A gradual "Canadianization", if you will. There were numerous refinements among the various marks.
 
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