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Clapped Out F-86F Sabre Jet Fighter is a Certified Barn Find With Wings

Aerospace mechanics are the evolutionary apex of the humble car mechanic. In the aerospace field, the margin for error is microscopic, and the consequences for failure are inversely amplified. So it's going to take a crew of peculiarly skilled technicians to be able to bring this North American F-86F Sabre Cold War jet fighter back to flightworthy status.
F-86 Sabre 8 photos
Photo: Courtesy Aircraft Sales
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This particular example of perhaps the most famous early Cold War fighter jet left its Inglewood, California factory on April 22nd, 1953. From the factory, the aircraft sported a single General Electric J-47 turbojet engine. Where the engine wound up is anyone's guess, however.

From 1955 onward, this Sabre was transferred to a multitude of different South American Air Forces. Including service in the Bolivian and Venezuelan Air Force during its operational career.

The Sabre was the United State's front-line jet fighter during the Korean War, fighting alongside P-51D Mustangs, Vought Corsairs, Gloster Meteors, and Republic Thunderjets in the skies over the 38th parallel.

This late model F-86F variant was a few months too late to see service in Korea. But you can't say it didn't squeeze every ounce of usefulness out of it like an empty toothpaste tube.

Apart from a nearly complete airframe, the little details of this jet are all in a pretty sorry state of affairs. A new engine, cockpit, tires, brakes, and just about everything else you can think of are needed even to get this jet in static display condition.

But, if you have more money than the average human brain cell count, this might end up being one heck of a restoration project. If you think some car restorations can take a long time, a decent airplane restoration can take decades.

As we said, there's no margin for error at 30,000 feet and 600 plus miles per hour. You'd hope the people in charge would take their time crunching the numbers. For $179,000 via  Courtesy Aircraft Sales of Rockford, Illinois will award you this incoming headache.
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