 | Misawa 1959 F-86 Sabre Misawa Air Base (三沢飛行場, Misawa Hikōjō?) (IATA: MSJ, ICAO: RJSM) is a United States air base located on the northeastern shores of Honshū, in the city of Misawa in Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku Region of Japan. The base is home to 5,200 US military personnel, as well as 350 US civilian employees and 900 Japanese national employees. Misawa is the only combined, joint service installation in the western Pacific. It houses all four US military services (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines) as well as the Japan Air Self Defense Force. Misawa also has scheduled civilian flights operated by Japan Airlines to Tokyo International Airport (Haneda), Osaka International Airport (Itami) and New Chitose Airport, making it one of the few joint civilian-military airports in the U.S. defense grid. The Misawa Passive Radio Frequency space surveillance site is used for tracking satellites using the signals they transmit. It also provides coverage of geosynchronous satellites using the Deep Space Tracking System (DSTS). It is one of the largest ECHELON ground stations.The American occupation of Misawa began in September 1945. Later, Army engineers restored the base for future use by the United States Army Air Forces. During the Korean War and Vietnam War Misawa supported fighter missions. The base was the launching point for clandestine surveillance overflights into China and the USSR during the 1950s. Misawa's fighters departed in 1972. In 1983 it was a major deployment site for rescue and recovery operations, following the downing of Korean Air Flight 007. On July 4, 1985, fighters returned to Misawa.The North American F-86 Sabre (sometimes called the Sabrejet) was a transonic combat aircraft developed for the US Air Force. The F-86 was developed in the 1940s following the end of World War II and was one of the most-produced western jet fighters in the Cold War era.By the end of hostilities, F-86 pilots claimed to have shot down 792 MiGs for a loss of only 76 Sabres, a victory ratio of 10 to 1 (but now appears to be closer to 4 to 1 with postwar totals offically credited by the USAF at 379 kills for 103 Sabres lost). Nonetheless, in the hands of skillful pilots, the Sabre's kill ratio over the MiG-15 was impressive. Of the 40 pilots to earn the designation of "ace" (five or more kills) during the Korean war, all but one flew the F-86 Sabre.The F-86 entered service with the United States Air Force in 1949, joining the 1st Fighter Wing's 94th Fighter Squadron "Hat-in-the-Ring" and became the primary air-to-air jet fighter used in the Korean War. With the introduction of the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 into air combat in November 1950, in which it out-performed all aircraft then assigned to the United Nations, three squadrons of F-86s were rushed to the Far East in December. The F-86 could out turn and out dive the MiG-15, but the MiG-15 was slightly superior to the F-86 in ceiling, acceleration, rate of climb, and zoom (until the introduction of the F-86F in 1953)and flown from bases in Manchuria by Soviet VVS pilots, was pitted against two squadrons of the 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing forward-based at K-14, Kimpo, Korea. * Crew: 1 * Length: 37 ft 6 in (11.4 m) * Wingspan: 37 ft 1 in (11.3 m) * Height: 14 ft 8 in (4.5 m) * Wing area: ft² (m²) * Empty weight: lb (kg) * Loaded weight: 13,791 lb (6,300 kg) * Powerplant: 1× General Electric J47 turbojet, 5,200 lbf (24 kN) * Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0132 * Drag area: 3.8 ft² (0.35 m²) * Aspect ratio: 4.78 * Maximum speed: 685 mph (595 knots, 1,100 km/h) * Range: 1,200 mi (1,000 nm, 1,900 km) * Service ceiling: 49,000 ft (14,900 m) * Rate of climb: 7,250 ft/min (36.8 m/s) * Thrust/weight: 0.38 * Lift-to-drag ratio: 15.1 * Time to altitude: 6.3 min to 30,000 ft (9,145 m) (C)Steve conley |
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